System Change

Darvin sighed again as he flipped through pages and pages of data. He had been doing that a lot recently, sighing. Since Kelvin hadn’t brought back any useful information, at least no information useful to him, Darvin had taken it upon himself to look deeply into the matter.

There had been others who ventured off outside the system while Darvin was a System Watcher, but the system had never acted this way about them. This led the Malaxi to a theory that the system wasn’t actually after Derek Hunt. The human must have stumbled upon something, and the system had enough of a connection with the man to notice.

But, no matter how deep Darvin searched in his collective memories, or how deep he dived into the system’s database, he came up short. Still, he refused to stop searching. He had nothing better to do, anyway.

Since the expansion of the system began skewing in one direction, not a single new habitable planet had been found for integration. Darvin had no tutorials to initiate, nor new users to keep an eye on. And since most of the more powerful systems users had learned of the anomaly, everyone was more well behaved than normal. He wasn’t the only one anxiously awaiting whatever the system had in store for them.

That was one silver lining that came with the anomaly. If the situation continued the way it has been since it appeared, then Darvin would have more month, if not years, depending on how long it takes the system to get to where it’s going, of free time where he didn’t have to settle disputes and monitor everything.

Still, he had a sneaking suspicion that he would find something if he just dug deep enough, so, while everything was calm, that was what he was going to do. He would become the most informed System Watchers in millennia.

Well, these were his plans, at least. But things never go according to plan… he thought as he looked up from his research to a screen to see the teleporter activating. Of course, only the council members had access to the teleporter, so it was limited to a select few people, and Darvin had an inkling of who was coming though.

Sure enough, when the teleporter flashed, and a figure appeared, Kelvin was standing there. With a determined look on his face, the man on the screen marched forward, off the teleporter, toward Darvin’s personal office.

Darvin sighed once again as he knew he was about to get company he didn’t want. He swiftly closed the information, making sure to save his progress so he wouldn’t lose his spot when he continued researching later.

“Come in,” the System Watcher groaned in an annoyed voice.

The human threw the door open, then marched inside with purpose.

“Tell me this isn’t about that newly initiated human again,” Darvin was fed up with Kelvin’s antics. He was a council member for system’s sake, yet he’d visited multiple times complaining about a recently initiated human from ‘Earth.’

“Just give me permission to eliminate him. I beg of you, as part of the council. That man is going to cause more trouble than he’s worth.”

“Isn’t that what the previous council members said about you?” Darvin asked.

“They did, but this is different. I was overly excited and eager to distinguish myself. That man just wants to fight and kill. He’s crazy. He doesn’t care about gaining merits a standing, he only wants to kill.” Kelvin pleaded.

“You know I can’t do anything about it. The man was ranked second on planet C-186. The system designated this as his reward, and it will be done. He is under your care, and you will do well to see that he comes to no unnecessary harm. If he gets himself killed in battle, then that is on him, but if he dies by scheming, you will be punished. Not by me, but the system,” Darvin explained.

“As System Watcher, surely you have the power to change the reward just this once. At least send the menace over to one of the other councilors.”

“He is a human from your sector, thus, he is your problem. I will not use my status to alter such a tiny fate and reward. Now… please leave. I am finished discussing this matter with you. I have much more important things to do.”

“But-” Kelvin started, but was instead cut off.

“Now!” The Malaxi was over Kelvin’s complaining. He would not hear it any longer. “And don’t come back unless there is something else. I will not talk about Jace Whitaker again.”

In a huff, Kelvin turned around and stormed out, just as he had done the previous times. Of course, Darvin had told him not to come back with the same issue those times, too, but Kelvin was hardheaded, and wouldn’t listen. He would be back. If not in a week, then in a month. That man from planet C-186 had truly gotten under the man’s skin.

Darvin did have to admit it, though… Jace was weird. He wasn’t a psychopath, not necessarily, but he had an unbridled need for killing, which was made all the more obvious by his class, Agent of Slaughter. But the system had given him the class, then chose to reward him with off planet training. The man had accepted, so he was now Kelvin’s problem.

With a roll of his eyes, Darvin flicked his wrist, and the door to his office shut. He pulled his research back up and began digging in. It wasn’t fun, but surely, it would be rewarding.

***

Kelvin activated the teleporter to go back home. He wasn’t finished with that damn Malaxi. He would be sure to give the small man another earful about that kid. Because that’s what Jace was, a child. He’d never met someone so immature and selfish.

When Kelvin stepped out of the teleporter, he left for the training ground. Hopefully, the human didn’t cause any problems in the short amount of time Kelvin was gone.

Unfortunately, his worry was justified because as soon as he walked through the tunnel and onto the outside training ground, one of his lieutenants was standing on the throat of a bald man laying on the ground laughing uncontrollably.

To the side was another trainee kneeled over, grasping at his stomach, trying to keep his innards from spilling out.

“Dammit!” Kelvin screamed. “I was gone for ten minutes at most, and this is what I come back to! What the hell is going on here? Where the fuck are the healers?”

Soon, a woman in a bloodstained healer’s garb came running out of the same tunnel Kelvin had just come from. Her healer’s robe was usually white, but it apparently she had been busy.

“Sir!” she gave a nod to Kelvin before rushing to the fallen trainee. With her hands over his sliced open belly, she cast a healing spell. Once the wound was closed up well enough for the man to stand, she gave him her shoulder to lean on and they walked back by, heading toward the infirmary.

“Bracen! What happened?” He asked his lieutenant once again.

“Sir!” the man saluted, but didn’t dare remove his foot from the neck of the man on the ground. “He did it again. He wanted to go out, to a planetary battle, but you were gone, so I sent him to the training grounds to… spar.” Bracen hesitated.

Kelvin rolled his eyes. “He!” He pointed at the man. “Is not allowed to spar without supervision of a lieutenant or higher. Didn’t you get the memo?”

“I was to be the supervisor, sir.” Bracen admitted. “I sent him ahead of me by no more than a minute. In that time, he severely injured two trainees.”

“I didn’t kill them.” The man on the ground finally stopped laughing long enough to talk. “I promised that I wouldn’t kill while in the headquarters, and I won’t. But these recruits are soft. They need some real experience. An enemy isn’t going to withdraw their blade because you get scared.”

Kelvin couldn’t disagree with Jace, but the young man was still making his life a living hell. He and his lieutenants had better things to do than constantly monitor the psycho.

“Let him up.” Kelvin commanded, and Bracen removed his foot from Jace’s throat, letting the young man stand.

Jace gave Kelvin a toothy grin as blood leaked from his mouth. “I am a lower level than both of them, yet they can’t beat me two on one. How is it they got the same reward that I did? This isn’t even fun anymore,” he said as he brushed the dust off of his tank top, which didn’t really do anything, considering the blood stains.

“It’s not supposed to be fun!” Kelvin grunted. “It is training. We’re teaching you how to survive in the system universe. If you go around offending everyone you meet, you’re not going to last long.”

“So what if I die?” Jace spat. “That just means that I wasn’t strong enough. But I’ll get there. I’ll have your position soon enough. You’ll be the one bleeding on the ground calling for help. Just give me a year… no… give me six months.”

“With that attitude, you won’t make it six months.” Lieutenant Bracen spat.

“Get your shit, and follow me.” Kelvin said, directed at Jace. “You wanted to go to a planetary battle? I got the perfect one for you.”

Surely, nothing would happen to him if Kelvin did as Jace asked and dropped him off in the middle of a war-zone. It was the kid’s request, after all. Kelvin wouldn’t have to protect him there, and he was tired of watching over him in the facility. The kid would either die or he would get his wish and come back stupidly strong. Kelvin hoped for the former.

Jace was giddy with excitement as Kelvin led him through the tunnel to one of the teleporters. Jace was too strong for the lower-level battles, and the system would allow Kelvin to throw him into a high-level battle. It would basically be tossing him to his death. He would send him off to a high mid-level battle. That, he could get away with. If the battle were to turn into a high level one, that was just bad luck.

“You got everything you need?” Kelvin asked.

Jace raised his right arm, showing the man his storage bracelet.

“Good.”

Soon, they arrived at the teleporter, and Kelvin punched in some coordinates. He sent a few messages on his communication’s device, then turned to Jace. “Step in. You’ll get your orders on the other side. Don’t cause problems for the lieutenant over there. I’ve made sure that he will send you to highly volatile areas.”

Jace’s smile stretched from eye to eye as he nodded excitedly.

“I hope you die.” Kelvin said. “Now, piss off.” With a swift boot, he kicked the man into the teleporter, then deactivated it. He turned around and let out a sigh. I really hope he dies.

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