Alleyn stood up in shock, his wide eyes scanning the tiny room for any indication of where the presence he could feel might be but found nothing. He was, however, fully convinced that there was ‘something’ nearby, something that hadn’t been there until after the final line had appeared on the floating pane. A minute went by, and he would’ve dismissed the idea that something was wrong if not for the fact that his intuition had never failed him before, at least not when it came to feeling the presence of others; he’d even been able to sense whatever had almost devoured him despite having nothing but his intuition to rely on. If not for his inability to ask, he would’ve called out to the empty room, asking who, and where, this someone was.

[I am Project: Cleanse, a construct of basic sentience created in order to combat the corruption of my World’s Origin Record. Looking for me is futile as I am bound to your soul,] a genderless voice spoke into Alleyn’s head in a cold monotone as if to answer his unasked questions, giving him the impression that this voice could read his mind, a disturbing thought that the voice swiftly confirmed, [I do, indeed, have the ability to know what you’re thinking of, Alleyn, as it would facilitate faster and more precise communication between yourself and me. Would you like to limit this ability to only working on thoughts directed at Project: Cleanse?]

(“Yes!”) Alleyn mentally screamed; the idea of having an outside entity rummage through his thoughts had too many negative feelings attached to it, courtesy of the parasite that ended up wanting to devour him.

[Understood,] the voice answered and, despite knowing that it could be trying to deceive him, the fact that it now felt slightly farther away did grant some credibility to its promise of not reading ‘all of his thoughts’. Thus, now cautiously afraid rather than frantically fearful, he asked, (“What do you want?”)

[I am here to watch over and assist you, should you wish for it, in the hopes that you can obtain the power required to stand toe-to-toe with the Keeper when the time comes,] the voice began, [My primary objective, however, is to make sure that the virus set loose by the Keeper would have no control over you.]

(“What virus?”) Alleyn asked as his stomach sank; if what the voice said was true, in that its ‘primary objective’ was to watch over him due to this ‘virus’, then that would mean he was infected. This, coupled with what the voice had mentioned about the virus potentially ‘having control over him’ made him feel a rising sense of crisis.

[The virus was created by the Keeper after he got access to the Origin Record, with the goal of spreading his influence beyond the borders of my origin. The virus was injected into the void between Worlds in the hopes that would infect the soul of an inhabitant of a foreign World, making them gain the requisite power to assist in creating a pathway between this world and that of my origin. Please do not worry, however, as I was created with the primary purpose of taking control of the virus and removing any influence it might have had over you,] the voice responded but, despite having the feeling that it was somehow trying to reassure him, the answer still left him in stunned silence.

(“Who is the Keeper?”) Alleyn finally managed as he sat back down, somewhat desperately wanting to stir the topic away from mind-controlling viruses and near-death experiences.

[The Keeper is a man of unknown origin who managed to gain access to and control of my World’s Origin Record, a collection of all the events of my World. With all of the discovered paths to power before him, his strength rose to unimaginable heights. And with all the happenings of the World being written down as they happened, coupled with his clairvoyance, he could reliably predict the future, resulting in him claiming complete ownership over the World with no one able to stand against him,] the voice explained.

Alleyn’s brain worked on overtime as he struggled to make sense of what the voice had told him. The voice was from another world, that much was obvious, and it had purportedly been created in order to make sure that the Keeper, someone who apparently knew everything, couldn’t gain control over more Worlds than his own? How powerful would someone have to be to accomplish such a feat? The only reference Alleyn had was the being that had revived him, but he couldn’t help but feel that even they wouldn’t be able to do such a thing. It would’ve made more sense if the voice had simply told him that the Keeper is stronger than himself, although that wouldn’t mean a whole lot despite the accuracy of such a statement.

And so, his mental gymnastics led to him the same conclusion he’d arrived at even before the voice had popped into his life: he was weak. That thought brought with it the same feelings of angry self-loathing he’d felt back when he was first brought back to life, feelings he fought desperately to repress until he remembered something the voice had told him: it was willing to help him become stronger, stronger than he could currently fathom. With that being the case, it should be able to help him reunite with his saviour, right? (“You can help me become stronger?”)

[Yes,] the voice answered, [Would you like for me to continue the System Startup Procedure?] it asked but he couldn’t help but he couldn’t help the second thoughts making their way to the forefront of his mind; the voice could be lying to him and, if its intentions turned out to be less than pure, it could lead him directly to his own demise. Then again, it could all be a lie, and the voice wanted something completely different than what it had claimed. He didn’t know; all he had was a promise of greatness and, now that it had found an outlet, the anger was slowly morphing into something else; hope, he realised it was, and, despite realising that it could very well be the end of him, Alleyn chose to give in to childish naivety…

***

Alleyn sat up and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands as a shiver went through his body when he remembered what he’d just experienced. The moment he’d told the voice he’d accept its help was immediately followed by Alleyn collapsing rather hard on the floor; the pain he felt from the fall was, however, overshadowed by the hellish pain he felt as every muscle in his body seized up simultaneously.

(“What happened?”) he asked as he stood up on unsteady legs, now noticing the slightly damp spot on the floor and the queasy feeling of sweat-soaked clothes clinging to his aching body; he’d have to clean himself and his clothes, he realised, so he wobbled his way over to a side door. One of the few upsides of being forced into house arrest was the fact that the villagers had to dig a well for him so, instead of having to walk to one of the communal wells spread throughout the village like everyone else, he only had to walk through a door and he’d end up in a side building housing his own private well.

[The System startup has been completed without issue,] the voice answered in a cold monotone.

(“So?”) Alleyn asked as he pulled his tunic off, grimacing at the sight of his twig-like arms, almost completely devoid of any muscle, and his sickly pale complexion, before he focused on cleaning his clothes in order to distract himself; he hoped that he would soon find himself slightly more ‘pleasing’ as his current living conditions didn't allow for a lot of development, (“What system?”)

[The System is a part of the virus likely meant to assist its host in attaining the level of power necessary to complete its assigned goal,] the voice explained before continuing, [The activation and successful integration of the System has, however, resulted in your connection to the World being severed by an outside influence.]

(“What?”) Alleyn paused his cleaning, not quite comprehending what the voice had said.

[The System is a part of the vir—]

(“No no, I heard you.”) Alleyn interrupted, as it was obvious what the voice was about to say, (“What do you mean that ‘my connection to this World has been severed?’”)

[I don’t know,] the voice answered, [Although it is safe to assume that you will not be subject to the same rules as everyone else. The full extent of your exile is, however, not something I am capable of predicting.]

(“Then what can you do? How will you assist me, exactly?”) Alleyn thought angrily. Being suddenly ‘disconnected’ from the World he’d lived the past sixteen years in left him feeling worried, partly due to the realisation that the voice didn’t have quite as much control over the virus as it had him believe; that, or it had simply thought not to tell him, something he found equally, if not more, infuriating.

[To answer your earlier question,] the voice began, its tone the same cold monotone it had been since it first spoke, seemingly not picking up on Alleyn’s soured mood, [The System is what I believe to be the reason why the Keeper could walk down every path of power, even those that were mutually exclusive or direct opposites. Majority of the ‘active’ functions of the System does appear to have been stripped away, something I’d hope to change in the future. The only active feature that seems to have been spared is that of your Status, although even that appears to be lacking in some areas. Would you like to view it?]

(“Yes?”) Alleyn answered, unsure of what to expect, although what he saw did help tremendously by way of lessening his feelings of discontentment.

—————————————————————————————————————

Name: Alleyn

Age: 16

Race: Human

Affinities: None

Skills: [Heightened Empathy]

Racial Traits: [Human Adaptability]

[Heightened Empathy:

Use: Allows the user to know the intentions and feelings others direct at the user, as well as intuit the presence of others.]

[Human Adaptability:

Use: A Trait shared by all humans. The user’s comprehensive ability and the development of skills will accelerate based on the user’s age.]

—————————————————————————————————————

Looking at his only listed Skill, not that Alleyn was surprised that there was only one, he finally understood why he had been able to do some of the things he had done; one of the reasons why he couldn’t bring himself to blame the Elders for what had happened to him was due the few times he’d been hugged by them, resulting in waves of regret and sympathy wash over him, feelings he knew even back then weren’t his own. His Racial Trait, however, wasn’t anything he thought to be remarkable, due to the fact that its effects would only really come into play as he grew older, something Alleyn didn’t want to wait for.

Everything considered, he knew that he’d won out immensely; he’d gambled what little he had left and found a way forward.