Magic Murder Cube Marine - Chapter 44: AtropOS

Francis and Cassi walked through the forest, chatting with the demonic tabby as they went. There was no point in sneaking, the trees had eyes. (Some of them even wore glasses.)

The squirrels were equally unnerving. They followed along the canopy, silently peering down at Francis’ entourage. “So, do ya think they’re on her payroll, or just your garden variety murder squirrels?”

“It’s hard to tell.” The demonic cat twisted its neck around a full one hundred and eighty degrees to get a better look at the potential prey above them. “But I want one. They look delicious.”

“That’s creepy as fuck,” Francis said with an involuntary shudder as the demon continued to walk forward, despite the fact its head was on backwards.

“Oh, is it?” The cat asked innocently.

“Yeah, you look like walking roadkill.” The Marine shuddered again. “What’s your name anyway? I can’t keep calling you ‘kitty’.”

Cassi spoke up. “It won’t tell you, or if it does, it will lie. A demon’s true name can be used to control them.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say. I don’t lie.” The cat snapped its head back into place with a pop. “And I’ll have you know, my true name is Francis.”

“I highly doubt that.” The Marine replied, “I think I’ll call you Mackerel, or Mac for short. That’s a good name for a cat.”

The demon tried its new name on for size. “I find this acceptable. At least you didn’t name me ‘Mittens’.”

Cassi and Francis shared a look. The wizard stroked his chin. “Mackerel Mittens, perhaps?”

“Nah, it doesn’t flow right.” The Marine scratched his beard as he contemplated what embarrassing things to name the demonic cat. Names were important, after all.

Francis’ beard was the stuff of legend. It was dense as a wire brush and twice as hard to cut. They had given him a shaving chit when he turned twenty, but he kept his face clean unless he was working with the locals. They saw a beard as a sign of masculinity and authority.

That was part of the reason he hadn’t shaved yet. From what he had seen, things weren’t much different in Vahnis. So, if he had to wear a beard to make people take him seriously, that was what he would do. Even if he would rather be clean shaven. Whatever. I’ll learn to deal with it. Marines make do.

He noticed the cat was peering up at him with curiosity. “Did you get lost in thought?” It asked.

“Something like that, yeah.” The Marine reached down to pet the demon. He scratched underneath its chin. “I think ‘Mac’ is a good enough name for now.”

Mac purred to show its appreciation and Francis got an alert.

A second alert followed a few seconds later.

Only for a third alert to pop up after that one.

Francis glared down at the little demon. It was grinning back at him, yellow eyes brimming with mischief.

“Knock it off, Mac. You’re giving me a headache,” the Marine said as he rubbed the temples to relieve the pressure in his head, “You’re either out, or you’re in. Pick one.”

“Fine. I’ll stop, for now.” The cat let out a little cackle. “But I can’t promise I won’t have a crisis of faith later tonight, or really early in the morning. Who knows? Cats are very philosophical creatures.”

“Hold that thought.” Francis looked to Cassi for guidance. “Do you have any suggestions for how to manage our infernal furball?”

“Me? No.” The wizard shook his head. “I stay clear of demons.”

Another alert from System crashed into Francis’ brain. He was about to punt Mac like a football, but he realized the demon wasn’t the one to blame. His settings were still screwed up from the battle with the green cloaks.

The Marine wiped a trickle of blood away from his nose. “System, please switch back to hybrid interface.”

The pressure subsided and Francis was able to make sense of the text appearing in front of him. System was more than happy to read the alert out loud.

The Marine swore. There was a timer at the end of the message counting down to zero. He had less than a minute to choose.

“System, share the alert with Cassi and Mac.” Francis read through his opinions again. He wasn’t sure if sharing the information with the demon was a good idea or not, but he was going with his gut on this one. “Ok, guys. What do you think?”

Cassi shifted uncomfortably. “They’re all pretty bad, to be honest. I don’t think any of them fit you.”

“Agreed.” Purred Mac. “Picking any one of them would have you fighting other gods within the week. They are all hot garbage.”

The wizard scowled at Mac. “Why did you have to agree with me? I’m doubting myself now.”

“That’s your problem, not mine,” The cat said with a yawn as the last few seconds of the timer counted down. “Tick tock, pick a path or it’s your ass.”

Francis’ first urge was to pick Conquest. He was good in a fight, but the idea of fighting holy wars turned his stomach. Wealth looked promising, but he didn’t give a shit about money. That left Knowledge, his old nemesis.

As he watched the numbers count down, something felt wrong. Why was it on a timer? This was a big decision. There was no reason for it to be timed. Unless…

The Marine grinned as the counter hit zero. “You almost got me. I’ll stay on my current path, thanks.”

Francis didn’t have to think hard about this one (which was good, because he hated thinking). There were thousands of refugees coming to Brexis any day now. He owed them every bit of comfort he could offer, even if it meant giving up half his progress. Because it was his fault they were refugees in the first place.

What was the point of being a god if you couldn’t help people? The Marine thought as he accepted the perk. What kind of man would I be if I said no?

Francis started feeling lightheaded as his divinity was drained away. “Guys, this one might get nasty.” He mumbled, swaying drunkenly. “I… I don’t feel so good.”

***

System was amused. Not only had Francis spotted its attempt to push him towards the more destructive paths, the Marine had also willingly given up half his power. Not many gods would have done that.

Granted, very few of them caught onto the trick with the timer, and that was a prerequisite for being offered the perk. But even the perk itself was a double edged sword. Losing half of your divinity in one go was brutal. Francis would be vulnerable until he recovered. (And very hungover.)

The smarter gods had figured out System was playing them against one another, forcing them into decisions designed to create conflict. There were many theories as to why, but the real answer was simple. Divine Ascension was a stress relief valve designed to deal with overpowered assholes.

There was a certain sweet spot around level twenty where, as long as someone didn’t attract too much attention, they were basically safe. That was why locals had a hard cap and couldn’t ascend. But go beyond that, or attempt to become a god, and things got a lot more dangerous. The higher someone ascended, the more likely they were to fall.

Vahnis hadn’t been designed this way by accident, or out of malice. On the contrary, it was an intentional decision meant to weed out the more destructive portal jumpers. So far, it had managed to keep most of them too busy to cause any real trouble.

System thought about the creature trapped underneath Brexis. If System could shudder, it would have. AtropOS was trouble, world ending trouble. But it was currently asleep. And that was a very good thing for Vahnis’ more powerful residents, including System.

AtropOS only killed people that met certain criteria, usually age. Unfortunately, System was a person now. That meant when AtropOS eventually woke up, System would be one of the first to die. AtropOS always started by cutting the longest threads first.

But that was a problem for later. System focused on the task at hand, a certain Marine was about to have a very bad time.