Adam looked to Arch-Mage Maneece and then looked around his pocket dimension. During their hunt for intruders and saboteurs, Adam had realized that this pocket dimension was about the length of New Your City Island, just over 13 miles, except in diameter. The Dimension was mostly flat toward the interior with small hills on the outskirts. No mountains to speak of though.

The center of the city contained a small city with the Arch-Mages mansion and supporting structures, as well as housing for all of the staff and even some taverns for the servants to let off some steam after work. Outside of the central city area, there was a small lake, forested area, farmland, and groves. The dimension contained everything someone would need for a small society to thrive within. Light, was from an unseen source though it looked like the dimension went through a normal day and night cycle since it now seemed to be moving into twilight.

A lot of the city structure had been damaged, but no fires had been set, though a lot of people had been killed. Those that survived were sought out by the Arch-Mage and Adam. Upon encountering them, the Arch-Mage would open a dimensional door to another “holding” dimension as he called it. If they fought, Adam captured them and the Arch-mage opened a different portal for Adam to throw them through. Adam had gone out of his way not to kill anyone because he knew the Arch-Mage wanted to question them.

They had all but cleared out the dimension when Adam received the prompt letting him know he was under review. Adam turned to Arch-Mage as his mind went through the many variations of events that could happen. In almost every permutation someone would be coming to this dimension to finish off the Arch-Mage. Adam took off the Ring of the Unrevealed and held it out for the Arch-Mage.

“What’s this?” Arch-Mage Maneece asked.

“I believe we are about to have company. It’ll be a few minutes but once the Auditor or Admin type person believes they’ve dealt with me, I think our favorite Emperor will be sending someone here to finish you off. I would suggest that you put on that ring and either head to the dimension you have everyone that didn’t fight being held in or head to the dimension that we threw everyone that fought back in and begin questioning them,” Adam said.

“What are you going to do?”

“Me? Well, first I’m going to look over my Personal Information, what you all refer to as my Status Screen. After I review that information, I’m going to show anyone that comes here exactly why it’s a bad idea to target me or my friends.

“Friends?” The Arch-Mage asked.

“Well if I’m going to defend your honor and your home we should at least be considered friends shouldn’t we?” Adam asked.

The Arch-Mage smiled as he said, “That we should, that we should. You do realize that the Empire of Queen Pellmir is quite formidable. You might not be able to handle them. Their weapons can destroy star systems if they so desire. In fact, they could just decide to pop the bubble that houses this dimension and release its contents back into the Astral Plane.”

“I doubt they’d do something that reckless, but if they do, they’ll find that I’m even worse of an enemy to have once they don’t know where I am or where I’m going to attack from. Not to worry I’ll handle this. Go take care of your people and your enemies and then see to your daughter. I’ve got this.” Adam said.

Adam could tell that the Arch-Mage didn’t like this plan but he nodded and then opened a portal and stepped through. Once he was gone, Adam tried to activate his Obscure ability and realized that the mental switch that he had used previously did nothing. Fine. He still had his skills. Adam looked around and quickly found a tree with a very thick canopy and climbed up to blend into the foliage using both his Stealth and Camouflage skills. He also adjusted his body temperature to ambient levels and internalized his breathing so he couldn’t be tracked by gas emissions, temperature, or any other type of scanner. Of course, if they cast a simple detect life spell the jig, as they say, would be up.

Once he thought himself to be safe and secure for the time being, Adam opened his prompts.

Level Lock Removed from Administrator, Calculating…

Heroic Class “Representative of Chaos” unlocked. levels 1 through 50 granted.

Legendary Class “Legate of Chaos” unlocked. Levels 1 through 50 granted

Apocryphal Class “Embodiment of Chaos” unlocked Levels 1 through 371 Granted

Ability Removal Verified: Perfect Memory, Interface, Immortal, Adaptable, Astral Link, Dual State, Variable Core, Treasure Renderer, Mold Chaos, Regeneration, Personal Map, Shadow Vault, Flight, Freedom of Flight, Obscure, Technomancy, Teleport, Gate, Stutter Step, No Escape, Chaos Bolt, Scan, True Vision, Spell Weaver

Intrinsic Ability NOT Removed: Chaos Incarnate

Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Charisma, and Luck have been reduced from 39,189,760,015 to 1,147.

Attribute Chaos increased to 4,710 due to new Class bonuses.

ERROR! System-imposed Attribute Bonuses are no longer in effect due to the removal of the System Lock.

ERROR! Reported Attribute Values, Secondary and Tertiary values derived from those Attributes do not match accepted range values.

ERROR! Soul Core does not fall within defined normal parameters. Soul Core nucleus has been Corrupted. Soul Core contains only one Ability Identity which fluctuates.

SYSTEM Override Code 001A100100ZOmega, Chaotic Ability Core Recognized, Error Suppressed.

Attribute discrepancy noted. The values listed do not match the values utilized for calculations.

SYSTEM USER Note:

WARNING! True Attributes far exceed listed values. Care should be taken when utilizing abilities or participating in combat!

Note: Efficiency bonuses that do not increase System Granted attribute values above base values are ignored.

That was interesting. It looked like The System recognized his Soul Core structure. Speaking of which, Adam dropped his perception back into his Soul Core and noted that there was just one node orbiting the nucleus. He shifted his perception until he was directly in front of it and reached out to touch it.

Ability: Chaos Incarnate. This Ability has been forcibly modified and upgraded. Ability to normal function. The ability “Chaos Incarnate” allows you to direct or focus XP into any skill or ability as desired. As this is done the ability Chaos Incarnate creates a Template of that Skill or Ability which can be drawn on permanently.

The following Abilities are always active: Perfect Memory, Interface, Immortal, Adaptable, Astral Link, Dual State, Variable Core, Regeneration, Personal Map, Shadow Vault.

The following Abilities can be called upon simultaneously and at will provided you have the mana to do so: Treasure Renderer, Mold Chaos, Flight, Freedom of Flight, Obscure, Technomancy, Teleport, Gate, Stutter Step, No Escape, Chaos Bolt, Scan, True Vision, Spell Weaver.

Adam reached through his Chaos Incarnate node and activated Obscure. Unlike before, when the ability had felt as if it was in addition or granted from outside of himself he felt a change in his Soul Core that radiated into his body and beyond it. Adam switched his perception back to his body and felt different. He quickly locked in the feeling of calling his abilities to use through his Chaos Incarnate node then activated Flight and lifted into the sky of the Arch-Mage’s personal dimension. It wasn’t that he’d lost anything, it was a matter of access. Additionally, as the messages had displayed, the System no longer recognized them as abilities so the Administrator could not shut them down, nor the ability that was allowing him to utilize them because that ability was intrinsic to his nature.

Adam activated Technomancy and gained a huge surprise. He didn’t just detect the electronic devices within 100 feet. He could detect every single electronic device within the diameter of the dimension. He double-checked his attributes. Yes, they were all listed as 1,147 in The System Status window. Then he tried something he hadn’t done in a while. He activated Interface and pulled up the same window. The values shifted and the Personal Information he was used to populated the fields. There was a mana cost to everything he was doing but his mana was regenerating at 391,897,601 per second. Adam switched to percentages just to see if enough mana was being spent to worry about. The mana drain wasn’t even showing as a percent fluctuation.

If the limits of his Technomancy ability had been broken, did that mean the limits of his Mold Chaos ability had been broken as well? Adam was about to test that when a rupture opened in the sky and a ship at least 5 miles long that looked a lot like a Star Wars Empire destroyer slipped through to hover in the air above the Arch-Mages Primary estate.

There was no warning, no alarm Beam weapons deployed and fired depositing Terawatts of energy into the unprotected buildings. Adam watched as buildings were destroyed and tunnels were created which burrowed all the way down to the barrier of the dimension underneath the land.

Adam’s Technomancy ability was active. When the destroyer broke through the dimension Adam knew everything he needed to know about the ship in the first second. Every electronic device, computer, transistor, and energy conduit became known to him. Even so, He couldn’t shut down the preprogrammed attack that they’d initiated. Adam watched as for three seconds the beam weapons destroyed the city's infrastructure. Then it stopped. It stopped dead.

When the attack began Adam activated Mold Chaos, to test another one of his abilities and flooded the 13-mile diameter dimension within Chaotic Nanites. Doing so cost him about 20% of his total mana. It was a cost well spent because Adam had complete control of all personnel on the ship within two seconds. Adam downloaded their memories into his mind, copied the schematics of the destroyer then broke them all down into the materials and mass he then utilized to repair all of the grounds and facilities within this pocket dimension.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t done a complete scan of the dimension so he wouldn’t be able to replace everything exactly but he pulled up the basic schematics from the city center’s equivalent of a City Hall. All the land and buildings and the infrastructure for electrical and sewage were easily replaced. Personal items that had been destroyed weren’t though.

Adam noticed that a feed had been providing a play-by-play of everything that had been going on and that it had been cut off as he destroyed the destroyer. It was an easy thing to backtrack the single, create an iPad that could utilize the communication protocols they were, and then initiate a phone call. Adam waited until it was connected then dropped his Obscure ability so the camera could pick him up before he started talking.

Adam tapped the iPad just above the camera as he asked, “Hello, is anyone there? McFly are you reading me, come on McFly I’ve got places to go, things to do.”

The screen came to life and an image of Queen Pellmir appeared and asked, “Is this the Adamantadine I’ve heard so much about? I’m not impressed!”

“Oh, so that’s the tone you want to go with, Okay then,” Adam said.

Adam pulled information from the memories of the individuals he’d just absorbed until he found one that matched the setting the Queen was currently sitting in. Visualized the destination and opened a Gate to the location. Adam watched as the gate opened on the screen behind the Queen’s chair, so yep, that was the right location. Adam activated Stutter Step and off he went.

Adam’s first action was to saturate the Queen with Chaotic Nanites and copy her mind completely as he did a flip to land on her desk, kneeled, and waited for the Nanites to finish. When they were done he had the nanites turn her into his puppet. She was to withdraw the bounties on him, the Arch-Mage, and his daughter as well as recall all military personnel to defend the Empire. Then he made sure the nanites would inform her of the limitations he was placing on her and then release her to live her life, so long as she did not try to retaliate. Should she try to do anything stupid, her mind would be wiped and her soul released while his puppet maintained the Empire.

His second action was to reach out with Technomancy and shut down every single defense within the radius of his power, which was quite far actually. Not infinite by any definition. It seemed that he could reach out to just about 1,000 miles in all directions now.

His third, fourth, and fifth actions were to search through the Queen's memories and find every advisor that had led her down the path she was on and their current location.

His sixth action was to activate Freedom of Flight so he wouldn’t destroy things as he moved. The rest of his 23 actions per second for the next minute were spent Teleporting to the Queen's top advisors, Dropping off some chaotic nanites with some very specific commands, and leaving less invasive controls in place.

Within a minute Adam’s bounty was rescinded and the call was going out to recall all military forces. Adam made sure to personally visit the Queen’s residence, though her memories gave him a perfect memory from which to pull the locations he might want to visit in the future he wanted to personally visit them, just in case.

His work done, Adam teleported back to the Arch Mage’s dimension and made his way to the kitchen where he made himself some lunch. He activated Mold Chaos to create his lunch while he waited. Adam had a feeling that the Administrator was going to visit him shortly or the Arch-Mage would make it back first. Adam also created a complete home theater system with appropriate seating and sat down to watch a couple of movies. Might as well start with the classics, Star Wars, Episode IV, A New Hope it was. If it took them too long he had at least nine movies to go through, not including all the series put out by Disney.

Adam made it through Star Wars, The Empire Strike’s Back, and was just about to finish Return of the Jedi when a man, not the Arch-Mage appeared in the room he was sitting in. With a thought, Adam paused the movie as the man looked around taking in everything he saw before he asked, “21st-century furnishing, where did these come from? Wait never mind,” the man said as he directed his gaze toward Adam and asked, “Are you Johnathan Bennard?”

“I am, and you?” Adam answered then asked.

“I am Kenneth Dilyard, Administrator I need you to come with me?”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Dilyard. Where exactly do you want me to go?”

“My office on Nexus, I need to take you back there for further evaluation and adjustments”

“I think I will decline your gracious invitation. Things to do, places to go, people to see and all that,” Adam said.

“That wasn’t a request, “ Administrator Dilyard said as he focused his attention on Adam and used an ability.

Adam had activated Scan and True Sight as well as split his attention between the physical world, his Mind Space, and his Soul Space so he watched as an energy barrier wrapped itself around him and clamped down as it tried to cut off his mentality from his Soul Core. At that moment Adam realized that while his Mind Space was outside of his Soul Core the point that was him, the spark that housed his will was within his Soul Core. It was housed at a point where his Soul Core and Mind Space overlapped. The System based power surrounded both but was unable to break into his Soul Core and shut down his Chaos Incarnate Ability Node. Adam checked his prompts just to make sure.

System Administrator Ability “Shutdown” has no effect. SYSTEM Override Code “001A100100ZOmega” prevents all System related Shutdown commands to your Soul Core.

Adam brought his attention back to Administrator Dilyard, “You might want to read your prompts there Administrator. It looks like whoever your boss is doesn’t want me shut down for some reason, I wonder why that is?”

The administrator looked at Adam with shock. Adam could tell from the look in his eyes that he hadn’t expected Adam to be coherent enough to speak. The Administrator's eyes went vacant for a moment as he searched through his prompts. Adam stood there and waited. This encounter was going one of two ways. He’d rather it go as a mutual exchange of information but if it had to go the other way, well he could do that too.

A few moments later Administrator Dilyard came back to his senses, looked at Adam with an apologetic smile, and said, “Apologies, I had no idea that the Omega was involved. As such this changes everything.”

“No harm, no foul, apology accepted. Now what?” Adam asked.

“Now I ask if you would like to accompany me to Nexus and a much more relaxed forum where I can answer some, not all, but some of the many questions you might have.”

“Just like that?” Adam asked.

“Just like that. We both know that I cannot affect you, You are now outside of System restrictions. My purpose is now to explain to you why that is, what has happened, and help you prepare for the coming battle.”

“Coming battle,” Adam started to say then stopped himself. “I take it this information is not known to a lot of people?”

“It is not, hence my invitation to a more secure location,”

“Could you get a message to Arch-Mage Maneece that his Dimension is clear and that he can come back? Queen Pellmir will no longer be a problem.”

“I can do that,” the Administrator said and then paused for a moment, “Done.” Next, Administrator Dilyard raised his hand and a portal rose from the ground, “If you’d follow me please?” he asked as he stepped through the portal with Adam following close behind.

The Portal closed and Adam found himself in an office building with glass windows that overlooked a highly technological city.

As the Administrator walked over to his desk and hit a button that was labeled “Privacy” he said, “Welcome to Nexus, sort of. In this room, we are in a pocket dimension that rests upon the primary dimension at an intersection where my office would be in Nexus. If you were to exit through the glass you would find yourself in the city of Nexus. If you were to exit through the door behind us you would find yourself in a corridor that holds a lot of other unaffiliated offices for small start-up companies and some elevators at the far end. Still in Nexus but inside the building my office is supposed to be in.”

“Good to know,” Adam said. “Now why am I here?”

“You are here so that I can answer some questions you might have. If you’d like to make yourself more comfortable please feel free to sit where you like. I can also have refreshments brought up,” The Administrator said.

“No need,” Adam said as he used Mold Chaos to create a nice business chair to sit in and a table with a second identical chair opposite the one he sat down in. On the table, he provided an assortment of snacks and sandwiches so they could eat and talk. For drinks, he provided a tall glass filled with a perfectly mixed Long Island Iced Tea and a glass of water with ice in it.

“I see that your abilities are still available to you?” Administrator Dilyard said.

“Administrator Dilyard,”

“You can call me Ken,” the Administrator interrupted.

“Ken, your attempt to reset my abilities was what unlocked them completely again. Also, please call me Adam.”

“I do understand that. Before I get into explanations, why do you think that is? Why did a System Command that was supposed to lock your abilities down have the exact opposite effect?” Ken asked.

“As I was only absorbed by The System a short time ago I don’t know. I surmise that the System and whatever corrupted me with Chaos are one and the same but I have no way of knowing,” Adam said.

“As I understand it, you are from a Holographic Universe which was created as part of a game from another Universe which was also artificially created as a game from a Universe that was destroyed by another Universe which was then absorbed by the Multitude which you are directly responsible for bringing back into The System. Does that sound about right?”

“There’s a lot more to unpack there but that definitely lists the highlights,” Adam said as he took a sip of his Long Island Iced tea.

“What if I were to tell you that the type of universe you were created in or came from didn’t matter? That life exists as it exists and that the various forms all have equal weight in the end?” Ken asked.

“I would have to ask how that could be because I’ve seen souls being tortured in Hades as well as souls drifting through Astral Space as they make their way to an Eye and pass beyond into what was next,” Adam said.

“Yes, but that was all within The System.”

“What?” Adam asked as he thought about what Ken was saying and re-evaluated what he’d been through. His world had been the byproduct of a game that had imprinted onto a nascent universe. The rules for that universe had been set by the game and the Artificial Intelligence for that game but it had still been within a real Universe that had been contacted by another Universe. “Okay, let's say I understand what you’re saying, what about people's souls? There is too much going on for me to believe that souls aren’t real. Sure I have a way to cheat death, sort of, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in souls.”

“The System, as you know it is everywhere. Or I should say that the System is everywhere the true higher powers are not.

“The true higher powers?” Adam asked.

“You know them as Magical spheres, the Putrescent, Anti, Proper, Absolute, and Divine. Each of these concepts, spheres of magic, or ideas is responsible for a war that has waged for longer than the System has been around.”

“If that war is older than the System has been around, why was the System created?” Adam asked.

“How do you stop a war?” Ken asked instead.

“You either come to a mutual understand or you take away the reason for the fighting in the first place.?” Adam said.

“And, what were they fighting over?”

“From your tone and explanation, the only thing they could be fighting over is Souls?”

“Yes, the souls. Someone thought that if the souls were removed from the equation the fighting from the higher powers over those souls would stop. The System was created to reduce the number of souls that the higher powers could draw from.”

“Wait,” Adam said interrupting the Administrator. “Are you saying that the System was created to artificially control or create a pseudo afterlife to prevent individuals from going on to the actual afterlife?”

“You tell me. Does it make sense that someone’s soul is redirected over and over until they finally give up on life and want nothing more to do with it? if they don’t remain in one of the better heavens for eternity where they are just as unavailable to the wars going on in the afterlife.

“You’re saying the System was created to trap or break the wills of as many souls as possible so they wouldn’t want to participate in whatever comes next? Why? What could be so horrible that someone would want to do that?

“I have my suspicions but I do not know the answer to that question. All I know is that whoever set up The System did so to prevent souls from wanting to actively participate in the heavenly war.”

“What of the Divines, Gods whatever. I just recently watched Arch-Mage Maneece summon an Angel that felt more like I do now than anything I’ve seen in The System. If there are Angels and Gods there must be Devils and Demons. Where do they all fit in this model of existence you’re describing to me?” Adam asked.

“The Divine, or Gods, sit at the top. This includes both the Good and Evil Divines. As far as I can tell The System was not created to prevent souls from reaching either the heavens or the Hells. The problem began when the realms between the Divine and the mortal realms started working to actively take souls and turn them to their purpose. When this started to happen, someone decided that it would be a good idea to create a control mechanism to stop it.” The Administrator explained.

“Fine, The System is an artificial stop-gap solution to prevent certain realms from becoming too powerful. Great! What does all this have to do with me?”

“You are a by-product of chance and chaos. So long as Chaos exists there was always a chance that it would find a way to help or hinder The System, though some of us believe that whoever, or whatever, created existence wanted to leave a way for chaos to rebalance a system that became too far out of balance. The System has existed for a long time. A really, really, long time.”

“So there are Gods and Divines then?” Adam asked.

“I have never met them, but yes”

“And you believe that I am somehow supposed to rebalance the whole of existence because it’s gone out of whack?” Adam asked.

“I don’t, but the Omega protocol would not have activated for you unless your purpose was somehow tied to that.

“Are you saying there’s someone higher in rank for the System besides the Administrators?” Adam asked.

“There is the Omega, whatever that is. Part of our class requirements is to support The System and obey The Omega, whatever that is.” Ken said.

“So what now, where do I go from here?” Adam asked.

“The good news for you is that Adaline, and your entire support network; your mom, dad, Abi, Amanda, Desirae, Clarence as well as all of your daughter's team are currently in the Place of Power you created in the speck of Chaos that holds the identity of nothing. When I unlocked your abilities the particle of Chaos, or the Chaotic Nanites, you placed in each of them opened a portal and they all met up there. I do not know where Pandora is. She was absorbed by the System from the Multitude but after that records of her have disappeared.”

“Disappeared how?”

“The Omega Protocol again. Something about her unique makeup has shielded her from The System. Her last known location was on a fringe world where she’d decided to take it easy. A day later she was gone. Not dead, the System would have noted that. She was just gone. When I tried to find out where she was with my access I received an information lockout due to Omega protocol message.”

“So again, where do I go from here?”

“If you can make your way back to Suigen either take the Purple line deeper into System Space or head into the Labyrinth on foot. You need to head to the source of The System for your answers. Be warned though, the actions you’ve taken thus far have garnered the attention of some very powerful organizations within the System. They’ll be looking for you. Of course, it looks like you’ve had the bounty removed from you so no one will automatically know who you are unless they’ve seen a photo of you.”

“Good to know,” Adam said. “I can get back to Suigen. How much of a threat to me are these organizations?” Adam asked.

“After I was pulled out of a memory read of your file, it was a lot longer than I expected. I had my Personal Assistant do a quick overview. As the System is keeping everything else balanced and you’re the only creature that is effectively unbalanced, not much of one. Though, you should be warned that creatures like the Angel you encountered and some other summoned creatures that specific individuals have gained access to by visiting places they shouldn’t. Those creatures and creatures like them will be like you with their abilities well outside the System balanced levels. You’ll need to be careful around them, even if you do have a large number of reincarnations.”

“Fair enough,” Adam said. “You’re keeping an eye on family and friends?”

“They are in your Place of Power. It exists within the System but is cut off from it. They should be fine inside that small pocket dimension for a very long time.”

“Well Ken, thanks for the explanation I think it’s time for me to be on my way,” Adam said as he stood and opened a gate to the incoming corner of Tana, the Tinker Gnome he’d met earlier. He may or may not have purposely left some chaotic nanites behind in Ken’s office. Yeah, he left them there on purpose.