P-System Log

A lot of shit just went down, and it's not looking good. I wasn't expecting things to escalate this hard, this fast.

First things first. This is more W Inertia than I've ever seen in one place before, and it shows in how much my stats got fucked up. Despite that, I'm not feeling that ecstasy that I felt the first time I had overflow even though this is orders of magnitude greater in terms of gain.

That means that either it only applies the first time or--more likely--[W%M;G,P] was facilitating it. I highly suspect it's the latter, because if there's one thing that skill likes to do, it's fuck with my head.

...every moment that passes, I find my ability to trust the Origin System dipping. I'm still getting that sense that something bad is going to happen if I let this overflow just sit there, but I don't even know if I can trust that.

What happened? I deeply apologize for any wrongdoing I may have inflicted upon your party. P-System Broadcast What the fuck was that skill? Explain in English--er, I mean, Common. Don't try to activate it again. The skill was a demonstration of a skill tier beyond the highest one available to those operating within the confines of the System. It would have had little effect beyond demonstration. I assure you, it was not an attack. Hero's Personal Log 098 Hey, P-System, what the hell is going on? And you're talking completely like a person now. Did something change? P-System Message Not now, Jerome. I have more pressing issues to deal with at the moment. P-System Broadcast There's skills beyond [Unique] rarity? I would have assumed that you would know this. After all, I perceive that you have a skill of high rarity that is able to interface with beings of that level. P-System Log

Holy shit, is it talking about the System? Like, the Origin System?

That might explain why the personal Systems shut down when they perceived that skill. If there's one thing I'm sure about in relation to the Origin System at this point, it's that it absolutely hates information getting out to those who it hasn't approved. For me, that's come in the form of information just slipping out of my mind, thoughts being altered, changed, corrupted. For these Systems, I guess it meant death--or unconsciousness, I guess. I think there might still be a way to restart them and get Thron and Arcs back in touch with the System.

K is gone. Nothing I can do for him.

Wait, the implications of this event are massive. Health works through the System, but without access to their own personal Systems, are their Health stats gone? Are they going to die to even a simple level 1 [Magic Missile]? I'm not going to test that, but I feel like that's the case, given that the mana around them is barely moving at all. Arcs is a caster, which means that she's almost always at least interfacing with the ambient mana, but now it's barely active around her. Same goes for Thron--even though he's a martial class, he still interfaces with mana, but he's not even doing that anymore.

They might not actually have classes anymore. Fuck.

Okay, what should I do? I have a load of W Inertia that I can play around with, and as much as that voice at the back of my head is telling me to burn it all on my skills RIGHT NOW, I really don't want to listen to it.

P-System Broadcast Well, you broke their Systems. That's the best way I can put it. One of my party members lost his System that was keeping him alive, and the other two can't actually cast right now. P-System Log

Arcs is talking. Like, actually talking. I think the chat window simulates regular conversation mentally, so the party hasn't really been communicating through speech much recently, which makes this a lot weirder.

Arcs: What's happening?

I have to say, Arcs is really calm for someone whose adventuring buddy just died.

Aster: I believe the P-System and the unknown hostile are speaking.

Jerome: I don't think the P-System believes that it's hostile.

Aster: Does it not?

Private Message [Aster]

[Aster K'lon]: Do you believe that this is not a hostile creature?

[P-System]: Well, it apologized.

[Aster K'lon]: Any hostile can do that. There is a specific subset of monsters devoted primarily to deception and social engineering.

[P-System]: I felt what it did. The thing that just took down Arcs', Thron's, and K's Systems? That wasn't an attack. That was a side effect. This thing isn't a hostile. It's just so far above our level that literally just doing things is mindbreaking to us.

[Aster K'lon]: ...

[Aster K'lon]: Fuck.

[P-System]: Yeah.

This was not my intention. I had intended to demonstrate, not to attack. I am sorry. P-System Broadcast

That's fine, you're fine. Just give me some time to figure out what to do next, okay? I need to figure out how to deal with my teammates not having their fucking Systems.

And no, before you ask, stealing them for your own System is not okay.

I would not dare to presume. Understood. P-System Log

Shit, so many things to figure out...

Alright. First priority is getting them back online. Right now, we're in a fully cleared dungeon, which means that nobody's actually at risk right now. No enemies means no threats. If we leave, though, they'll be fucked. I have no idea how long it'll take to get their Systems to regenerate on their own--fuck, I don't even know if their Systems will regenerate on their own--which means that if they go outside, even the lamest fuckin' enemy can take them out in one hit.

How do I accomplish that? Clearly, some of the information is locked to me, but it has to be accessible somewhere. At a guess, it's probably buried within the fucking skill that only I have, but I really don't want to feed that thing.

Still, I don't have an idea of how to do it on my own. I know how to jump-start a car, but I doubt just poking them with W Inertia is going to be enough to get them online.

...I mean, might as well try, right?

Okay, yeah, that was a waste of like 100 W Inertia. Not that it matters, but it was a waste. RIP.

Might as well burn off some of this W Inertia while I'm figuring things out. It won't hurt if Jerome becomes unkillable, right?

Oh, that reminds me. What the fuck are levels even for? They don't do anything for me, far as I can tell, which means that they're pretty much just... markers? That you can dump W Inertia into? Maybe it's a thing for regular Systems, just so that their computerized minds can track how much progress they have and then make skills available off of that basis.

Hey, hey, I can't get distracted now. That's an interesting topic that I can shelve for later, but I should probably focus on spending this W Inertia first.

Jerome Smith (abbreviated) Stat Current Maximum Health 21785 25621 Mana 30531 37249 P-System Message Right, so I just spent a bunch of K's XP on you. You're welcome. P-System Log

That's 10000 spent. 5k for Health, 5k for Mana.

Uhh, I think I'll funnel some to Aster as well.

Private Message [Aster]

[P-System]: Got some stuff coming your way. Same as last time, just accept it and you'll get a powerup.

[Aster K'lon]: Fantastic. With my upgraded System, it will be much easier.

[P-System]: Upgraded System? How did you do that?

[Aster K'lon]: [System Comprehension]. By all rights, it is a skill that is too high rarity for me to learn, but I received it anyway. With it, I was able to grant the skill [Personal System: Variant A] to my System, which may have allowed it to continue after the perceptual attack that you mentioned.

[P-System]: Neat. Can you replicate it?

[Aster K'lon]: Not on another being, no.

[P-System]: Unfortunate. Alright, here it comes.

P-System Log

Alright, that's another 10000 given to Aster. It's looser than it was for Jerome, so I think she might actually be able to choose which stats it goes to.

That leaves me with... oh, just a little under 106000 overflow. 162975 is the total number, and my max is around 50k.

Time to get cracking.

I have a lot of W Inertia to play with, and the stupid-ass skill that's attached to me isn't going to get any of it. This might make it harder to access Admin Tiers, but I am not going to fucking let that thing get any more control over me.

So I'm going to copy it. I know how it works, kind of--obviously, a lot of stuff is locked from me, but I remember its pattern. All I need to do is copy that pattern and mold it to me...

Oh, this is going to be an expensive maneuver. I can feel thousands of W Inertia draining away just from creating the foundation for a new skill, but I don't care. I've got way more than enough.

If I have to spend every last drop of W Inertia to break off my reliance on the Origin System, I'll do it.

A name. It's asking me for a name. Hmm...

New skill unlocked: [Apotheosis]