Benjamin Vryce

Benjamin woke with a start. Hands flying unconsciously over his body looking for bullet holes, he did manage to avoid screaming this time though. After discovering that he was unharmed he took stock of himself, the black overalls were back to mint condition. A quick search of his pockets showed that he had nothing else on him.

Satisfied that he was in one piece, Benjamin got to his feet and looked around. He was back in the void, empty white stretching out in all directions.

“So is this how it’s going to be from now on?” he wondered aloud. He had only died on Earth two or three days ago and wound up here. Two days in a new life and he was already dead again, and again wound up back here.

“That is largely up to you Mr. Vryce.” The voice of the Arbiter echoed out at him from the void. Benjamin turned around and as he was coming to expect, saw the floating screen framing the grey suited man’s image.

“What do you mean, largely up to me? When I got here I got a five minute explanation then a mechanical octopus dropped me into a maze and said ‘Reach level fifty or die in the attempt.’ Tossed me a goodie bag and disappeared.” Benjamin wasn’t bitter about that…not even a little bit.

“That might be a bit of an over simplification Mr. Vryce. The Shipwright might have been abrupt but he ‘dropped you’ in a weapons locker full of combat drones and let you pick your own…goodies.” Said the Arbiter, straightening his jacket. Benjamin thought he caught the light impression of something under the jacket. It was only a fleeting glance and he couldn’t be sure what, if anything, it had been.

“You’re really not going to tell me anything, are you?” Benjamin asked, irritation starting to climb up his throat as he fought to control himself and keep from freaking out again.

“On the contrary Mr. Vryce. We are simply waiting for…ah.” As the Arbiter began to speak three new screens appeared around Benjamin. He looked at each in turn. The first one held the mechanical body of the Shipwright. The second held a humanoid beast man with antlers dressed in furs.

It was the third screen that he looked at that really caught his attention. There was a fat kid in his middle teens sitting cross legged on the ground. That in itself was probably less strange then the others present, but what had caught his eye were the creatures around the kid.

There were three of them, each covered in sleek black fur. Boney plates protruding over a few key vital areas of their bodies. Benjamin thought they looked like a cross between a giant rat and a Rottweiler. He estimated that they must be about a foot high at the shoulder and around three feet in length.

“What the hell are those?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. At the sound of his voice the kid’s head snapped up in surprise. All the beasts around him tensed as if readying for battle at the same time. He looked around, noticing the screen that held Benjamin. There must have been other screens on his end as well because he smiled off to the side.

“Hi, Erlking,” he said before turning back to Benjamin. “I picked these guys as part of my starting package, because they reminded me of my pet rats back home. Mr. Erlking said that I did so good in my trial that I could keep them when I went to Mr. Shipwright’s trial.” The kid said beaming off to the side again.

“They didn’t have a name I could pronounce, so I’m just calling them dire rats. He said they could come with me wherever I went from now on.” The kid beamed as he stroked the sleek furred head of the beast in his lap.

“What is this?” The mechanical voice of the Shipwright boomed out making the kid and Benjamin jump. “Erlking, we did not agree to this. These creatures will give him an advantage in my trial.” The robot was fuming, tentacles thrashing around as it spoke.

“Relax Shipwright, the goal here is to help make the human souls stronger is it not?” The Erlking said soothingly from his screen. The writhing tentacles gradually slowed until the image froze on the screen. Again Benjamin thought it looked like someone had pressed pause on a movie.

A short while later, the image began to move once more. The Shipwright raised up one of its many limbs and, pushed, it beyond the screen into Benjamins area. It was creepy to watch and Benjamin began to worry that he might be made an example of, in some World Lord politics. The limb settled on the ground and the little Repair drone scuttled off of it.

“You are of course correct Erlking,” said the Shipwright. “The goal is indeed to make them stronger. Mr. Vryce seemed attached to this Drone, so I will gift it to him.” The little drone walked toward Benjamin as the Shipwright withdrew its limb back into the screen.

Benjamin was somewhat hesitant, but he really had been fond of the little Repair Drone. So as it neared his feet he bent over and picked it up. The second it touched his hand he felt a sharp tugging sensation from behind his navel. His entire being seemed to shudder and he felt himself “grow” in some way. Suddenly, he could feel the Repair Drone in his hand. Almost as if it was an extension of himself.

“What the hell was that?” he asked, eyes wide in shock at what had just happened.

“Shipwright!” the Arbiter snapped from his screen. “I have told you all on numerous occasions that nothing can be done to the human souls without informed consent.” Benjamin looked at him dazedly, his jacket was now unbuttoned and the butt of a pistol was poking out. A clear threat, no matter what world a being was from.

“It is just a minor soul binding, I gifted him with my own power, what is the problem? The Erlking did the same thing to Mr. Briggs.” The Shipwright said. Benjamin thought it sounded honestly confused, but had little concern for that at the moment. Had it said Soul binding?

“Yes, but the Erlking explained it to Mr. Briggs beforehand and asked for his permission. That is the difference.” The Arbiter still seemed exasperated but no longer looked like he was going to shoot the metal octopus.

“I still don’t understand what is going on here, can someone explain this to me? I’ll even take the short version just give me something here.” Benjamin said, still holding the spider drone in his hands. It was strange but it was like a part of him now and he didn’t want to let it go.

The arbiter sighed, re-buttoning his jacket. Benjamin got the mental image of a school teacher exasperated because the second graders were picking on the new first graders. Like he saw them all as children. An image that was further enhanced when the clipboard winked into existence again in the Arbiter’s left hand.

“Very well Mr. Vryce I will endeavor to give you the short version in a manner that you can understand.” He flipped through the pages on his clipboard then looked at Benjamin with a nod. “From your file you played a lot of video games and read a lot of ‘sci-fi and fantasy’ novels correct?”

Benjamin wasn’t really sure where he was going with this, and was getting really curious about that clipboard, but nodded his head all the same. He wanted some answers, and thought that he might just get a few if he remained silent.

“Good. Then you are familiar with the concept of a dungeon core? A sentients that grows its power and influence by devouring the essence of adventurers. Then using that essence to create monsters and grow its dungeon?” the Arbiter framed it as a question but seemed to know that Benjamin was, in fact, familiar with the concept.

“Think of the World lords as Dungeon cores that slowly grew in power by devouring one another. In time their influence expanded until they were the only beings on their home planets, not including their created monsters. Then, they expanded further onto other planets. This is when the Creator asked them to stop. When they refused the Creator removed them from the cycle of reincarnation.”

“Wait…What?” Benjamin was stunned. This was way more than he had asked for, and as exciting as it was, it still didn’t tell him what had happened to his soul when he touched the Repair Drone.

“A soul is a very powerful gift from the Creator Mr. Vryce. Now that you are no longer isolated on earth you will begin to grow in power, with the ability to create soulless beings of your own…think of them like,” another pause as he check the clipboard. “NPC’s or non-player characters in your video games. That is what the Repair Drone and the, dire rats, are. They are NPC’s created by the Erlking and Shipwright. The feeling you just had was the…I suppose you could say blueprint…of the drone imprinting on your soul. The feeling of growth came because your soul wasn’t big enough to handle an NPC yet and had to expand to make room.”

Benjamin stood there stunned. Turning the revelations over in his mind. He had so many questions, wanted to know so much more. He was beginning to understand however that this Q&A session was likely to end soon. He had to be specific with his questions.

“So what does this mean in practical terms for me, and does this mean I can one day be as powerful as the World Lords?” he settled on the most pressing concerns of the moment, his soul and his future.

“In practical terms? It means that whenever you are reborn the Repair drone will be with you, as it is a part of your soul now. It also means that you will not be able to go back to earth, because if you reentered the reincarnation cycle now you would be born with a metal spider.” The arbiter said.

Benjamin started to freak out at that, He couldn’t go home? But before he had an opportunity to speak the Arbiter continued.

“And no, you will not be like the World Lords. They gained their power in a way they were never meant to and it cost them their eternal souls, and any hope of rebirth.” There was venom in those words and it took much of the rising anxiety out of Benjamin. He didn’t really want to question the Arbiter anymore. He wasn’t the only one present however.

There was a ‘tsk’ sound from the Erlking’s screen, like he had clicked his tongue against his teeth. Benjamin looked over and felt that the Erlking was now much more bestial then he had been a moment before.

“Let us not reopen old wounds Arbiter. We made our choice eons ago, to live one potentially eternal life of power at the cost of perpetual rebirth. Forever losing everything that made us ourselves. You, an entity brought into existence outside of creation itself will never face such a choice and thus cannot understand.” The Erlking just looked sad now, most of the beast reseeding until he looked almost human, if not for the antlers.

“I won’t say that I never regret that choice. But it is made and is unchangeable. Do not think that we have not noticed the irony here Arbiter. We wanted eternal life and it cost us our connection to the creator. Yet when we ask for his aid he gives it. In the form of these human souls. Souls he blessed with everything we wanted, endless rebirth while retaining the memory of who they are…I grow weary. Please send Mr. Vryce along to me when you have finished.” After he spoke those last few words his screen winked out of existence.

“Eloquently put,” the synthesized voice of the Shipwright said after a pause. “Enjoy my gift Mr. Vryce. I made a few…improvements…to help you along. Couldn’t be outdone by that damn meat bag now could I?” Its metal tentacles writhed around agitatedly for a moment before saying “Come along Mr. Briggs” and both their windows winked out of existence as well. Leaving Benjamin alone with the Arbiter once more.

They stared at each other in silence for long seconds, neither saying a word. Finally the Arbiter took a deep breath and adjusted his jacket.

“I apologize Mr. Vryce. This is an argument that has persisted in the outer realm for longer than you can comprehend. It is not fair to you or the other human souls to be brought into this, but it was the Creator’s will and it is not our place to question the Creator.” He did seem genuinely sad as he spoke, but Benjamin was beginning to understand that nothing was as it seemed in this place.

“Do you have any more questions Mr. Vryce?” the Arbiter asked, already knowing the answer.

“No,” Benjamin responded absently. Staring at the silver spider in his hand. The Repair drone that was now somehow linked to his soul. “I’m afraid to ask any more right now, I didn’t really like where the last ones lead…can you just…I don’t know…send me somewhere so I can do something physical. A little action might set my mind straight.”

“Of course, Mr. Vryce. The Erlking is expecting you, he more than almost any other World Lord, wants this project to succeed. For you to grow in strength to aid his worlds. You can gain much working with him. I caution you however, don’t think that means he will go easy on you.”

With those less then reassuring words. Benjamin was winked out of the void and into a different reality.