Daimonin's Bits and Random Inspirations

Every once in a while I get an idea for a story, but it's just the one idea that is unlikely to go further of develop into a full plot. So I'll toss it in here and dig the thread up again when the next inspiration strikes.


Oracle of Nazarick

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I had a life before, I think, but then I found myself being crafted as an NPC by none other then HeroHero, in the game world of YGGDRASIL. His magnum opus, back in the days when the guild was still vibrant and alive, before he lost himself to the real world. He gave me the form of a birdmen, fashioned in the image of a bipedal, humanoid owl of some sorts. I was to be Ainz Ooal Gowns secret weapon, a way to get the jump on all other guilds. Archmedes Owlington or “The Oracle of Nazrick” he named me. Stuffed with the most complex AI coding he could squeeze into an NPC, a backstory that read like a novel -- he throughout seemed possessed when he wrote it —, all for the single purpose of theoretically, according to him, being able to see game content that players were not meant to access yet. Why? Expansions. In those days the game was in it’s heyday, major expansions dropped every year, any guild that could discover the new content first would have a leg up against all others.

Somehow, in the process, he had pulled my soul from wherever it had been to reside within his creation. Or maybe he accidentally created a true AI that thinks it had a life before. The difference is academic. Not that I came out quite… right as an NPC. With being a Sapient being, I had no need to follow the restrictions of the other NPCs. Whereas others would follow patterns required of them, I never bothered with a charade. Oh I kept mostly in character, the wise and all seeing oracle, sometimes I spoke plain, other times in riddles, and always buggy. Ignoring orders, moving on my own.

From time to time, I would troll the Players. Small, subtle things… well mostly because I didn’t want to be TOO obvious, I couldn’t make the other NPC’s act outside their limitations or scripting, and I only said “We are but pawns in a greater game” once, during a strategy meeting where it was sort off appropriate.
What was HeroHero or the others going to do, call a GM to report the NPC they made to break the game was broken?

I did break the game. Ainz Ooal Gown dominated the next two expansions, ‘discovering’ new content within hours of it going live. I expect the discussion on whether the guild was receiving insider information or just very lucky had kept quite a few YGDDRASIL devs up way into the early hours.

After that, I limited myself to smaller stuff, as far as HeroHero and the others were concerned the devs had patched whatever exploit he had stumbled over in his coffee fueled obsession with creating me. Smaller stuff? Any player, any guild, anything said within the server, I saw it all, and Ainz Ooal Gown was never ambushed or taken by surprise.

All good things come to an end though. In this case, a slow withering one. Less and less players came online, honestly Ainz Ooal Gown fared better then many others. Economic difficulties in the real world from what I saw other players speaking of, war on the horizon…

But that was in the past. I flew on silent wings through the corridors of the Great Tomb of Nazerick. The halls were dark and quiet, as they had been for so long since most of the Players had stopped showing up. Only Momonga still logged in regularly, and most of the other NPC’s merely idled along their preset routines when not in his presence. Their AI was a piece of art compared to what passed for NPC AI in my old world, but still not self aware. They could navigate a complex environment or battleground without issue, and could generate thousands of lines of dialog based on their back-story and recorded memory. But they wouldn’t unless prompted by a players actions.

My creator, HeroHero had finally returned after being absent for two years, come to speak to Momonga one final time. I used my skills of prophecy, and saw the ticking countdown to server shutdown. Still a little ways off but…

I swooped into the chamber that Momonga and HeroHero were talking in. My creator jerked in surprise as I dropped into the chair next to him.

“Ah, Archemedes… still glitching out as usual?” He asks, though he’s speaking to Momonga despite looking at me. HeroHero had spent… a lot of time over the years going over my everything, trying to find what was making be behave erratically, yet afraid to change anything for fear of losing it.

“The usual,” says Momonga, “Still shows up where you least expect him, says some cryptic stuff that may or may not be important, and then leaves.”

Yeah there hasn’t been much going on in the past few months, with the server population dropping, no new players, no new expansions… I haven’t had anything to make any proper prophecies about. Speaking of…

“The eyes see, the ears hear, the skin feels. Yet there is nothing there.” I say, turning my head a full circle around to stare at Momonga. I wonder… should I try and keep HeroHero from leaving? In all honesty, the ‘real’ world seems a pretty craptastic place, and his job is indubitably killing him. In fact…. I spin my head around and stare my yellow owl eyes at my creator. A mental reflex and I activate whatever unholy amalgamation of power allows me to see what the future holds for YGDDRASIL, but this time I focus it on my creator.

I’m not sure what is going on in the backend code, I’m guessing some sort of safety function, status monitoring, there has got to be components in the VR system that make sure the user doesn’t die when disconnected from their bodies.
What I see however, is shadows of despair and exhaustion hanging over HeroHero, a vissage of a grim reaper standing at his back, scythe raised. It’s only a question of time till he either succumbs and dies… or takes a short walk off the roof.
“I’ll never understand what I did with him. Sometimes it’s like he knows more then he should. More then just being the Oracle should give him. I'm having trouble staying awake...I think I'll log off first. I'm glad I could meet you at the end, both of you. Goodnight. ” HeroHero says.

“To sleep is to die, the future you seek lies not in that path.” So maybe I have gotten a bit too into the habit of cryptic warnings and prophecies. Should I be more clear? I’d try but I worry that if I outright break the fourth wall, his curiosity might override his exhaustion and he’ll actually go digging in my settings again, without regard for keeping me intact. There’s still something like an hour left on the shutdown timer, more then enough for him to break something. Besides which, it’s not like they’d have any reason to believe me if I did outright tell them whats going down. It’s completely ridiculously insane.

HeroHero shakes his head. “Well that’s a comforting thing to hear before I go to bed…” He looks at me, I stare back, unblinking, unmoving. Gods being a giant anthropomorphic owl is cool. He shakes his head. "Ah I guess sleeping in my VR rig won't hurt, and it'll be nice to fall asleep in a place that has always been a better home. Momonga-san, I won't see you again after the server shuts off, but I'll sleep in my quarters here until then." Then he's gone, teleporting down to the player rooms.

It’s almost time, Momonga leads the procession of Sebas Tian, and the Pleiades. I join the procession in the back, a silent companion. If Momonga notices, he doesn’t say anything. Too used to my erratic and glitchy behavior. We enter the throne room, Albedo standing by her place beside the throne.

“The command was… Stand By right?” He says. The procession bows and takes their place. Eh may as well, I follow suite. He looks at us all, his gaze pausing on me, before moving on, settling on Albedo. He pulls up her settings and scrolls through them, mumbling to himself. “So long… Tabula…” Hah he hasn’t seen my settings. Tabula may have been a settings maniac, but HeroHero was possessed. Or inspired.

I use my abilities to sneak a look at his HUD. One minute to go. He deletes the line about Albedo being a complete bitch. Good. Then he pauses as he considers to replace it with something else. I do not remember much after this part, but I recall this part well. He’s going to feel guilty for forcing her feelings on her later isn’t he. Time to step up.
“Think long on what you are about to do Lord Momonga.” I say, stepping out of line. He looks up at me, distracted from his moment of weakness.

“What does it matter… None of it will shortly. Then end of an era.” He sighs and breaks his gaze from me, looking around at the flags hanging around the throne room. “Bow down.” He gestures, and the NPC’s do as ordered. “A relic of the past. Me, Touch Me, Sijuuten Shizaku…” He gazes at each of the flags of the members.

I speak again as he finishes reciting the names. “All the world's a stage and we are merely the actors. Now we take our bows, and await the final curtain call.” I join the NPCs in their bow, and hold my position for the moment it takes the HUD to tick over to 00:00:00, and disappear. Then I stand up again. “The show is over, the actors are done. Now is the time for the writer to begin his next play. What kind of play will it be Suzuki?”

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AN: I had to go and re-watch parts of the first episode. It's been a while since I watched the show, and I can't say I cared much for the later seasons. But I've seen a few fics pop up with it recently, and I got inspired, mostly concerning the speech at the end, and wanting to write a SI character in the world that doesn't bow down to the all mighty 'just an NPC' routine.