Chapter 1122: The Big Reveal

Chapter 1122: The Big Reveal

With Lena keeping an eye on the larger criminal organizations, making sure that none of them tried to do something incredibly stupid, the days managed to pass rather peacefully. We created as many weapons as we could to prepare for the incoming invasion, and spread our defensive forces out across our inhabited worlds. Gods and Fallen Gods alike were stationed at every colonized star system, and even regular citizens could feel the increased tension from the distribution of forces.

However, there was one thing left to do before the invasion, and that was the annual meeting. This meeting was going to start in just over an hour, and we would have a week to get as many points or other rewards as we could.

Given Lena’s performance since joining Olympus, I believed that she was trustworthy to accompany us to this meeting. But first, I needed to have a talk with her. Thus, I looked up at the ceiling, calling out to the digital intelligence in charge of communication. “Hermes, can you let Lena know that I would like to speak with her?”

“Of course, Keeper.” Hermes responded, before going silent. Roughly a minute later, there was a knock on my office door.

“You wanted to see me, boss?” Lena asked, poking her head in. She blinked in surprise at my serious expression, and I gestured for her to come in and take a seat. “My clone and I didn’t mess up anything big, did we?”

I shook my head, offering a small smile. “Not that I am aware of. But there are some things that we need to talk about, and not a lot of time to talk. So please, take a seat.”

Lena looked confused, but quickly ran over to sit across from me, nodding her head.

“How much do you know about Keepers, Lena?” I asked, wanting to develop a baseline for the conversation, that way I knew what I needed to fill in or correct.

Lena thought about that for a moment, and I could tell that she was taking this seriously, which I appreciated. “According to the information I have access to, a Keeper is born together with the void, but likely resides within a separate realm for the majority of their existence. Additionally, time within this separate realm does not always move at the same pace as time in the mortal world.”

“Next, the Keeper possesses the ultimate power of creation, but this power must abide by a set of rules. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have anything to worry about, and there would be no need for you to have Chelsea and the others researching world creation on their own. Following this logic, there is a system in place for Keepers, one that exists above the normal mortal system.”

“Through this system, you are able to exert your power to execute a vast, yet limited number of options. These options allow you to interact with the world, such as altering the world laws, updating the system we live under, or creating entirely new worlds or gods.”

“Next, there is a hierarchy among the gods that you have created, with Terra being in a special position. Of all of the members of the Greater Pantheon, she is the only one that can’t directly inhabit her mortal vessel. This can be seen from how they act, showing that it is not a matter of choice on her part. Given that I cannot see you placing those restrictions on her yourself, these restrictions must come from the system, which has deemed her to be in a position where it would disrupt the balance of the world if she had direct control.”

“History has proven that there exist other Keepers, who typically have a hostile relationship with each other. However, this is not always the case, as proven by the existence of the memetic sensor that was received. That technology was of a completely different field of thought from how we invent, so it is unlikely to have come from this world.”

“These other Keepers appear to invade randomly, but using the previously gathered information, it can be assumed that there is actually a set schedule for their invasions. However, this set schedule follows the timeline of your separate dimension, so it gives the appearance of being random to the mortal world.”

“The final method is good for lump sums, and has much less danger, but is less commonly available to me. This is through a regular event hosted by the system, and available to all Keepers. We call it our annual meeting, because it happens once every year, according to the system clock. In this meeting, there are various activities for the Keepers to participate in that can award them points, and they are free to bring people from their own worlds.”

I offered a small smile, letting out a long breath. “This is where Tsubaki became a Keeper, as you mentioned. She participated in one activity that allowed her to experience life as a Keeper, with Dana as her assistant, equivalent to what Terra is for me.”

“The next annual meeting is starting in less than an hour now. Given your performance, I believed that you were trustworthy to take with me to the meeting.”

Lena’s eyes widened, clearly having not expected me to ask her to join me. “Wait... wait wait wait. You mean that you revealed all of this to me, and not only are you not expecting me to try to kill you to become the Keeper myself, but you are inviting me to a highly sensitive meeting where I could either help you or become a disruptive force? Are you insane? Like, seriously, is there something wrong with your head?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I don’t believe that you would try to take advantage of that. And if you did attack me, Terra is probably watching right now and has the ability to pull me out of the world before a fatal blow is landed. She probably would have pulled me out the instant that you decided to attack.”

Got that right... Terra’s voice spoke up in the back of my mind.

Lena hesitated, but nodded her head. “Got it. So, what do you want me to do in this meeting? Am I just helping you collect points, or do you want me to gather information on other Keepers?”

I smiled slightly, trying to dispel her serious demeanor. “Your first priority should be collecting points. And... Did I mention that the vast majority of the activities at this event take the form of games? You won’t be able to use your enhanced powers, but your personal judgment and skill will remain.”

Lena’s eyes widened again. “Wait, you want me to go to this meeting to... play games? Am I being pranked right now? Because if so, this is a good one.”

“I’m being serious, Lena.” I told her, reaching across the desk to lightly flick her forehead, causing her to hold her head with an aggrieved look. “There are also special rewards that can be earned in these games, tickets that allow a Keeper to either force an attack on someone, or cancel an attack coming their way. Additionally... as soon as we return from this meeting, the next invasion will begin.”

Lena’s eyes immediately became serious. “I understand, sir. In that case, would you allow me to try to gather information on the forces that the other Keeper is bringing in? I’ll need any identifying information that you can provide me.”

“The only thing that I know is their title, which is DarkestNight. For reference, mine is EarthForceOne. Gathering information on DarkestNight won’t be easy, since we don’t know what they look like or anything like that. That’s why I said that your first priority is to play those games to earn points.”

Lena slowly nodded her head, but maintained a pensive expression. “I understand, sir. I’ll do my best to help you in this upcoming meeting.”

With that, I began to explain to Lena how the meeting area worked, and the kinds of things that she could expect to find there.