“What happened?!” Xander shouted. He frantically twisted and turned his body. His confused eyes darted around the room. Soot littered the ground. The stained glass was shattered. The red carpet was torn and burned. Only one thing remained untouched by the blast, the Demon King’s throne. Xander stood alone in the destroyed room. Not long ago, this area was flooded with enemies. The Unnamed Team was fighting the final boss. Now, there was nothing. Not a soul remained. The scene stood silent as if waiting for someone to take action.

“NOTICE. [THE UNNAMED TEAM] HAS RECEIVED ITS FINAL MISSION. AS A RESULT, TIME HAS STOPPED UNTIL THE FINAL MISSION IS COMPLETED. ONLY MEMBERS OF [THE UNNAMED TEAM] MAY MOVE FREELY, AND ONLY THEY MAY SIT ATOP THE THRONE TO GAIN THE TITLE [DEMON KING].”

“Where are the others?!” Xander asked. He looked around again. Nothing should have separated the team. They were together when the final explosion occurred. It was only thanks to the overwhelming smoke that they lost sight of each other. Less than a minute had passed from the initial detonation to the clearing of blinding debris. That wasn’t nearly enough time to displace everyone present. Each member of the team had to be close by. In a sense, that logic was correct, and Genesis made sure to point that out.

“THEY ARE IN THEIR OWN TEMPORARY REALITY. ALL MEMBERS OF [THE UNNAMED TEAM] HAVE RECEIVED THE SAME MISSION PROMPT, BUT ONLY ONE MAY ASCEND. PLEASE, SIT ATOP THE THRONE AND COMPLETE THE FINAL MISSION.”

“Not happening. No without some answers.” Xander said. If he could trust Genesis, then his team was still safe. The omnipotent voice never lied nor deliberately caused chaos without a reason. The others were likely within the same general area as Xander, although in their own empty realities. They were all witnessing the same scene and equally confused. The same words were delivered to each of them, and only one person could finish the mission and resume time. That would be the person who sat atop the Demon King’s throne. The amount of time that remained hinged on the actions of each member of The Unnamed Team.

“VERY WELL,” Genesis said. There was little point in remaining elusive at this time. Protocol dictated that some explanation be given, and elaborating may nudge the participant in the right direction. The room’s temperature dropped. If time could have slowed further, it would have. Xander rubbed his eyes, but the figure that appeared before him was no trick of the eye. Standing before him was…him. A perfect copy of Xander stood before the original, yet it still spoke with Genesis’s voice, “I WILL ENDEAVOR TO SATISFY YOUR FINAL QUESTIONS.”

“What is the Genesis Program?” Xander asked. Many questions plagued his mind, and this happened to be the perfect opportunity to answer some of them. He had to start with the most prominent topic in his mind: The Genesis Program. Such a system brought him and the others into this world. It was all-powerful yet flawed. It had errors. It could be exploited. It never explained its purpose nor its required missions.

“THE GENESIS PROGRAM IS A SYSTEM DESIGNED TO ACTIVATE EVERY SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS. ITS GOAL: TO RESET THE WORLD AND RE-ESTABLISH ITS POWER DYNAMIC.”

“Wha-” Xander stammered. He couldn’t form a proper sentence, but Genesis was able to comprehend what was asked.

“ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY. THAT IS WHAT THE CREATORS OF THE GENESIS PROGRAM BELIEVED. TO AVOID THIS, THE GENESIS PROGRAM WAS CREATED. THOSE THAT HOLD POSITIONS OF POWER ARE TO BE REMOVED AND REPLACED.”

“And your role in all of this is?” Xander asked. He needed to know if Genesis was the mastermind behind everything. From the few exchanges so far, that was becoming significantly less likely. Xander wasn’t sure if he could trust what he was told, so he glared at his other-self. Unfortunately, the act came across as odd. The lone archer felt awkward about trying to intimidate himself. Genesis’s unfazed expression added to his uneasiness.

“TO ACT AS THE OVERSEER AND GUIDE ALL PARTICIPANTS THROUGH EVERY ITERATION OF THE GENESIS PROGRAM.”