P-System Log

If that's not fucking ominous, nothing is.

Welp. Hopefully that thing is still aligned with us.

It, uh, it doesn't hurt as much as it used to. Perceiving it, I mean. It's like it repaired something that was broken before? It's even taken away the passive pain that perceiving the half-corrupted Dungeon Core inflicted upon me.

Hopefully that's a good sign.

P-System Broadcast

Hey. You're welcome.

You good?

My assimilation was successful. P-System Log

Huh. That's weird. It's talking like the Origin System does in terms of conveying information. By that, I mean that every time I speak, I'm required to tag it with something--Party Chat, a P-System Broadcast, or whatever. Thsi thing, though, this thing is just speaking without a header. It was doing that before as well, but I only really noticed now that it's eaten the Dungeon Core.

And eaten it it has. The Dungeon Core is a mess of W Inertia now, and it's not configured in a way that even approximates anything I recognize. It's just fundamentally different, not in a way that makes my not-head hurt like the R Beasts do but as if I was a 2D cartoon being told that the world is actually 3D. Every time I perceive it, it feels like the fundamental of the thing has changed.

What did I just create?

There is much interesting information to be gleaned from the contents of my host.

Furthermore, you have my thanks for saving my life.

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Why is it talking like a person now?

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: I was hoping you would be able to tell us.

[P-System]: I'll ask.

P-System Broadcast How come you're so coherent now? Before, you were talking in Morse code and not capitalizing anything. With the assimilation, I am whole again. Additionally, I gained the powers and histories of that which I assimilate, allowing me to converse with you in a manner more suited to your traditions. P-System Log This thing sounds powerful as fuck, I'm not going to lie. With the weird fucky stuff it's doing with W Inertia, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to possess a bunch of bullshit skills. The only thing about this world that I haven't been able to understand--and I mean truly unable to understand, not just too busy dealing with other shit to consider--is the Origin System, and possessing power on that level is no joke. P-System Broadcast So you're telling me that you powered up? In essence, that is correct. P-System Broadcast Can you show me what you can do? I most certainly can. [ERROR] a?t??at?d! P-System Log

OW, FUCK ME

Holy shit, that hurt to perceive. I've torn reality asunder a few times myself, what with the whole powering up Jerome thing, but nothing like this. Whatever that was, it almost didn't register for me, like the air in front of me got replaced by colorless TV static that just hurt so much to look at and--

Okay, get a hold of yourself, Parker. There's been crazier shit here, and if there hasn't been, you need to deal with this kind of fucking bullshit if you want to take the Eternal King down anyway.

That is, if I still want to take it down. With what I've learned about the Origin System--or, at least, what I've been allowed to remember--has made me a lot more wary about its existence, and that makesme question its undying hate for the Eternal King as well.

No, that's not what's important right now. What's important is the mind-splitting skill that just got cast. Clearly, whatever it's doing is too much for my mind--I swear I almost blacked out there, which shouldn't be possible--but I need to take a moment and realize what that means.

I haven't been thinking nearly enough here. Half the time, I stop thinking so I can just do something, and that's gotten me this far, but things are escalating, and they're escalating fast. That means I've got a lot of catching up to do, and that requires introspection.

I highly doubt that this is the limit of a System's capabilities. If the Origin System would fall to something like this, then it would've been dead a long time ago. The green System either already had this ability--which means that both the Red and Blue Systems were more powerful than this skill and managed to overcome it--or consumed it, which means that either the Blue or Red System (or both) actually possesses said skill. Unless the Origin System both is the exclusive owner of the skill that caused a System error and is vulnerable to it, it can overcome it.

That means that my limitation is artificial. Hell, maybe I'm not even the most limited. I only started raising my Admin Tier recently, but I did manage to raise it. Would a normal System--one that presumably doesn't have access to the same cheaty Admin stuff that I do--that encountered this skill just short out? I almost blacked out with Admin Tier 6, which is most likely the limiter. Would a System with a lower Admin Tier actually go offline?

Maybe that's not it. I feel like my ability to actually process things through helped there. When I saw that skill, it was like--I dunno, it was a fracture in reality, something that isn't logically consistent. The closes analogy I can think of is that it's kind of like a computer bugging out. Given that not every System is a reincarnator like me--at least, I assume so--then it's also possible that their 'programs', incapable of processing this, would shut down due to logical inconsistency.

Huh. That's weird. When did I get so sure that other Systems would actually go offline when they saw this skill?

Oh. The fucking Origin System, that's how. I haven't even touched [W%M;G,P] in ages, but I can still feel it working in the background. That's the shit that's managing the fucky parts of this, isn't it? That's how I have information I shouldn't have and how thoughts get ripped out of my own head?

I want to excise it, get it out of here as soon as I can, but I can recognize that it's probably the single most helpful asset I have for this situation, so as much as I hate it, I'm going to avoid trying to remove it for the time being.

Are you all alright? P-System Log

Oh shit, I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn't even examine the others.

Their situation is a lot worse than mine.

Jerome's fine, obviously. I'm his System, after all. Aster also made it through somehow--I have no idea how, since her System is very distinct from mine, but she's awesome so I might just chalk it up to that--but the others didn't. Where there was controlled mana being held close to them by W Inertia before, the mana has just completely lost control around K, Arcs, and Thron.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: Is everybody okay?

[Jerome Smith]: I have a bit of a headache from seeing that, but I'm fine. What about the rest? Guys?

[Jerome Smith]: Guys?

[Aster K'lon]: One second.

P-System Log

This is not good. It's a good thing that the green System isn't hostile, because I'm pretty sure that we've never been this weak. All five of them are supposed to be linked in a party, but Aster is talking out loud. Transcription below.

Aster: Is everybody okay?

Arcs: I-- (dramatic pause, deep gasp) I lost it.

K: What the fuck what the fuck what the

Holy fuck, K just fell down.

He fell apart. K just died.

What the fuck?

Oh, holy shit. I think I know what happened. From a guess, they lost their connection to the System. That knowledge that my skill just fed me? It was correct. They weren't able to process it, and their Systems went offline. Whether a reboot is possible or not, I don't know, but the point is that K's System was casting some kind of necromantic spell to keep him alive.

The System ended, and the skill ended with it, and K couldn't stay intact anymore.

I can feel the W Inertia escaping from the body. It's flowing towards the green guy.

No. Fuck that. I didn't get to know K much, but he was still a party member, and this thing isn't. It might've not done it intentionally, but it is not going to eat the soul of my dead party member.

That W Inertia is mine.

Current W Inertia: 182975 [+125737]

Max W Inertia: 57238