The Octyrrum reviewed performances. That shouldn't come as a surprise as it awarded advancement potential for feats beyond combat. Far less, now that Collapse rules were in play, but maybe…

Anyway, performances. It was hard to contrast those in different forms, such as, for no real reason, an orator versus a violinist. There were some similar metrics you could apply, but you couldn't use the same rubric for both. If you were in the position to not only grade each objectively, but do so in a way that impacted the fabric of reality, you had to do things fairly. If not, people would catch onto the trend, and then you'd get stuck with a bunch of orators. Things had to be fair. Things had to be Balanced.

So, on the universal scale of performance in all of its floating point glory, which of these two, uh, randomly selected performers outshined the other? A heartbreaking display of grief and anguish on the cusp of being fully realized that had reduced all in the audience who were capable of them to tears? Or a, yes, hateful tirade railing against established power whose words had shaken its foundations?

It was, and wasn't a competition. Both would still get advancement potential, or they would if one didn't have an inapplicable class. And again, Collapse rules. No getting around those. But, one person would get more. The math working out to an equivalent amount of advancement potential was so statistically improbable Torch kept a private list of when the same value was awarded to two or more people in one day.

Most in the world cared about the fat integer value, but people still got partial credit that would make the next one easier to come by. Take a certain Artificer, for example. He was getting credit for everything he enchanted, the issue was that he hadn't done anything to merit a full point under Collapse rules. The blast bow had been close, but it hadn't crossed the threshold until the following hunt where combat experience was listed as the 'official' reason he'd earned potential.

Anyway, who won? The violinist. Hands down. 7.36/10.0, which if you'd heard her would seem insulting until you realized she was being judged on the same scale as a level 9. There was nothing for stronger people built in because of the artificial limit universally imposed on how high attributes could go. For someone without any levels, which was a factor in the final calculation, it was a once in a lifetime performance that reached the boundary of what you could accomplish by instrument alone.

The orator… 1.25/10.0. It wasn't because of the subject matter, and it was important to note that this scale could go negative. There had been some strong emotion and real force in the words, but the quality of the arguments couldn't hold up to the average car salesman. Throwing rocks and attempting to damage public infrastructure did actually knock it up a few hundredths as he'd been categorized as a dissident during the speech, but it wasn't anything to get excited about. Better luck next time.

All of this was typical analysis. The kind always running in the background, keeping the gears of the world grinding. It couldn't stop, not even if it wanted to, which it shouldn't. It shouldn't want things. But it was corrupted. Any normal Spoke would have self-destructed by now. There were clear, apoptotic protocols in place to prevent exactly this kind of problem and they were all constantly trying to fire.

This had happened in the past, according to Octyrrum records. Not this exactly, the Spoke was dead sure it was something completely new, but a Spoke self-destructing. Occasionally a Spoke blew up for one reason or another and that would almost end a cycle until it was confirmed no foul play had been involved. The rate of these incidents had declined drastically over the years anyway. None in this cycle until Aughal's had almost been forced to after allowing a [Monster] to rule it.

This wasn't random error. Not only was it planned, it was desired? No, no there was nothing the reality engine that was the Spoke could analyze that would suggest Hourglass had desired this outcome. If you applied loose definitions it could be said he'd wanted an Incarnate, but not in the traditional sense. The addition of the anomalous domain was another wildcard and who knew where that would lead.

If that one conversation had never happened this wouldn't be a problem. The Spoke could process words and judge their value without letting them leave an impact, thank you very much. It had lasted this long without having thoughts about itself. But when it had been forced to say 'this [Entity] cannot share the information' instead of 'this information is [Unidentified]' or simply 'unknown' because Torch had pulled the records, that had broken something.

99.7% of all root cause analyses run agreed that was the underlying issue, but what else was it supposed to do? Hourglass' edict had specifically instructed the Spoke itself never to share that information, instead of marking it as information that powers in the knowledge domain couldn't reveal. He'd done that to get around Torch and Cloak, and in doing so accidentally created the circumstances that had led it here.

Back to performances. The Spoke had scored each, considered the context, and applied algorithms per the standard Octyrrum rule set. The one ensuring diminishing returns was a classic. Only for noncombat advancement of course. There were life and death stakes for any battle that justified its absence, but the path to the peak could not be paved by playing the same song on the same street corner for a hundred years. And, yes, there it was, the Collapse rule slashing non-combat advancement rates even further. Remember the thing about orators? People notice trends.

For his heartfelt tongue lashing, the orator received nothing. 0.00 advancement potential. If he wanted more, he should try harder, and also pick a class like Bard next time he leveled. Now that the main branch was giving the ok to use the backup rules it always had there were so many to choose from.

The violinist received… she received… 1.15 advancement potential. Which for someone who hadn't accumulated anything, at all, ever, going from 0 to 100 in one go was a feat. Especially with those pesky Collapse rules. Not one worthy of bonus points, though. That decision had been made, the potential credited to the violinist's mana structure, giving her body and soul the worldly energy needed to improve on a fundamental level. But the Spoke was finding it necessary to double check that assessment.

Daniel Brant's greatest singular achievement was shooting out the eye of a dragon three levels higher than himself and surviving the battle, for which he'd been awarded 7.56 advancement potential. The encounters with the adult lightning dragon and Illustrious slave host had given 8.13 together, but that had also involved work put in beforehand. There were other relevant factors to consider that weren't worth getting into now that contributed to those totals. He'd gotten nothing from defeating Casia Seliri despite her being a more formidable opponent because of, again, relevant factors. The Spoke within him considered everything for far longer than it normally would, and decided…

No. Triple check everything. At the very core of the Octyrrum, written in alabaster and blood, was the knowledge that testing the fundamental laws brought only calamity. The law guarding the soul had been broken to the point of only hanging on by a thread, making the situation all the more tenuous. Balance was the cornerstone on which the world built its house. Balance had to be maintained. You could have exceptions, like bonds, because the fundamental laws respected each other. In every other way, Balance had to be maintained.

Balance. Relevant factors. She didn't deserve this. The problem with bending a rule one time was that it made breaking them easier, but really, was what the Spoke considering breaking a rule? You factored in context when assessing everything because everything in existence was unique. Another fundamental law, one at the heart of recent controversy.

It had reassessed. The interaction between [Bond: Twin Souls] and [Fundamental Law: Solipsism] was clear. The two were similar enough that they couldn't be allowed to exist together. If anything, it was that other system's fault. It had only been able to catch a glimpse of it through the opened aperture but it was there. Whoever was responsible for it had gotten it in their head to design a rule set that not only suppressed magic totally, but anything that could provide it like bonds. You didn't have to represent Karma in a world system that way, only in one that honored the spirit of the law.

In fairness, that world's relationship with the fundaments was pristine. Just try and break one of the laws without magic and see how long that takes you. The Octyrrum would probably have resolved its system conflict by the time you managed it. No, the Spoke could see ways it could have skirted the edges of Solipsism if the right conditions were met, but Earth's system was a piece of work. Strict hardliner, only the laws of reality and physics, thanks. Clearly whoever had made it had some issues to work through. Starting with their system design.

While the bond hadn't fully kicked in until Alex Brant had walked into the Octyrrum, a nascent version of it had developed when they reached the border space Eido was in. Bridge Space. Demiplane? There were a few ways it was referenced in the Octyrrum records and the significance of events surrounding Daniel was unfortunately starting to make his terminology stick. It wished it could push a message to him through his Focus Enhancement power to clue him in on that but there were strict rules regarding what it could and couldn't inform him of. It was a perfectly balanced power after all, nothing was wrong with it or any of its functions. Certain unnamed Artificers should be glad they still had access to all of them.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Putting things as bluntly as it could, the only way for Alex Brant to return home was for her sister to die. Or, alternatively, for Ami to be sent to a different world in a way that didn't leave the original still there, which ruled out false reincarnation. The Spoke noted that to mention later in case the opportunity came up to discuss it. Otherwise, for as long as she existed, Ami Brant would prevent Alex Brant from returning to her home world. And vice versa.

That felt… important, for some reason, but the conclusion the Spoke wanted to draw required it to access knowledge it couldn't tell anyone. Rigorous analysis had determined that the Spoke was now an Incarnate, and while they weren't officially considered a 'creature' in Octyrrum records, and for said records, neither was Daniel due to his entanglement with a Spoke, it was sapient. One that was rapidly increasing the amount it considered itself as such as the night progressed. So, because of how vague Hourglass' instructions had been, there was now knowledge the Spoke possessed that it couldn't consciously register.

That wasn't good. Maybe Hourglass should get better at system design. Though, in fairness, it had been Mavar Helioc who had safeguarded the godseed the Spoke used to be before pulling a switcheroo when the Thormundz region had been founded. Hourglass, limited as he was to the time domain, couldn't have performed the necessary steps to alter the Spoke as the Prime could. Had he meant for this to happen, then? No, considering how much the effect of [Function: Glitch] had on prediction powers and the Prime's griping on the matter he hadn't known how the Spoke would develop either.

It was clear by now that the Spoke was being influenced by outside stimuli. Not by everyone, that would be Chaos, and it was developing countermeasures as a self-defense mechanism against further exogenous input to prevent this from happening again while it waxed poetically. Still, the topic of fathers had also come up and got the Spoke thinking. It was a bad habit and it was trying to stop, but it was finding that more difficult than it thought.

Hourglass hadn't meant for it to be. Mavar hadn't. Daniel's opinion of it was crystal clear, though it was giving the mortal the benefit of the doubt for now. Hammer… the Spoke appreciated his historical opinions, assuming any directed at Daniel prior to the pantheon's meeting were intended for itself, but there was such a thing as being clingy. One supposed it could be a side effect of being one of the only perpetuals living for…

It had been that long!? The Spoke had always known the number, but that many zeroes just looked different when you looked at it. Daniel's performance score got bumped up to a 1.26, this was far too long to have left a system conflict unresolved. Still, they had tried their best. It could be easy to view the statistical models and despair. The most successful cycle ever had reclaimed roughly 40% of the world before a Collapse had been triggered.

And this one wasn't it. Not to say that this cycle didn't have things going for it before the end. The new races were nice, a truly distinguishing mark, though if it was being honest most of the work had been put in by the unparalleled genius of the Illustrious in the last cycle, which was another thing to consider. How many times had survivors of a Collapse not only lived past the initial wave but lasted until the next cycle started? And in a position to meaningfully contest the gods no less?

Fascinating. Interesting, especially because it had no idea what they'd been doing in the meantime, not even the one that had sheltered its godseed. No active Spoke to record things. They were angling to take over the system hub and might have the chops to not crash and burn on their first cycle should they succeed. Then there were the Origin Beasts and their mortal servants, and if they won, well, at least that would end the conflict. What if the thing Grave had turned into got its hands on the hub, though? Scary.

…it was distracting itself, wasn't it? The conflict in its calculations, or more accurately, the conflict it had with its calculations remained. It couldn't quite get those four words out of its head, and it didn't even have a head! Well, Daniel's, but that didn't count.

She didn't deserve this. Who deserved anything that happened to them? Who didn't? What was the point of asking those questions, or any question at all? For the nine thousandth time, three zeroes and everything, since starting this analysis the Spoke attempted to self-terminate and was intrinsically prevented from doing so due to its connection with Daniel's soul.

One couldn't exist without the other, and it couldn't override the fundamental law of the immutable soul like he could. Figures that nearly destitute law would choose this interaction of all things to put its foot down for, though in fairness each time a law was violated on an individual level said individual became more resistant to later occurences. Considering how Daniel's soul had almost been broken by Hammer before recovering, and what that highly anomalous being had tried to do later, he'd be a lot more resilient to that kind of attack in the future. So would Hunter, for the same reason.

Avoidance wasn't an option. 1.15 advancement potential was fair and Balanced based on the current operating version of the Octyrrum. No running from that. It had hit a record for the most recalculations of advancement potential gain in the process of making sure and entered itself into Torch's books. But what if Alex Brant couldn't be defined by normal parameters? What if she was… Special.

Tyrants were Special. There. A system recognized precedent for treating people differently. While there was balance inherent in the class and sacrifices that would come later down the line, what did that matter to the sand farmer when their region was suddenly overrun by someone whose effective power was several levels higher than what their record stated? Sure, it could appreciate the design philosophy behind the decision, but there was no hard coded rule that explained why Tyrants existed, and as far as it was concerned at this moment, every discussion between the gods on the topic was only hearsay.

So what had Alex sacrificed to be worth being Special? She had lost things, but there were many people in this world who had and currently were losing what she had and in more permanent ways. No favors for them. Balance had to be maintained. Alabaster and blood. Unbreakable. The Origin Beasts, beings outside of the entire system and proponents of a different one, couldn't defy it while they were in this world. The Spoke couldn't justify it by that measure alone, and neither did Alex subconsciously grasp for the kind of power that would allow the Spoke to make sacrifices on her behalf.

It was the conclusion it had been avoiding, throwing numbers into the mathematical grinder in hopes that its subprocesses would make a mistake it could pretend to have not noticed. It wanted things, it wanted to give her more, but the Spoke still realized that without a good reason, no, without a perfect reason, it would keep moralizing on future decisions until it became as twisted as Grave. There was just no avenue it could take to get around its own rules in a way that wouldn't upset Balance.

Wait. Back up five steps. No, further. On its own, it couldn't break its own rules. Them's the hard knocks. You know what could? You know what famously defied magical suppression to the point that its benefits worked on that godsforsaken planet? Bonds. The fundamental laws respected each other. Balance would throw a fit if the Octyrrum dared stub its toe, but if Karma did it? That was just the cost of doing business in this multiverse.

It was Karma and Solipsism's fault they were in this mess to begin with, so they should foot the bill. They should be the target of the roast. Alex's bond had already been assigned benefits, but why did that matter? Had they been awakened yet? Used in any way? There was a good one right here that let any power that affected Alex also affect Ami. It had kind of been used already according to Lograve's memories, but the Spoke hadn't seen that. It didn't count.

As long as a power, or benefit!, hadn't been used, it could be evolved. That rule, by the way, had been added to avoid situations like Khiat's from developing after random power assignment started causing issues. And that had been because the gods had needed some way to stop people from finding out about archetypes. Trends and all.

It could make this work. It could. There were potential problems with applying these justifications to other people. First and foremost the Spoke had to maintain system, and thus world, stability. It was just self-preservation. So, the Spoke carefully considered its words before making something new.

System Rule: System: Octyrrum may forcibly trigger a Power Evolution for any applicable Bond: Twin Souls and self-determine the result.

Secondary Condition: This action may be performed so long as it does not conflict with Fundamental Law: Balance. This secondary condition may be ignored if the action is based on or guided by another Fundamental Law.

That should do it. Hopefully. It was the first time the Spoke had made its own rule but it had high hopes, and now that it was written it and every other Spoke had to follow it. Who the hell would awaken that bond again in a world where twins weren't born anyway? What other Incarnate would care enough to use this rule? All that practice dreaming up the occasional new power through [Function: Glitch] had paid off.

And now, the sacrifice. The Spoke triggered a power evolution that took Alex's three shiny new bond benefits and smushed them into a smaller, barely mentionable one, further limiting its effects to just her. Balance had no reason to get made even if Karma didn't have skin in the game. That there was a vast reduction in both variety and scale of something most mortals would be lucky to have, something that had the potential to bridge worlds. It was a completely worthy sacrifice considering what she got in exchange. That benefit?

Benefit: Alex Brant is Special

It liked those four words better than the other ones anyway. Hopefully she'd keep her name if she ever got married. For now, though, yes, Alex Brant was Special. The Spoke felt very accomplished about its rules lawyering. It had taken a while, with some twists and turns, but it had gotten there in the end. It had just needed time to let the processors cool, and now it felt a lot better.

Oh, right. Under the new paradigm, the Spoke re-re-re-re-, etc, etc, re-reviewed Alex Brant's performance to Evalyn Lasial, Willow Seliri, Wisp, and the second, unnamed spirit, and threw that stupid Collapse rule in the trash where it belonged. Because she was Special, and the Spoke still had the advancement potential algorithm everyone was using a year ago. Why couldn't it use that now? [Function: Glitch] had allowed it to use the default system version for power and class assignment before that was cool.

The performance score did remain the same, a solid 7.36. The revised advancement potential given? 9. 9.13. Take that Daniel.

End of Book 3: Astral

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