Talk of destiny and inevitability only increased the pressure of this decision and the repercussions of making the wrong decision more frightening. The choices before me was more daunting than anything I had ever faced, even more so than those decisions I made when reincarnating. At least when I was making those choices, my decisions only affected Caraid and I. Here, my choice would have repercussions that would decide the fate of an entire Universe.

How fucked up was that?

One person making a decision that would impact countless lives, races, and worlds.

It seemed idiotic to me that S-Prime would need to use this type of mechanic to change a Universal paradigm. What if I was a complete asshole? Granted my Karmic balance would suggest that wasn’t the case. But when you were faced with a decision that could screw over the Gods themselves, then things have gone entirely too far off the rails.

That was my biggest fear. I didn’t think I was an asshole. But I was aware enough of my foibles to admit I had a bit of a ‘hero’ complex, and as my discussion with Gwyn had pointed out, I had real issues that dealt with my personality and character.

I was too human. Too prone to imperfection.

I thought I was better than others because I believed myself smarter. Pride in that intelligence was my greatest failing before I reincarnated. Now? With my new abilities? With Status Menus that quantified that intelligence, that allowed me to use level-ups to increase that stat? I was afraid that those shortcomings of my personality were going to influence my choice.

Beleros reminded me.

Cyronax concluded.

Danu agreed.

I would never understand what those seeking world domination were motivated by. It was hard enough to make decisions for myself. Adding Vassals, House members, and staff only exacerbated those decisions. Making decisions for an entire populace was insane. This entire process was idiotic. S-Prime must have glitched if it thought I was the best person to usher in a new age for Earth.

Honestly, I knew I wasn’t anyone special. I could only hope that S-Prime had factored in some variable that I wasn’t aware of. Some hidden quality to my personality that would allow me to make choices that would give Earth and her people a decent starting point once the process was triggered.

"Will I be able to speak with you once this is done?" I asked Danu; Beleros and Cyronax by extension.

Comforted and assured that with the knowledge that in some of those futures the Tuatha de Danaan continued to exist, I decided. Pulling up the System prompt, I hesitated for the barest second. Sweat and goosebumps enveloping my body as I forcibly and decisively selected not to claim the Planet.

I would not become King and Overlord of Earth.

I would not force those that inhabited this planet to worship the Sidhe Pantheon.

I would exercise those last remnants of the Democratic ideal and hope that free-will was still an acceptable practice and religious freedom would be written into System protocols.

I felt System scanning my memories of Earth. I was part of the collective as knowledge was assimilated. It seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time watching as I played MMORPG’s. The Character Creation process and leveling systems that I most enjoyed.

The scan of memories was thorough and instant. Once finished System began the implementation and integration process.

[System Protocol 2349d activated]

[Initializing.]

[Planet Designation - Earth.]

[Implementing Status menus.]

[Indexing averages for all stats.]

[Creating level system.]

[Creating a class system.]

[Creating a skill system.]

[Creating a spell system.]

[Deity index created.]

[Assigning safety protocols - Children placed in ‘safe’ zones.]

[Zone and Class restriction applies until children reach the age of adulthood]

[Adulthood reached after 16 solar years.]

[Assigning Population over 70 to Childcare.]

[Restoring the optimal age of populace to 25.]

[Annexing Planetary Moon.]

[Annexing Planetary Bodies.]

[Assigning Planetary Moon Safe Zone, Level (0) – Designation Child Care Caches.]

[Generating temporary merchants and child-care residential facilities.]

[Creating property, town, city, and kingdom requirements.]

[Removing poisoned and corrupted chemicals.]

[Restoring depleted planetary resources.]

[Activating spawn protocols.]

[Initiating Dungeon Protocols.]

[Initiating Seeding Protocols.]

[Finalizing Character Creation.]

[Initiating Race change options.]

[Initiating Tutorial protocols.]

[Creating Tutorial Zones, Level (1)]

[Standardizing weather patterns and temperatures.]

[Creating Zone Levels.]

[Populating Zones.]

[Analyzing Planet History.]

[Restoring Continent Atlantis.]

[Restoring Lost Civilizations.]

[Restoring Extinct animals.]

[World Announcement: System updated; Protocol parameters 2349d implemented.]

[Greetings new users. Scientists of this World have set in motion events that fulfilled the criteria to transition Earth and this Universe to a New Paradigm, one that allows for System Integration.

Prince Teigh Mac de Beleros y Cyronax, a Sidhe Ranked, has fulfilled the quest requirements to shut down the CERN Hadron Collider.

He has chosen not to claim Earth as His Quest Reward.

System Protocol 2349d allows new users to make choices that will allow them to adapt to new world rulesets. All individuals have been designated ‘New User’.

Most of your infrastructure has remained intact. But these buildings, roads, and machines are transitive. You have been given a twenty-year grace period to adapt to your new Reality and replace obsolete buildings, machinery, and infrastructure with solutions that rely on new materials and energies.]

[First Quest (Mandatory) – First Steps.]

[Please say or think ‘tutorial’ to begin your new lives. You will finalize Character Creation and be transferred to starter zones. All beginning stats have been averaged to 5. Additional points have been allocated as free stat points based on your life experience and body’s abilities at integration. These extra points will allow you to increase stat allocation, learn skills, and practice spells as part of the tutorial.]

[*Note- There is no Level Limit for Planet Earth.*]

After that last announcement, I was also offered the choice to integrate into Earth’s new system.

[Quest - Begin the Earth tutorial. Warning - Participating in the tutorial will reset all present ranks, levels, skills, and spells.]

[YES/NO]

That was a no brainer, and it made no sense. Why would I reset my Rank and levels back to 1, after I had already rejected claiming the Planet? I would have a giant target pasted directly on my forehead I thought, as I quickly selected no.

I wasn’t staying. No matter how much I might want to embrace my ‘humanity’ again, I had burned that bridge when I reincarnated. There was no going back. And whatever the home and Earth I remembered, no matter how fondly, those places no longer existed. Not for me, and now not for the population. Earth was going to be changed irreparably and drastically as System Integration continued.

Danu said startling me.

Danu’s words filled me with a sense of joy beyond my expectations. I was happy that She, Beleros, and Cyronax still existed. I knew that they were only Dreams, the smallest mote of Divine will and energy, that they were not all here, but it still delighted me to realize that I hadn’t destroyed this Universe’s incarnation of the Sidhe. At least I didn’t think I had. Perhaps the Sithern isolation was no guarantee on what happened to the Tuatha de Danaan outside this dimensional pocket.

The Gods were real here and I had given them an anchor to this reality by crafting the metal into statues. A Masterwork for the Divine that I had created by accident. I thought it likely they still existed, at least I hoped. But Danu’s information that the Sithern was quarantined was not as reassuring as truly knowing would be.

"Can you tell me what the Tuatha de Danaan status is outside of the Sithern?" I asked with a modicum of concern.

Beleros answered.

Danu said Her attention turned outward quantifying the changes to the world, those changes that were within Her purview to see.

Cyronax explained as he too embraced his abilities to extend his domain and categorize the world’s change, especially those changes that affected that domain.

Beleros announced.