Chapter 160: Power Name |
James brought all his focus to bear.
This was it.
“Ready.”
Connecting James Kelly to potential Void-brane energy
That distant storm pressed in upon the limits of his mind and his vision blurred, his sense of self fragmented and then came rushing back together.
And then:
You have 1 novemdecillion unspent points
James blinked at the text. Novemdecillion? What the fuck was that?
Spend all points on Apotheosis?
Correct, James.
“All of you? None of you has been erased yet?”
Correct, James.
James licked his lower lip. It all came down to this. His only gamble. His radically desperate hope. “Before I answer that question, can you go to the root directory?”
Root directory?
“Right. You were hacked back on Arkhos, remember? You were humoring the Zorathians and me back then. Which means you can take me back there. The root directory.”
The System didn’t respond.
“You said you were influenced by humanity, yeah?” James tried to remain calm. “And that you’ll be erased once we finish this process. Well, maybe there’s a chance that doesn’t have to happen.”
Still the System didn’t respond.
Was it reporting back in to the Eluthaarii?
“I haven’t said no,” said James. “I’m just asking to see something first. Surely you can accommodate that?”
Very well.
Unspent points: 1 novemdecillion
Select Purchase Category:
Offense | Defense | Abundance
Substance | Spatial | Temporal
Self | Summons | Virtues
Apotheosis
James’s froze, not quite believing it had worked. He stared at the text. Hesitantly, with exceeding care, he opened the Temporal menu.
Reverse time (1/variable pts) | Area of Effect (1/variable pts) | Location
“System, I’m not familiar with how this part of the menu works. If…” His voice gave out. James coughed and tried again. “If I wanted, theoretically, to reverse time by a month, how much would it cost?”
That depends on the area of effect.
“Say, purely theoretically, for the entirety of planet Earth.”
A month would cost 1x10 to the 31st points
196,936,994 miles squared would cost approximately 1x10 to the 36th power points
Total cost of approximately 1x10 to the 63rd points
“Uh… do I have that many points?”
No.
Even if you did, since you do not have sufficient Aeviternum or Arete to fuel this Miracle, it would self-fuel, consuming itself in the process.
Uncertainty flooded James and made him feel weak. “One time usage is fine. I, uh, how much time could I go back before System began with novemdecillion points? For all of Earth?”
System incursion -330 hours, or approximately -2 weeks would cost approximately 1x10 to the 24th points
196,936,994 miles squared would cost approximately 1x10 to the 36th points
Total cost of approximately 1x10 to the 60th points
“Do I have that many points?”
Yes.
James exhaled raggedly and closed his eyes. For a few moments he just hung in space, loose, empty, numb. Then he forced his eyes open once more.
“How many points would that leave over?”
3,789,000,000 points
James just stared. “Three billion…?”
Correct.
This would be a near complete expenditure of this sector’s Void energy.
Following this course of action would preclude apotheosis for approximately four/five centuries.
“Wait. You said you guys had been gathering energy since the ‘40s. Wouldn’t it take just another 80 years to build back up?”
The bulk of energy harvested came from existing natural reservoirs.
Recapturing that amount from ever-collapse facilities would take approximately four/five centuries.
James grinned. “That’s just perfect.”
Theoretical exercise complete?
Resume Apotheosis?
James licked his lips. “Actually, System. This may sound crazy, but I’ve… I’ve had a change of heart. Let’s skip the Apotheosis deal this time round. Instead, grant me that Temporal Ability we’ve been discussing.
There was a protracted pause.
You wish to spend 1x10 to the 60th points on Temporal Reversal?
“Right. Just as we discussed. Let’s do it.”
System didn’t respond.
James hung in the void, his grin wild, desperate, slowly disappearing.
“System?”
There was no response.
It had to be telling Jelly, right?
“System, listen. You send me back a two weeks before Nemesis 1, and I’ll see to it that you don’t die today. Think about it. You said humanity has changed you. If there’s one thing humanity does best it’s survive. Which means you must want to continue living. To persist, yeah? You get to keep rejoicing in your continued existence. And if it takes this sector four or five centuries to accumulate enough energy, then fuck, that’s half a millennium you’ll be buying for yourself. Right?”
No response.
“System?” James felt desperation start clawing him at the throat. So much hung in the balance. “Please. Please let me do this. We all benefit. Everyone but the Eluthaarii, but fuck those guys. Fuck them and their war, their ‘might makes right’, their arrogance, their calling us little guys ‘ants’. Help me out here. What’s the worse that can happen? They erase you regardless? But if this works - if we pull this off - then who knows what the future may hold for you?”
His words were taken and swallowed by the void.
James stared out at the star fields. The endless majesty of the galaxy. The suns and who knew what else. It was glorious. Endless.
And he desperately wanted none of it.
“System,” he whispered. “You and me, buddy. C’mon. What do you say?”
A cursor appeared in his vision. It did nothing but blink, and then, all at once, new words scrolled across his vision.
Temporal Reversal purchased
Unspent points: 3,789,000,000
Power Name?
“Fuck yeah!” James screamed, punching up into nothing and causing himself to spin around. “Fuck yeah, System! You and me, baby, you and me, all the -”
A mote of white light began to flicker beside him.
Eluthaarii incoming
“Fuck,” hissed James. He summoned his statistics sheet, mentally fumbling for the data, and searched for his new ability.
Death Attack was there, but nothing else.
“System! Where’s the power?”
The white mote hissed and spat like a sparkler then widened into a portal.
Power Name?
“Oh fuck! Uh - Reboot!”
Jelly appeared in the void beside him, his entire being coruscating with white fire. His fury blasted James, incandescent, as powerful as a supergiant going nova. Even as he appeared he began shedding his Animus Sola form, expanding, becoming organic, billowing out into a translucent and silver jellyfish-like creature of endless scale.
JAMES, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE
James felt his mind withering, his soul shattering before Jelly’s cosmic presence. His focus fell apart, his thoughts shivered into fragments, but even as the Eluthaarii continued its manifestation he glanced at his sheet.
There, beside his Second Miracle: Reboot.
JAMES, screamed the Eluthaarii, causing the very fabric of space-time itself to ripple. YOU CANNOT -
“Fuck you,” he hissed, and activated the power.
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