Why was picking an assistant such a pain?

Having a large pool of choices was supposed to help, right? Not this time it seemed.

Keynes swiped through choices on his tablet, paralysed by the insane number of suitable candidates. And all of this was after Keynes had applied his requirements and preferences, some of them quite harsh.

Some time ago, Wagner had acquired a Talent-hunting company that collected profiles of people looking for Talent-dependent jobs. The company had already been prominent before the outbreaks as the job market had been purely Talent-driven. Once Wagner had bought it, he transformed it into the hidden backbone of Untainted Paradise.

The addition of mana-powered AI and algorithms was a game changer and yet it was far from its full potential. Wagner had used it to bring in thousands of key employees into their company and urged Keynes to fully trust the AI.

I do not think it is a good idea, Alice murmured. She was in a foul mood, since Keynes left Emerald City and travelled to the rift cluster on another island. Keynes wasn’t in the best mood either and so he mostly ignored her.

Eventually, Keynes grew impatient with his indecision and decided to take a leap of faith and follow Wagner’s recommendation. Alice loudly groaned but said nothing. It wasn’t like Keynes was comfortable with using the mana-powered AI but he needed to make a choice here and now.

The mana-powered AI was one of Wagner's first projects after their meeting with Shaper in Geneva. Keynes suspected that Shaper had supplied Wagner with critical knowledge making it possible to kickstart the undertaking. That part worried Keynes because it hadn’t been well-explained to him.

The role of the AI was to access memories and thoughts of a person who was looking for an employee and, based on the nuanced desires and requirements, find a perfect match. The violation of his privacy, even with his consent, made him wonder about the extent of possibilities offered by the System.

Perhaps, the pace of the changes was too fast to him and it scared him. After all, over a year ago, most of these things weren’t possible. Mana-powered technology had been closer to science fiction than to reality, but no more.

A little concerned, Keynes accessed the AI and commanded it to choose the right candidate.

Golden Horizon AI is requesting permission to access your memories.

Y/N

It was really difficult to accept this idea of their own technology connecting to the System, or at least to their own spiritual interface. Closing his eyes and silencing Alice’s outcry, Keynes gave it permission.

To its credit, Golden Horizon AI was very transparent about its activity and after barely a second it produced a complete log and a report, alongside with the chosen profile of a candidate for Keynes.

His name was Jedd Eldin.

Immediately, Keynes brought up the man’s profile.

Jedd Eldin was a Level 1 personal assistant working for high-profile individuals. His previous clients were directors and CEOs of many prominent companies. His record of achievements was impressive. He thrived in an high-demand environment and demonstrated clear and measurable ability to improve performance of his clients. That has to be his Talent, Keynes wagered. Furthermore, Jedd Eldin had the best possible scores in confidentiality.

But there were some caveats here. He was 35 and still Level 1? Why?

The answer was provided in the report; Jedd Eldin had refused to level up prior to the outbreaks and currently, the cost of levelling up to Level 2 was too much for his employer to cover. Hence his interest in finding a more lucrative job.

So the man understood his value. Good.

Keynes read on and soon learned things he wasn’t … sure about. Jedd Eldin wasn’t a man afraid of speaking up nor was he easily intimidated by power or wealth. According to the report, Keynes required a strong-willed assistant.

Interesting, he mused, while Alice murmured something about injustice.

Of course, choosing Jedd Edlin didn’t automatically hire him. There meant to be a negotiation and further screening before he could appear before Keynes. So at least a few weeks.

*

The Level 4 rift cluster underwent a startling change. It resembled the old lunar base with its many domes and corridors that connected them. Only the colours weren’t the same, following the surroundings. They didn’t use the same artificial canopies or camouflage as had been used above Emerald City.

From the highest hill, Keynes noticed the fishing village gone, replaced by a sprawling port with hundreds of cargo vessels docked there.

They are really swift, Alice murmured. Her first clear words after Keynes used the AI.

Indeed, they were swift and though the rate of transformation was difficult to accept, it was mentioned during the meeting that most of the construction workers had been carefully chosen to ensure that their Talents worked in synergy, boosting the output considerably. Many of them were levelled up and on top of that, their company had a substantial workforce and a very high budget to push harder when required.

Once these people reached Level 5, the output would increase two- or three-fold. This was the new reality.

As he stared at the port, he noted something unusual—a high amount of spiritual energy coming off of it. On the other hand, the rift cluster felt devoid of spiritual energy. Why?

Alice huffed so Keynes waited for her to explain. Eventually, she did.

It is because of the contrast between Level 4 resources and their Level 0 surroundings. Even these ships do not seem to be Level 1. As for the rift cluster, they have used materials with spirit insulation properties.

Yes, Keynes was aware of these materials. Why didn’t they use them in the port or on the ships?

Must be a difference in the spiritual signature of rifts and resources. I do not know the details to tell for sure. You will have to ask people responsible for designing this place.

Keynes accepted the explanation without another word then proceeded toward the rift cluster’s headquarters. Personnel had been warned about his arrival but not about his status, so they treated him with respect but without the intimidating stares some people in Emerald City had given him after learning who he was.

The cluster manager met him only briefly, emphasising the rules. The man’s aura control was very bad and his emotions were easy to read. He was tired of dealing with VIPs who came to the cluster to level up.

Because this cluster provided the most essence, it was used to level up more important employees of the company. Others used Emerald City and its abundance of Level 1 and 2 rifts.

A room Keynes was given was a far cry from his luxurious accommodation at Emerald City. It was functional and minimalistic with a boring interior. It made sense. This place was more like a hotel. No need to get comfortable.

There was another residential area limited to the cluster workers and not even VIPs had access to that part. Keynes didn’t dwell on it. Luxury was nice but since his ascension, minor inconveniences didn’t bother him—like sleeping outside in the middle of the World Reserve.

The cluster manager asked him to use the rift terminal to access the schedule and request delving slots but on this Keynes was going to deviate. He might be treated like a regular VIP but he wasn’t one.

With the tablet in his hands he had control far greater than any person here with exception of Esopp. He checked the schedule and found that all rifts were cleared for today. Unfortunate, he muttered. But there is nothing I can do about it. Wait a minute…

Intrigued by long lists of requests, he perused the interface. It lacked the same depth he’d seen earlier … oh. He had to manually switch to the founder-rank access. Suddenly, the interface changed, requests had notes from higher ranked personnel, mostly explaining why their subordinates should be given delving slots. The cluster manager was a decision-maker but there were instances where Cyrano or even Wagner had stepped in.

It’s a mess, isn’t it?

There are too few rifts and too many ascenders, Alice said.

I’m going to open more rifts after I level up, he explained but Alice snorted, her mood kind of a mixture of amusement and displeasure.

It will not make a difference. Rifts are the bottleneck of growth. Your people’s needs are magnitudes of order higher than what all the rifts on the planet can provide. And the higher you go, the scarcer it gets, at least in terms of essence.

What do you mean?

There are fewer Higher Level rifts.

And how do you know that? He asked not remembering reading about it.

From the tablet, each time it uses your mana, I can access information stored in it.

Keynes opened his mouth. Yes, she mentioned this at the meeting but he didn’t think she could browse through the unopened parts. Was this a security risk?

It is not, Alice said, sounding aggravated. What a moody, little princess! I can only access the same information you can. If you would switch to a lower-ranked access, my access would also be demoted.

Alright, Keynes said slowly. But this is dangerous territory. I don’t think our crafters or engineers—or whatever they call themselves—have a good grasp of Spirit. I haven’t met anyone above the Weakest spiritual stage.

You would be surprised, Alice said with self importance radiating off of her. The department responsible for investigating Spirit, has a very good grasp of its theory.

Did she try to prove something here?

You aren’t angry about me hiring a personal assistant, are you?

A long pause followed his question.

I do not like it, she said grudgingly. Am I not good enough? Why are you trying to replace me? With this stupid tablet, I can even send messages to others!

Her outburst startled Keynes even though he’d expected something like this. She hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of Keynes’s personal assistant but thinking he wanted to replace her? Why would she think that? Yes, she was annoying and not very informative, but he’d grown fond of her. Even if she stopped being helpful, he’d not get rid of her.

What brought that on?

I am useless. Each time I am trying to help, the System cuts me off of the information or coerces silence from me. It is irritating, this inability to do something more. And it gets worse with your spiritual strength as I see and understand more but my limitations remain in place.

They’d talked about this. Her frustration was born out of having a personality. A standard spiritual assistant didn’t possess a personality but due to the systemic error, every spiritual assistant created before the System was fully online had received a personality, building up a misalignment between the two entities—the System and a spiritual assistant.

Solving this issue was out of reach but at the same time, he required a personal assistant to take care of the growing list of to-do things. The sheer number of meeting requests he’d received was disheartening and this was only the beginning.

Alice, you aren’t useless, trust me. As for a personal assistant, it’s a job neither of us can do. It’s going to be a person that will bridge my relationship with my company. I can’t manage a department and be focused on growing my personal strength, so I need help in these areas, he said.

I understand, she replied, her voice subdued but she was no longer sad or angry, just thoughtful. Their bond grew immaterial and faint, indicating Alice’s withdrawal from the physical world.

Not wishing to disturb her, Keynes returned to the tablet. He had to add himself to the schedule without disrupting the delicate balance he’d seen.

He quickly found Esopp’s name, hidden from non-founder users. Esopp entered every rift in the cluster together with nine other ascenders, incurring an essence penalty of 50%. When Keynes checked the rest of ‘Esopp’s party’ things got a little more interesting. Four people were listed as a carry team, their job was to ensure the safety of visitors. To Keynes’s amusement, Esopp was also listed as a visitor. If Keynes wished to add himself to the party, he’d have to remove one of the visitors. Why do I feel bad about it? He sighed.

He removed a member of a carry team. Immediately, a message from the cluster manager pinged in his tablet, demanding an explanation. Damned bureaucracy.