Ashley sat in her office, going over the reports of the most recent game released, Ascension. She let out a small sigh, realizing that the numbers were speaking for themselves. In a persistent world with real-time development, very few players wanted to enjoy a full sandbox experience. Unless there was some unique mechanic that drastically changed the game itself, she could tell that Ascension would not be a very popular game.

Moreover, within three days of the game’s release, only four Keepers purchased the game, two of those being from Dale’s guild. They still had plenty of leftover funds from when they sold World Seed, but she didn’t see much potential for growth in this game’s sales.

“It looks like we’ll need to start working on NPCs, after all.” She muttered with a small sigh. There was a fine line between NPCs that did and did not have a soul. Even without a soul, there was the chance for realistic interaction, albeit some flaws may appear here and there. However, if the NPCs had their own souls, that would create ethical disputes among some Keepers.

This was why Ashley had not delved into this topic before, as it was a tricky subject to navigate that she had no experience with. “For now… yeah, that should work.” A small smile appeared on Ashley’s face, and she reached for the phone at the corner of her desk. Without having to dial a number, it instantly began ringing on the other side. “Jamira?”

“That’s right, ma’am! What can I do for you?” The team manager of her programmers spoke up from the other end of the line.

“We’re going to start the NPC project. The Keeper said that we can use Ana as a base model, so try to create a working template.”

“Understood, ma’am! How would you like us to test them out?” Jamira asked curiously, a small smile appearing on her face.

“World Seed and Ascension. I want you to gradually begin populating these two games with the NPCs that the team creates. Of course, you can intervene with NPCs that have problems in their core template. We don’t want to create problems for our players.” Ashley instructed.

Filling these two games with the NPCs produced by her team would breathe new life into them. Or at least, that was Ashley’s hope. Jamira seemed to understand the request, but posed another question. “Do you have any roles in mind for these NPCs?”

This was where Ashley was hung up. None of the games that they made had a ‘story’, so to speak. They were all complete sandboxes, with the players able to define their own paths. That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t able to come up with a story if need be, but she wasn’t sure that she could make a captivating one that encapsulated an entire game world, down to the NPCs.

As she thought about that, a name appeared in the back of her mind, a smile appearing on her face. “I’ll get back to you on that. For now, focus on the core template of the NPCs. Right now, I need to go and have a meeting.” After giving that answer, Ashley hung up the phone, closing her eyes to focus on her mortal incarnation.

Ashley stood in a neatly pressed, black suit, her wings folded over her shoulders as she walked up to the door and rapped her knuckles against it. Almost immediately, there was the sound of rushing steps. The door opened, and a halfling man appeared inside, smiling pleasantly at Ashley.

“Please, please, come in! Thank you for calling ahead, I was nearly shocked out of my soul when I heard that you would be coming.” He said, gesturing for her to enter. They were currently at the halfling’s mansion in Sanctum, so there was quite a lot of lavish decoration.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me, Galahan.” Ashley responded as she entered the mansion, where Galahan clapped his hands. Four maids all appeared from nowhere, guiding the duo to a large sitting room.

“No matter, no matter at all. Tell me, what brings you here today? I can’t imagine one of the Greater Pantheon was simply visiting me for a house call, after all.” Galahan smiled, hopping up onto one of the chairs placed around the room, sitting across from Ashley once she sat down.

“Indeed.” Ashley nodded her head in agreement. “In truth, I would like to acquire your services, Galahan.”

“My services?” The halfling blinked in confusion. “I fail to see how one such as I can be useful to the Greater Pantheon.”

“It’s quite simple. Are you aware of the game that we have recently released, titled Ascension?” She asked, to which Galahan offered a small nod. “Due to a lack of any significant story or world development, this game is quite lacking in popularity among the people of the world.”

Galahan paused, once more sporting a look of confusion. “You wish for me to write a story for your games?” He asked, but immediately followed it up with another question. “I’m not quite sure I understand. Although I may have the skills required, I believe that you have someone much more close at hand that could do the job as well, do you not?”

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“If you’re referring to Lifre… yes and no.” Ashley said with a long sigh. “Lifre does indeed possess the skill to do what we want, if we could get her to focus for a long period of time. She is prone to becoming distracted, or will alter the story given to her to make it more ‘exciting’. I’d rather every old man NPC secretly be a hidden sage capable of destroying a country…”

Ashley shook her head as she spoke, causing Galahan to chuckle knowingly. “We all have the urge to spice up a story we are given. I can understand the lady’s thoughts. Though, it could be problematic if she goes too far off script, or if she leaves a project waiting to entertain her flights of fancy. That’s why you came to me, I take it?”

“That’s right.” Ashley confirmed with a nod. “You are known for your professionalism, while having a level of story creation not inferior to Lifre’s. Thus, I would like to work closely with you when developing the storylines for current and future games.”

Galahan gave a small smile. “I don’t think that shall be a problem. Though, I am curious how you expect this cooperation to take place. Are you planning to hire me under the name of Darkflame Technologies?”

Ashley closed her eyes, thinking about that. “I could. Honestly, I would like to invite you to live among the Pantheon, that way you could work directly with my team when designing the story and characters. Of course, you would still be able to appear in this world in a similar manner to how I am here now. If you don’t wish for that, it would not be a problem to set up a communication channel between my team and yourself through the mortal world.”

Galahan’s eyes went wide when he heard Ashley’s offer. “You mean to let me become one of your Heroic Spirits? I do not believe that I have earned such a title through any meaningful sacrifice.”

Ashley paused, but ultimately shook her head. “This would be different from the Heroic Spirit system, as it would be by my own discretion. Of course, I would still need the Keeper’s approval, but I do not think that that will be a problem. You would function as you currently do, but would also work together with my team among the pantheon to create these stories.”

Galahan leaned back in his seat, contemplating the offer. “My apologies, my dear, but I feel that I must decline this offer. Not the offer of working for you, but rather of joining you among the pantheon. Should I allow myself to be received by the pantheon, it would spark controversy and discord among the populace. Regardless of whether it is a personal recruitment or the joining of Heroic Spirits, there would be many calling that I was unworthy of such an honor.”

Before Ashley could speak, Galahan lifted a hand to cut her off. “I am well aware that it is your decision to determine who is and is not worthy, but public opinion is still incredibly important. Should this unrest be left unsettled, then any contribution that I make while under your care will be tainted with this view. I only achieved such results due to the nepotism of the pantheon, and so forth. The interest in your games could see a sharp decline, simply by having my name attached to them.”

“For all parties involved, I believe that the best course of action moving forward is to have me work as a contractor within the mortal world. I am not hindered in my performance of my duties from here, so there is no downside. If, one day, I meet my permanent demise, at that time my contributions may be weighed against Terra’s scales. Should those contributions prove me worthy of a spot among you and your fellows, I will happily accept, as would the public.”

Ashley let out another sigh upon hearing his answer, seeing that he was finished with his explanation. “I see. I may have been too hasty with my offer. In that case, I will work to create a suitable work environment from which you can communicate with my team. Do you have any questions or requests with regards to this, while I’m here?”

Galahan closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “I believe that I can supply most of the production with my divine powers. My primary question would be this, to what extent do you want me to write this story?”

This time, at least, Ashley had an answer that she could give right away. “The NPCs should not be fully developed intelligences possessing their own souls. However, it would be best to have them as close to lifelike as possible. You will be in charge of providing the overall setting information, as well as specific NPC personality templates. At the same time, if there are any adjustments that we need to make on our end to have the story flow more naturally, you can make such requests.”

Galahan nodded his head at that. “As I said, most of this can be applied via my divinity. Am I to take games from other Keepers, such as Vision Expanse or Fragments of Acidia to be my guidelines for the level of complexity?”

Ashley’s brow twitched at that, but she knew that there were many people that understood that those games didn’t truly originate from Dale. Furthermore, her presence here all but confirmed that fact. “That’s correct. If you can create a galactic stage on the scale of Fragments of Acidia, I would honestly be amazed.”

Galahan couldn’t help but snort softly. “Such a stage need not start so massive. Rather, all you need is the basic layout, and the script writes itself. I say that I want to create a setting spanning an entire galaxy, and then detail the major forces within that galaxy. From there, I list key roles in each major force that shapes how that force functions. With just a little playing around, various other roles begin to appear on their own, going so far down as the merchants you find on the side of the road. This is the essence of my creation, to fill in the smaller details by way of referencing the grand plan. The same can apply to history, looking at what exists today and asking how we came to this point.”

Ashley listened to Galahan explain, and smiled slightly when he finished. “I think that will work quite well for our needs, then.”

Galahan let out a light chuckle, hopping to his feet. “I’ll be awaiting your call, in that case. As for payment, I trust that the Greater Pantheon won’t be stingy, and will supply me with a fair price for my service.”