Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

Noe, I screamed in my head, I thought you said that you took over function from the Trash Matrix, how come you’re not blocking these stupid titles?

“I am sorry, my Host,” it said, and for the first time I could hear sadness - clear, distinct sadness - in its otherwise androgynous voice, “But I have only commandeered control over my Host from the useless Matrix, but even then, the Title system is not under the command of Origin. It is exploiting a loophole by giving you those worthless titles, like how a child would throw a tantrum when its superiors ignore it.”

“Never mind,” I quickly said. Noe seemed to have my best interests at heart, for now at least, so let’s not disturb it with needless questions, “And show me the titles the Trash Matrix gave me, from the beginning.”

“What was that?” Vadeem asked.

Shit, I had been so weirded out by Noe’s new emotions that I responded to her out loud.

“Nothing, just muttering to myself,” I answered, “Whole situation is just weird.”

“No kidding!” he laughed, "Just take care of yourself!"

"Yeah," I mumbled back half heartedly.

I mean, show me the updates, Noe.

“Of course, my dear Host.”

 

Title: Useless Liar

Description: Given to a worthless, cowardly individual who cares only for themselves. You are useless, powerless, and feeble. You lie because the truth is too much to bare.

Title Passives: N/A

Title Actives: N/A

 

Title: Worthless Degenerate

Description: Given to a person who has forsaken all human dignity. You are worse than the lowest being in the universe. It would be better for everyone if you simply end your existence.

Title Passives: N/A

Title Actives: N/A

 

Title: He Who Dwells in Filth

Description: Given to a subhuman trash who can only survive off the grace of his betters. You do not deserve to even exist. You are nothing but filth.

…

On and on these kinds of titles went, all of them giving me no actives or passives, and were just descriptions of how horrible I was as a person. The descriptions did get more and more colourful over time, almost as if the Origin Matrix was developing a personality like Noe. It was all but confirmed that this was the case with the last few Titles.

 

Title: The Watched

Description: We see you, we know you, we will not forget you.

 

Title: The Hated

Description: We loathe you, we despise you, we hate you.

 

Title: The Hunted

Description: We will hunt you down, Walter. There is no escape.

 

I frowned. What is going on with the Trash Matrix? I had always felt that the Origin Matrix was passively hostile towards me, what with its biased evaluations and class choices, but this was the first time I had seen it directly target me. It even mentioned my name, but it didn't use my real one. Was it's information about me incomplete? I needed to confirm something.

“Sorry Vadeem,” I muttered, “I uh, need to use the restroom for a bit.”

“About time,” he laughed, “No modern toilets around here I’m afraid, I found out the hard way. There’s some nice bushes though, need toilet paper?”

“I’m good.” I answered before heading off to a dark corner, away from prying eyes.

Once everyone was out of sight, I called out to Q.

A burst of static assaulted my ears again, before the noise stabilized into something comprehensible, “Yes, Lord Arbiter?”

“I know you’re busy, but I just needed to ask you some pertinent questions.”

“I understand,” he answered, “How may I be of service?”

“The Origin Matrix shouldn’t have a personality, right?”

A pause, “Not in the standard definition of the term, no. Origin acts solely on its programming, although few are privy to what that looks like, and although it is advanced enough to learn and acquire new information, there should be no emotional reasoning behind its actions.”

“So strictly speaking, it can’t hate something or someone?” I asked again, keeping my tone even.

“That should be impossible,” he said, tone growing darker by the second. Q was always smart enough to understand the nuances, “did it…”

“Yes,” I answered without waiting for him to finish, “Something’s going on in this world that’s causing strange changes to its environment, and I think that includes the Origin Matrix, or at least the part of it that’s monitoring your Site.”

“That…” Another pause, “That is most troubling, Lord. There should be nothing that could cause such a change, but if it is linked to the sudden rise in Anomalies… I will look into this case further. Central is hiding something, and I’ll see if I can’t figure out what that is.”

“Can you also see if you can access the information for this planet?”

“I will, Lord.”

“Good, and I’ll look into things on my side as well, I feel like the natives here know something about the corruption.”

“Understood, Lord. I will keep you updated.”

“You’re dismissed, good luck on your side.”

“Thank you.” Q said one last time before the static was cut.

So it seems like my assumptions were correct, and something was definitely influencing not just the people here, but the Origin Matrix and even Noe. Once again, there were so many unknowns.

But there was no point in worrying about things that I can’t control. At least I had an inkling of what’s to come. Origin was out to get me, but its ability to act seemed limited; if it could truly hunt me like it claimed, it wouldn’t bother sending me all those useless titles. Yet I couldn’t be sure that this fact would remain. Central’s system seemed to change and mutate ever since I entered this cursed dark forest, and who’s to say that it couldn’t act directly soon?

Thankfully, I was in the unique spot where Q wasn’t my only source of information. I had the Regressor to rely on as well. Let’s see if I can’t find some nuggets of info out of the villagers and see what Jae-Hyun has to say about it.

“You sure took your time!” Vadeem said as I came back from the bushes, “Food not sit well with you?”

I glared at him.

“Alright, alright,” he said, “But no need to be shy about it!”

“Where’s the village elder?” I asked, changing the subject to something less ridiculous, “I need to speak with her about something.”

Vadeem pointed towards a location where a large portion of healing villagers were gathered. They were all busy doing something that I couldn’t make out, with some bringing random objects from their homes and others in the process of building something.

“I think they’re building a shrine for you,” Vadeem said with obvious amusement, “I’ve no idea what they’re saying, but it seems like you’re the official god to these people. Congrats, god-Walter!”

“Ha ha.” I said dryly.

“I joke,” he said with genuine warmth this time, “We need these people for your next wacky plan, that part’s obvious. You going to ask the old lady about where we are?”

“Yeah, and figure out what’s the deal with the darkness and the strange mutations.”

“It’s, like, magic?”

I gave him another hard stare, “Do not be like Noel, having to deal with one of her is already one too many.”

Ignoring the last of Vadeem’s jests, I walked towards the gathered crowd. They parted ways as I approached, some going so far as to go on their knees in prayer. It appears that they were actually busy making a shrine dedicated to me, and a crude wooden sculpture of myself was being carved out at breakneck speed.

The old woman, who I just found out was closer to being middle aged now that she wasn’t suffering from every known disease possible, was in the heart of the construction. Everyone dropped what they did as they saw me, and the village elder prostrated before me.

“Please direct me, oh Holy Light Bringer!” she said.

“Tell me of the history of this world,” I said, making sure Noe had changed my voice to be the appropriate levels of awe-inspiring again, “I wish to know more so that I can bring Light and Salvation!”

“I… I don’t know where to begin,” she said with hesitation, “Perhaps one of the others in the village would know about this better than I?”

That response was strange. I had years of experience reading people, and I could spot a liar when I met one, and the village elder was not telling me the truth. Now normally that wouldn’t be so strange, after all, everyone has a secret or three that they want to hide, but when the person in question thinks they’re talking to a literal god? That was suspicious.

I used my Rookie Arbiter Eyes to get her basic information.

Aarda - Level 53 Priest

“Priest Aarda,” I said with finality, “Do not even think of deceiving me. I already know everything. You are now given a choice, tell me the events that transpired truthfully, and be absolved of all Sin, or stay in the darkness.”

To make things even more dramatic, I activated my new halo skill, and an absolutely blinding light spread out around me, banishing every shadow within my sight. That caught the attention of the rest of the villagers, and none of them dared to even breathe in the presence of that all radiance.

 

Vadeem the Dream: Now you’re putting on a lightshow? Man, you gotta tell me what the hell you’re saying after this is done!

 

I ignored him for now and continued to stare into the gathered crowd of worshippers.

Aarda fell down, her head buried deep into the earth, and she pleaded, “Please Lord, do not forsake me! I will confess it all, to everyone here! Please!”

“Speak!” I commanded.

“I was the one who caused this calamity, Lord!”

A few gasps were audible, but they were quickly quenched by the rest of the people.

“Tell your tale,” I said again, “And I shall judge if you are truly the one responsible.”

“I…” she hesitated, but composed herself quickly, “I was just an acolyte back then, training at the Temple of Eternal Flame, and I thought that I would play a trick on one of the other acolytes, a close friend of mine. It was a moment of folly, I was so young back then, but… but youth is not an excuse.”

More whispers were heard.

“Continue.” I said, silencing the crowd once more.

“I wanted to get back at her for always teasing me, so I put a little bit of dream wine into her water. I just wanted her to get a little tipsy, get her into a little bit of trouble with the senior priests, but I had used the wrong bottle by accident. I used the undiluted wine.”

More murmurs from the crowd. I wasn’t sure what drinking some undiluted dream wine would do, but it didn’t sound good in any case.

“But if that had been the only mistake that day, I would have just been punished with a light flogging…” She took her time to say the next part, “But the drink was mixed up and delivered to the Head Priests instead. They drank it and… and in their intoxicated state, allowed the Flame of Creation to be extinguished.”

This time the outrage was loud. Curses and shouts of retribution echoed in the air, and many of the villagers were looking at the village head with death in their eyes. It took Vadeem roaring in anger to calm them down enough for me to address the gathered people.

“Enough!” I shouted, amplifying my voice to its maximum, “Only I have the right to judge!”

The villagers ceased their anger, for the moment, and allowed me to continue, “And I say that the blame does not lie solely on Aarda! Why were there no countermeasures put into place in case the Head Priests were ever compromised? Why were there no safeguards established so that the Flame of Creation could always be monitored, no matter the situation? No, this is a failure on the part of everyone present!”

I paused for dramatic effect, looking into the eyes of every single villager, “You allowed yourselves to become complacent. You thought that guarding the Flames was a simple ritual and allowed yourselves to be sloppy in its execution.”

The people who had just been shouting curses at Aarda looked down in embarrassment, unable to think of a way to counter what I had said.

“But Aarda is not free of guilt herself,” I added, because I knew that the rage of the people here needed to be vented somehow, “And thus I sentence you to a life of exile! The one known as Aarda will never know the Light of the Dawn Bringer again!”

Aarda broke into tears then, banging her head onto the ground over and over again, “Please! Lord, please no!”

“Leave at once,” I said without mercy. The life of one small woman was worth it to secure the allegiance of the people here, “And never return.”

Some men gathered around her and forcibly removed her from my presence once it was clear that she would not leave willingly. Aarda was begging and screaming all the while. I just looked on emotionlessly. Her sacrifice was necessary.

“Now, my fellows,” I said once everyone had calmed down again, “I shall tell you my plans to bring you salvation! Heed my words!”

Now then, let's see what I can do with these villagers. If I play my cards right, I'll have an army of religious nutjobs at my beck and call. I smiled as I imagined the look on the stupid Origin AI's metaphorical face when it finally realizes how much of a mess I was making in its Trials. Let's see who's the real hunter here!

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