Chapter 4

Ben and The System spoke at length about each of his options, what they did, how they worked, their strengths and their weaknesses. They all, in their own subtle ways, were immensely powerful and versatile tools, but ultimately, Ben made a choice, and he felt it was the right one for him.

Still, Ben felt it was important to understand the types of abilities other humans would have, and how they could synergize together. As it turned out, there was a pool of six items Plus players could choose from. One of the ways that Ben could have chosen to spend the benefits he received for waiving his 'right to be a void-soul', was to re-roll his item choices. The System had been more than happy to explain what all the other choices were, free of charge, but only because Ben had been so easy to deal with.

Ben also had the option to spend all his benefits and outright purchase the starting Plus perk of his choosing; he didn't do that. If he'd been given the option to purchase a second Plus item. . . but The System had very politely cut off that possibility, saying “One is quite enough, thank you.”

The benefits were. . . esoteric to say the least. On its surface, the benefits were stat points, like in a standard RPG. However, every stat had sub-menus upon sub-menus, covering increasingly specific and bizarre aspects of the stat. Things like 'Standard Advancement Triad Subsection Feedback, Subsection Organization, Location Left Index Finger, muscle group twelve'. The sort of thing that certain people would thrive and really dive into, the sort of customization that was a min/max'ers wet dream.

It was Ben's nightmare, he hated that sort of thing!

So, Ben had allocated his benefits in the most intelligent way he could possibly think to; by asking The System what it would recommend for him. Much to Ben's surprise, The System was more than happy to make suggestions.

“Normally,” he had said, “this particular build wouldn't be possible, but you did make a smashing suggestion that led to the creation of a series of high-level primordial ruins; these aren't re-creations either, I snatched them from your universe when nobody was looking,” he said, a twinkle in his demonic, literally looking like The Devil, eye.

“Are you allowed to do that? Also, isn't it against the rules to like, help me like this and give me tips on how to. . . I don't know, succeed?”

Then, The System laughed. It wasn't an uproarious laugh, and it wasn't mocking.

“Against the rules? What rules? I make the rules, and I enforce them. This place is mine. Out there, I'm not playing favorites, and I'm not your friend. In here? Well, I'm enjoying myself. Your kind was already complicated the first time you came in here, and I am flabbergasted at how much you creatures have improved. What's up with the intestines full of bio-weapons? Or all these new animal forms you've suddenly come up with? Your kind was designed to be able to come back from a fragment of a psychic emanation, and come back stronger, resistant to whatever destroyed your species.”

“You've got to wonder to yourself,” The System had said, “just how many thousands of times has your species been destroyed since the dawn of the universe? Well, I've said too much. Enjoy the primordial dungeons, they'll be a hoot and a half. Are you ready?”

Ben had to admit, he didn't feel ready. The System had been completely silent about where he would end up, and what he could expect when he left.

“I'm ready,” Ben said, and the moment the words left his mouth, a crackling, vibrant red portal appeared off to his right. It swirled like a whirlpool of glowing, electric blood, and gave off an ominous and foreboding feeling. The System shrugged weakly.

“I just want to make sure you all understand, you aren't stepping into a friendly place. There are places of peace spread out in the world, cities and civilizations; but mostly vast tracts of wild, monster infested lands, or worse, lands colonized by monsters. I'm proud to say my world is the only category one Death Planet in the universe, and there will never be another.”

“Category 1 Death World. . . How does that compare to Earth?” Ben asked, suddenly feeling a lot less friendly towards the suddenly much more menacing looking demon.

“Earth? At its most dangerous, that was a Category 3, and before you ask, there has never been a Category 2. Enough of that, Ben, step through the portal if you are ready.”

Ben stood, staring at the portal. The sound it made was like a deep, rushing thrum. He stepped forward, but before he could enter the portal, a voice spoke.

“Warning, you are about to enter a Category 1 Death Planet.”

“Do I actually have to step through that portal, or is this all some sort of trick?” Ben asked, suddenly really suspicious and nervous about this whole fucking bullshit thing.

“You are free to stay in this little room for the rest of your natural life, and I will, as an instance of The System, be happy to keep you company. I will not be able to provide you anything more substantial than conversation, I'm afraid.”

“It's just, it really feels like I have to choose to walk through there, like I'm somehow responsible for this whole situation, you know? Like you aren't allowed to throw me in there, and I have to walk through of my own free will, right?”

“Oh, is that all it is?” The System said, suddenly smiling like the problem had just gotten much simpler. He stood up, stretched, his powerful body creaking and popping as he raised his arms above his head, stretching his fingers towards the ceiling, keeping them clear of the massive black horns coming off of his head. He brought his arms down and started shaking them out, jogging in place, his enormous goat hoof feet clacking loudly against the ground.

“All right, let's do this!” he said, his voice a playful roar, and he charged towards Ben, who pissed his pants, unfortunately. The System grabbed him by the clothes, lifted him up like Mario did back in the old school days of gaming, and spun Ben around.

Ben felt like he was going to vomit, and The System laughed, speaking with energy.

“As you can see, what is about to happen was forced upon you and you are completely innocent of the consequences and blame!” he shouted, then let Ben go, launching him into the portal. The last thing Ben heard before he crossed over was the hearty laughter of The System and the words,

“So long gay Bowser!”

-

Ben landed hard, sliding across crushed, volcanic rock. It looked like black pumice someone had crushed and spread out like gravel. His skin scraped, and it hurt. When he looked up, he was in a landscape that could only be described as hellish.

The sky was red and thick with boiling clouds. The air was hot and sticky and it howled as it rushed across the landscape. In the distance, there was a hill that midwesterners would have called a mountain, bare of all soil, a solid piece of rock that jutted out of the ground. Ben's heart immediately started pounding, as a horse-man holding a scythe approached him, walking upright, hooves pounding heavily and without caution. It whinnied at him, the sound completely demonic; it echoed and warbled and seemed to contain layers and layers of sound.

Then, a bright green portal appeared right in front of Ben's prone form, laying flat on the ground like he was. It was the color of mint ice-cream and gave off a very welcoming feeling. Directly in the center of the portal was a dark green Plus sign, and Ben immediately began crawling for all he was worth away from the hellscape.

Ben fell through the portal a short distance and landed on a soft surface. His adrenaline was high, and he flipped off his front and jumped up, his eyes scanning his surroundings for threats only, rather than for details.

He was alone. Only when he verified that was alone was he able to actually see where he was. It was a small office sized room lined with light blue tiles, the ceramic kind with really clean white grout between them. The tiles were large enough to fit a whole foot on comfortably without any part of the foot crossing onto a line. In the exact center of the room, resting on a tile which was also exactly centered, was a sign.

The sign was white, and enclosed behind glass, sitting on a brass pole that brought it to about diaphragm height on Ben, and the whole thing was resting comfortably on a heavy looking brass base. Ben immediately tried to lift it, and realized that just wasn't going to happen.

“Guess not,” he said to himself, his voice soft, talking to calm himself down. “Really glad to be a Plus player right now.”

Ben rubbed the back of his neck, his brain unhelpfully conjuring a mental image of the demonic horseman who he realized only now was completely soaked in blood. His brain seemed to find endless energy to focus on the black, bristly hair of the image, realizing how it had gotten its slightly wet and shiny texture.

“Ok,” he said, giving his cheeks a few light slaps, “no more fucking around.”

Ben turned his attention to the sign and started to read:

“Welcome, Plus player. As you no doubt fondly remember from your last time in The System, which from now on will be referred to as, The World, the standard starting area is located in one of the lower and more remote hell caverns, The Portal Labyrinth. Nothing could be considered a more refreshing wake-up call than running from a Neigh-indestructible Labyrinth Lord without a single level to your name.”

“Neigh-indestructible,” Ben muttered to himself, making a face, “why do the puns worry me more than the monster?”

“Fear not, for though you have entered the Plus player starter area, exclusive to only Plus players, if you so desire, merely say 'Do it again!', with some excitement in your voice, and you will be transported back instantly, to a random location in the Labyrinth, with a marker over your head so your old friend (Translated from lower demonic) 'He who teaches evil, he who sifts darkness from light, he who is a Shepherd of Paradise,' can come teach you another sermon about how power ought to be used on those below you.”

The text on the sign appeared handwritten, but scrolled like it was a computer tablet.

“If you choose to remain, well, you've earned it for being the only bastards crazy enough to jump into The World not just once, but twice! The entire Plus system had only been developed as a matter of being thorough after you people got out, not because we actually expected it to get used. Take a moment to bask in the glory, because humanity has finally done it; the high, and the low, the light and the void, angels and demons and everyone in between all finally have something they can agree on without reservation;

You humans are completely fucking insane.”

“Thank you?” Ben said, mostly out of reflex. He could have taken a few moments and said something like “I don't even know why I'm here, I didn't choose this at all”, or something else along those lines, but complaining about blame and fault hadn't really worked out that well for him last time, so his brain didn't even consciously consider the option.

“As you have no doubt guessed, the function of this area is the same as the Portal Labyrinth. You will wander about endlessly until you find a portal, which will transport you into The World proper, where your new life will begin.

Happy hunting, and remember, there isn't a horrible monster chasing you this time around, so you don't have to jump into the first exit you see.

Well, at least, there wasn't a monster the last time I checked.

This message was last updated ~60 billion years ago.”

At that exact moment, Ben's brain, which was sympathetically overworked, and a real testament to human brains everywhere in that it hadn't shut down yet from sheer conceptual overload, fixated on two things:

First, the universe was, at our best guess, between thirteen and fourteen billion years old; Second, if The System wasn't lying, this sign was older than the universe many times over; and suddenly third, Ben realized The System hadn't placed this sign here until after humanity had beaten “the game” the first time, which meant humanity was older than the sign, and if he understood the principals of “greater than” math correctly-

“Fuck my head hurts so bad,” Ben said, falling onto his butt and massaging his scalp. He felt a migraine coming on, he just knew it. He had that really sick, tense feeling in the back of his neck that was starting to spread up his skull, a feeling which could only be described as “pre-pain”. He started finger kneading the back of his head and neck, knowing full well that it didn't help and might even make it worse, but also still doing it anyways. He wanted to lay down, but it had been sixty billion years since anyone bothered to check if there was a monster in here, which is a long time.

Then, probably born from a desperate desire to rationalize a way to lay down and sleep without feeling like he was in danger, Ben re-read the part of the sign that said “Plus player exclusive area.”

“Monsters aren't plus players,” Ben reasoned, “and The System more or less said that only Humans had ever beaten the game before. So, there won't be any monsters in here. Therefore,” Ben said, already stripping his sweaty clothes off and trying to find a way to make a somewhat comfortable pillow out of them, “I'm safe. I think I can handle this. I bet The World is like that, it seems crazy and chaotic at first, but really, it's like a puzzle. Just gotta. . .” Ben yawned, his head resting on his fluffed up pile of shirt and jeans, “gotta use my head. God this is such a relief,” he said, the moment he was horizontal.

The “pre-pain” feeling had transformed into a weird, floaty buzz that made him feel like any kind of major movement would guarantee him getting a bad migraine.

Ben had been through this song and dance before, he knew how to operate his body reasonably well. His eyes shut, and soon peaceful oblivion overtook him.

[System Log, update.]

I cannot believe I am being forced to do this, but if I don't put a stop to this right now, there are going to be serious problems. This was NOT meant to be an exploit, and the fact that you people are using it as such boggles my gigantic, ancient mind.

There is now a hard cap on the number of individuals allowed to utilize the Ring of Sacrifice. I'm sure Humanity will be tickled pink to find out they are the ones responsible for this new balance change.

I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I negated what those who already sacrificed themselves had done. But, in the future, if any species is crazy enough to do what you have, they'll be stopped at nearly half the number your kind got to before I hit the brakes.

Did you monsters just come back to torment me? Now I'm starting to remember why I was so happy when you all left.

Void-Souls do not qualify for the protection and benefits granted by the Ring of Sacrifice, as they are no longer connected to either humanity, or any other conscious being.

[System Log, End]

Ben felt the words in his mind as he drifted to sleep, and strangely, he knew he would have no problem remembering them when he woke up. He fell into a deep and restful slumber, the kind of sleep a body needs after the apocalypse, and the death of parents, and nearly dying, and realizing humanity was way older than the universe.

That is to say without so many words, that he didn't have any dreams.

When he woke up, only in his boxers I might note, he saw a dark figure looming over him, watching him without blinking. Ben jumped a little, and the figure backed up, laughing and raising his hands like it was all a big joke.

“Easy, easy there big boy! Ha-ha! I knew that would be funny,” he said, and as Ben's eyes sharpened to the situation, he realized he was looking at another human. The guy was younger, probably about twenty-two, dressed casually with an easy, wide grin.

“God, you scared the shit out of me, why did you do that?”

“Just wanted a laugh,” he said, completely relaxed, a big smile on his face. Something about him seemed extremely wrong to Ben, and he realized it was the eyes. They were normal eyes, physically, but every time he saw them it sent his nervous system off and made him want to flinch.

“Oh yeah,” he said, still smiling and scratching the back of his head, and Ben couldn't help but notice how big and expansive all of his body language and facial expressions had been, “ok, The System warned me about this. You're feeling really freaked out, right?”

“Right. You are very disturbing, I'm sorry, it's rude to say, but the sight of you is setting me off, bad.”

“Yeah, I should have expected it. I'm in the wrong here, one hundred percent. The System said there were drawbacks to becoming a void soul, but the benefits man. . . I couldn't pass them up.” Ben startled and looked at the man again, eyes wide.

“You're a void soul?” Ben practically whispered, his voice on the edge of being straight-up horrified.

“I'm a void soul,” he said, with confidence, his voice purely matter-of-fact, “and I think that was the best decision I've ever made.”

“How! Wait, let me get-” Ben shouted the “how”, then started putting his pants on, struggling in that way only people who were in a rush to get their clothes on did; his foot got caught in the leg, his hands couldn't seem to grip the pants properly so it kept slipping, the whole comedy routine.

The void soul across from him watched the whole thing, still smiling, clearly finding the whole scene very amusing. He had been smiling when Ben woke up, hadn't he?

Finally, Ben was dressed enough to start chewing the guy out with some dignity.

“How. How was that a good choice? No, better question, how are you even walking around and talking! You don't have any consciousness, you're just. . . like, empty!”

“Oh, it's like you say, and my name's. . . Namey, I still haven't thought of a better one. Nope,” he said, rapping his knuckles against his skull, “Nothing. I don't see a damn thing, I can't hear, or smell, or taste, or feel. . . anything. I can't think, and I don't have emotions. It's like I'm the part of a dream you don't remember, you know? Like those bits before you're in a coffee shop in France, the 'How did I get here?'”

He paused and adjusted his smile, leaning in a little, acting like he was sharing a secret.

“I'm the 'how did I get here', my new friend. I don't feel a thing, but. . .” he trailed off, and his smile finally, finally went away, and his face was intense, like he was far, far away. He clenched his fists hard, hard in the way a person cannot clench a fist, because it hurts too much.

“I feel, so, tremendously, free. Like a being of pure intellect finally outside of my cage and in the driver's seat. Here, ask me anything, just some random thing. Like what I ate for lunch when I was four years and thirteen days old,” he said, then didn't let Ben ask, “I had leftover pancakes from breakfast. No fumbling about for a memory, no uncertainty, no reaching about the dark of the mind, bumbling about the dark place with eyes blind without the light of consciousness,” Namey laughed, then, and it was quintessentially hollow.

“I am the dark of the mind, I am that dark place, and I need no eyes to see. Still,” he said, suddenly smiling again, and abruptly changing gears, placing his hands over his eyes like he was playing peek-a-boo, “however I'm processing information, I can't 'see',” he made air quotes with his fingers, which were still covering his eyes, “through my hands, so ripping my eyes out just isn't going to happen. I'm pretty sure I still need them, somehow, for some reason.”

“Yeah,” Ben said, his lips in a thin line, “that would have been my first thought too, that I just couldn't rip my own eyes out, because I needed them.”

“See, you get it. Bet you regret signing that waiver now, buddy!” Namey said, and it was sad, because he honestly meant it, “but anyways, that's neither here nor there,” he said, and leaned in, like he was going to tell me another secret.

“I've got a proposition for you, and it's gonna pay off big, set you up really well in your new life,” Namey said, and held out his hand, and a beautiful light shone above it. It was golden, like wealth and power, and beautiful, like wealth and power could be beautiful.

“This, right here? This is a no-fucking-joke wish. Here's the deal, ready? Do you want me to grant you your wish?”