《Codex Administratum》Chapter 8

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My companion and I entered a large circular chamber. The far wall was composed of a single glass pane that curved with the room and overlooked a massive yellow star. On its surface, massive arms of fire reached far into space before the invisible arm of gravity grabbed it and pulled it back to the surface. I tore my gaze from the star and glanced around the room. In the center was a holographic display of the star I was just looking at. Orbiting the star were eight planets; there were four terrestrial worlds and four gas giants from the look of things.

Welcome to your new system, Administrator. Would you like to name it?

The holographic screen flickered as it waited for my response, but I ignored it for the time being. Instead, I followed behind Serilda as she walked over to the glass plane. Her eyes widened in wonder as she took in the sight of the star. "It's so beautiful."

I stood next to her as I watched its surface ripple with liquid fire as it shifted perpetually. The beauty of the star enthralled me as well. "That it is," I told her as I pulled my attention away from it and walked around the chamber. On the far wall across from us was a single metal door with a red light in the middle. The rest of the wall was made of a single sheet of seamless metal wrapped around the room, bearing the single glass plane.

While my companion was busy staring into space, I decided to see what lay behind the door. I walked over to it, and the door instantly broke into four triangular fragments that slid into the wall that held it. I stepped through it, and the door instantly shut behind me.

The room I was standing in was about the size of the central area and had hundreds of bookshelves that ran the entire length of the room. In the center sat a large table with a collection of ten books, all spread out in a circle. The first book had text that was being written as I approached it.

I reached for it and ran my fingers across its surface. The paper surface of the book felt coarse and somewhat warm. My eyes darted to the words and read them as they were written. From what I saw, it was writing out every single action I was taking. With every single breath and thought posted on the page in the exact order, it was happening. I set the book down and walked over to the next one. This one was a compilation of every single action that Serilda had taken since she arrived. I picked it up out of curiosity and read through it.

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She was excited to be here and had never dreamt that she would have a chance like this in her lifetime. She was happy and thankful, yet she was also sad and trying to repress the memories of her last moments. I set the book down, knowing that it felt wrong to read through it. It was her life, and it wasn't my place to delve into it. She would talk to me about when she was ready. With that same thought process, I also decided I would keep almost everyone out of here. This was too much power to grant to any one person. At least until I have a librarian-type character made that can manage this room for me.

I circled the table and grabbed the next book. This time, instead of words, it was filled with numbers that were rapidly changing. In a way, it reminded me of coordinates that were rapidly shifting. They were moving so fast that I couldn't keep track of it. Pages were flipping with time. I blinked, and the book was rapidly filling up. If I had to give a solid guess, this book was tied to the planets and marked each location that each planet was in every second.

As I set the book down as its pages kept turning as more and more coordinates were written. I reached the next book and saw that this one was blank. I picked it up and closed it, and studied the cover. Its edges were covered in a wooden shell, and in the center sat strange geometric shapes that seemed to go on forever yet also seemed to stop. I wonder why this book was left blank? I'll consult with Serilda about it soon.

The book that I just set down on the table a few seconds ago slammed shut and immediately flew over to a bookshelf and nestled itself into a slot, and another spawned instantaneously in its position. It struck me with wonder as I watched the process unfold. This was amazing to watch and honestly quite surreal. I'm an Administrator now. Whatever my old life was, it was far behind. Though I wish I could remember it all.

I kept circling the table with the empty book in hand as I checked out what was left. The remaining books seemed to record information as it happened, including the primary star's position, local ambient temperature, and other things. I'm rather happy that I went with this system type. Some of the information here may be redundant and not entirely needed, but nonetheless, it would be helpful. But I could only imagine what it would be like in the future as my world grew. Though could this room fit all that information. But that would be just another question for my companion.

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With my objective in here done, I walked out of the records chamber with the empty book in hand. Serilda was sitting by the hologram in a simple chair. Her legs were crossed, and she seemed to be focused on something. "How did you create that chair?" I asked as I crossed the room. Her eyes were dim, and the fires seemed to dim before they raged back to life, and she affixed me with her gaze.

"Before I answer your question, let me give you the rundown of this place. This is the control room, and it will be the central base of operations for you and all the entities you create to help you manage your worlds. You will need to create a few modules immediately, but that can be done through the control panel on your right. Now, back to your question. All you need to do is think it into existence. However, unless you use your creation points to make it permanent, then it will fade away." She brushed back her long hair and shifted her attention back to whatever she was looking at.

So this area was the heart of everything that I would do. I committed it to memory and imagined a chair just like the one she was using. The metal around my feet turned to a silvery viscous liquid that flowed upwards and created the skeletal foundation of a chair before it solidified, and I sat down. I couldn't get over how amazing this place was. Well, not just this place, but this job I was already hooked on.

The holographic monitor appeared once more. However, before I decided to mess around with it, I still wanted to know what this book was. "Hey, this book was empty in the records chamber; why?"

"That is a grimoire. Anything that you write it in will happen. However, there are some limitations. Anything small scale, like changing an individual's path, thought process, or even small scale weather changes are free. But let's say you watch to shift a planet's gravity, size, location; it would cost creation points. Though the points will be automatically be deducted from your inventory." I gripped the book even more tightly as I realized just how powerful it was.

"If I lose it, can anyone use it?" My first thought was to leave this book here or in the records chamber where no one can find it. I must never let something this powerful be used by anyone but myself.

"No. While anyone can read what is written, the book will reject anyone else who attempts to use it, unless you allow it." I relaxed slightly at that and set the book down next to me. Good, that gave me some peace of mind. I turned my attention towards the screen and stared at the blinking information box. What did I want to name this solar system?

I stared at the screen as dozens of words floated through my mind, and I dismissed each one. I tore my attention from the screen and looked at the star as it burned in the distance. What was the star from Earth named again? I pondered through my thoughts, and the word Sun came to me. I didn't want to emulate where I came from. But I was just trying to find a point of reference.

But it was still tricky. I stared at the star for a while longer until the word Astraeus came to mind. If memory serves correctly, it was a god in an ancient religion back on Earth. A titan, to be exact. I typed it in, confirmed my choice, and settled back into my seat as the screen flickered and shifted, revealing another menu.

This time, it was split into three different segments. The first was a screen reserved for the star system, notably, with an in-depth breakdown of every planet in the area. The first four terrestrial worlds were barren hellish landscapes that had no hopes of life. The gas giants were quite aways out and were filled to the brim with various gases and minerals. However, near the end of the star system was classified as an anomaly, which immediately piqued my interest. I clicked on it, and my screen immediately zoomed in towards it, revealing a sizeable ship-like object that floated through space, seemingly out of power or dead.

"Hey Serilda, why is there a spaceship floating around on the outskirts of the system?" Her eyes widened slightly, and she was quiet for a moment before she spoke.

"Well, from what the system's information index says, newborn administrators are given random star systems to colonize, so, likely, this was once a system that had life outside of what administrators controlled, or this was once a system that belonged to one. Our best bet would be to leave it alone, at least until you are strong enough to protect yourself, or let the mortals use it once they get to the space age." I stared at the strange ship for a moment before nodding my head. It would make sense to leave it as it was for now. Once I got strong enough to visit it, I would, and I wanted to see what it offered before I let anyone else touch it.

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