The greatest technological advancement in four hundred years and what do they do with it?

  Make a void-damned game!

  -Anonymous Olympus Labs researcher regarding the 'Pods.'

  ******

  "Awwwww," Trau squealed, squeezing Jorry tightly to her chest. "You're so cute. Yes, you are. Yes, you are."

  "Partner," Jorry's voice was muffled by his sister's chest, but Neron heard the despair in his voice. "I think I am starting to see a pattern. Also... Help."

  "No." Neron would forgive this little violation of his request for no dialogue around others for his sisters' sake.

  Also, he found it amusing.

  "You can really understand him?" Aleene asked, peering at the snake in her twin's grip curiously. She was fiddling with some sort of bronze metal band. "In words? Does he lisp?"

  "What'd he say?" Trau bulldozed over her sister's questions excitedly. Then she turned to the tiny serpent, holding the creature up to her face. "What'd you say? Speak to mommy."

  On her shoulder, the ghostly squirrel chattered excitedly.

  Neron ignored it, as he'd been doing since the pair had met him and Jorry in the small park.

  "I can understand him, and all other animals. No, none of them speak with a lisp. They are not physically forming the words, so I can not imagine why they would… Although, if their mouth is occupied, it does come out muffled. And Jorry was just complaining how most people I introduce him to have the same reaction you do."

  It wasn't just the expected ones either, like Optim or Shejou. A few of their clients had done the same. The real surprises were Ingrid and Greck. The normally stoic woman hadn't said a word as she rubbed her flushed face against the snake. And Greck? Well...

  Big Green took one look at Little Green and immediately snake-napped him. The orc had then spent the rest of the training session, and every one since, with Jorry riding on his head. Said it was good training... Which made Neron's continual losses to the orc even more poignant.

  Maybe it was the fact that pets were a rarity in this world, due to the inherent risk of animals evolving into monsters, but many people seemed to develop a form of cuteness aggression when Neron first introduced the snake.

  Every time Jorry pleaded for salvation and every time Neron denied him.

  Partly, it was because the player found it amusing, but there were real benefits too. It displayed the fact that Jorry was 'tame,' something that had been a concern when first starting out. He’d been worried that people would react like Optim, only more violently, when realizing Jorry had a Self.

  A concern that turned out to not be a real problem due to many of the Natives chalking it up to 'players being weird' and Jorry being so small and harmless looking.

  Apparently, if someone was known to be a player they were treated as if they were some sort of eccentric wizard and people didn't really question the oddities. 'Beast Tamer' was a Nature Neron had found online, and familiars were somewhat common for the more powerful spell casters. In this, Jorry also acted as a type of advertisement and branding, a mascot if you will, for Neron's burgeoning rat-catcher business.

  "That's because he's the cutest little guy, aren't you Jorry?" Trau muttered in an infantile voice as she resumed her cheek rubbing.

  The ghost squirrel puffed up its cheeks, almost pouting, but it continued to go ignored.

  "So how does your skill actually work," Aleene frowned at the metal in her hands. From her manipulations it had turned from what seemed like a pair of bracelets into a small cylinder of bronze. "As far as first Step skills go, it's not bad, but not something I'd expect from you."

  "As near as I and Medea can tell, I am talking by way of the creatures' spirit," Neron answered, watching his sister work. He knew her Nature was crafting focused, he'd picked up that much at least over the years, while Trau was the combatant of the two. He also knew they were pretty high level, considering they were early players. Still, to see her delicate hands manipulate metal as if it were putty was fascinating. Almost surreal. "That is why it is not limited to race, nobody else hears anything, and why even animals without a Self can 'talk.'"

  Trau froze mid kiss on Jorry's head, her face paling slightly.

  The ghost squirrel dissipated into motes of pale light.

  "Hmmm," was all Aleene muttered in response, tearing the cylinder apart, crumbling it into a ball to drop in a pocket. From another pocket she withdrew a fresh strip of metal, this one gleaming white.

  "What about Chippers," asked Trau, feigning nonchalance. "Did she say anything?"

  "Not a word," Neron answered honestly. "Is it a skill or a spell?"

  "A creation from my third Step skill," replied Trau, tension draining from her and the spiritual squirrel reappeared on her shoulder again. "Is it not saying words or are you not able to hear her at all?"

  "No distinguishable words but I can hear the sounds it makes,” Neron admitted. “How about you?"

  "No," Aleene answered, looking up at the opaque creature. "Nor can a druid with spells to speak with animals or ghosts. At least not one we know of. There are probably more Natures out there that could if you can, but I always believed skills were non sentient. A summoned creature or being from another place is one thing, but a creature created by a skill or spell? I don't suppose you've run into anyone with a magical construct, have you?"

  "What sort of magical construct?" Neron asked as Jorry took this opportunity to slide out from between Trau's fingers. In his bid for freedom, the tiny serpent threw himself from the woman's hand into free fall.

  Trau caught him without even looking.

  "A spiritual servant, elemental, or golem."

  "One of my trainers uses a wooden bear. I have not heard anything from it since I gained the skill, but it could just be a puppet."

  "Badul's using Cuddly for training newbies?" Trau asked incredulously. "They're not killing you, are they?

  "Cuddly is the bear? Then yes, but it is more used as an obstacle than a fight. I have not died during training either. They are pretty good at limiting themselves to broken bones at worst."

  Neron didn't mention that there had been an accident during the first night they'd used the obstacle course. Fallon had chosen to die and resurrect with a suicide pill rather than deal with healing both his broken legs from his first meeting with Cuddly.

  "How've things been with Ysold," Aleene asked. "She taking care of you? You guys get along?"

  "I have not really had the chance to talk to her," Neron admitted with a shrug. "How do you know her?"

  "She was part of an expedition we were on. One of the early ones when players first found Calderine," explained Trau. "The last one she took before returning to take over her father's Hall. She and her party were trained there and they did good work. It's why we recommended that one, since so many of the Halls in Calderine are new and unproven. Survival is the most important skill in God’s Nature."

  "I have learned a lot," Neron admitted easily, even if most of what he learned wouldn't really help him outside of God’s Nature. "Just not from her directly. She lets the other trainers do most of the work and only shows her face during combat or to make announcements."

  "...You did tell her we sent you right?" Aleene asked after a beat. Neron didn't answer. "Right? Gus? You didn't just apply for an established training Hall, an expensive one, without telling the owner that I'd pay for it, right?"

  "I did not need you to pay for it though," Neron shrugged. "We worked out a deal."

  "What sort of deal," asked Trau, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. That suspicion turned to anger. "Are you... prostituting yourself to her?"

  "No?" Neron asked, wondering where she'd come up with that idea. "I did not need to. I just spend a few hours every day doing grunt work around the Hall and in exchange I get to attend the training with the others for the fall season."

  "And the lodging included? The food?" Aleene pressed.

  "I do the odd job around town for a few coins, enough to get by," Neron shrugged again. "I am sharing a small room with another player, so it is not expensive."

  "You could have avoided all that if you just went to the Bank and gave them your name, like we told you," Aleene gave a long-suffering sigh. "We set up an account for you."

  "I would have if I needed to. I just never needed to. I never went a day without food, and I moved in with Shejou before the weather started getting cold. I am doing well for myself. Jorry and I have been making some decent money."

  "Doing what?... And did you just say you were homeless!?"

  "Only for a few weeks," Neron waved off Trau's incredulity. "And we have been working as rat-catchers-"

  ""Rat-catchers!""

  "It is a viable field," Neron frowned at the pair's incredulity. "One that was well established before modern technology facilitated vermin prevention and extermination. I might not have the traps of a classical rat-catcher, but Jorry is a better Ratter than any dog. I also do not need to worry about bites or infections with healing magic. With the lack of pets, there is an abundance of vermin that people wish to be rid of yet can not easily afford magical solutions."

  "You saw an area in the market that was being undeserved, and you leveraged your advantage to carve out a niche," Aleene summarized, rubbing her eyes with two fingers. "I can't fault you for that, but you wouldn't need to do so if you simply put aside your pride and accepted our help."

  Trau muttered something under her breath that Neron was certain he wasn't supposed to hear but could still make out enough to understand. "What pride?"

  Neron silently agreed with the younger of the twins. It wasn't as if he was against getting help. He would have felt nothing if he was forced to access the funds the girls had left him. He'd even planned on doing so if he was still sleeping on the bench when winter came. Shejou's invitation had just removed the necessity.

  It was simple practicality. Why rely on others when you can accomplish it yourself?

  Unnecessary things were unnecessary.

  "What would I have even spent my time and money on instead?" Neron asked, diverting the conversation rather than letting the girls' funk continue to deepen. They worried too much. "When I was not at the Hall or making money, I was just reading."

  "Having fun?" Trau suggested, almost hopefully. "God's Nature is amazing! I'm sure you'll find you love it if you just give it a shot."

  "Maybe, maybe not."

  "Do you intend to spend all your time here catching rats?"

  "Not particularly," Neron admitted, nodding toward Jorry. "It was just for a bit of money and to help him grow a bit."

  "I am already bigger," Jorry declared imperiously.

  ...Or at least as imperiously as a tiny snake could while trying to wiggle out from between fingers.

  "In just three weeks I have gained a head in length and a fang in width. In only a few years I shall be large enough to swallow mountains. If you wish for me to forget this treatment you will release me! Do so now and I shall- Oooh. Right there. Yesssss. Gooooood."

  Unhearing of the threats to her life and well-being, Trau resumed scratching at the base of Jorry's skull, and the serpent ceased its wiggling for freedom to bask in the attention.

  "Because of your skill?" Aleene raised a brow. "Has it leveled up yet? If it gets another slot, we can find you another animal with a Self you can add to your Nest."

  "Not yet."

  Neron didn't comment on the assumption that he'd need something with a developed Self. Without spells or dedicated training, he'd have no way of controlling the creatures so something he could reason with would be best.

  Even if he could understand creatures and they could understand him, they still operated on instinct. Instinct which usually had them either fleeing from him or trying to attack him.

  "It's been weeks. Even for a Nature skill, that’s really slow."

  "I believe it is because I have not fully mastered the use of my tongue." For emphasis, Neron let his forked tongue dangle out of his mouth to below his chin for a moment before retracting it. "I do not bite it anymore and can talk without issues, but I am nowhere near as proficient with it as a snake-“

  "Did I miss it!?"

  Neron was interrupted by Medea's arrival. The witch wasn't panting but it was clear she'd rushed over faster than normal by her messy hair and disheveled clothes.

  "Miss what?" Trau asked with a frown.

  "Good morning, Medea," Neron greeted casually, unruffled by the interruption.

  "Good morning," Medea responded by habit, before shaking her head and answered Trau with a mischievous grin. "Introductions, of course."

  "We've met Jorry," Aleene pointed toward the small snake still blissed out in Trau's hands. The pieces of metal in her own had been kneaded into a flat oval and the older of the twins was currently drawing several esoteric symbols on it with a fingernail.

  "Not Jorry," Medea's grin was practically splitting her face. "Each other."

  There was a beat of silence.

  "You... do remember we live together, right?" Aleene said slowly, as if talking to a particularly dim animal. "We see each other every day."

  "I don't think she does," Trau 'whispered' to her siblings loud enough to be overheard. "She's completely lost it. Gone star-mad. We should avoid talking to her. Or seeing her at all. In fact, we should contact the authorities to put her away. It's for her own good, really. She could be a danger to herself."

  "You haven't graduated yet," Medea's eyes narrowed. "Do you want to spend your last few months writing a dozen essays?"

  "See!" Far from being intimidated, Trau just continued to poke the bear. "She's already using threats. She can't be trusted around poor, impressionable children." "You're already twenty-five! I know it is the same amount as your IQ, but that counts as an adult!" "She should be removed, imprisoned, tortured, and sent off into the black on the next Colony Ship."

  "No, she is far too dangerous," Aleene declared seriously. "She will just return for vengeance in a few thousand years. She should be put into a pod and shot into a star. Much more cost effective."

  "What do you mean by introductions," Neron, having let the teasing go so far, cleanly and unsubtly changed the subject before Medea could be drawn further in.

  While his sisters and friend got along well enough these days, bonding over their shared love of God's Nature, it wasn't too long ago that the twins had absolutely despised the professor.

  Neron had no desire to return to the days of barbed comments and chilling silence.

  "What I meant," the professor stressed the last word with a playful glare at Aleene. "Was that I wanted to be here when you told him about your characters."

  The almost malicious smile on Medea's face made it clear that the woman was looking forward to this as some sort of payback.

  "Why would that matter?" Neron asked with a frown, wondering if he was missing something.

  "Well, um, that is," Trau stammered slightly, looking away. "It's just that we, um-"

  "I'm the Banker," Aleene said plainly.

  ...

  "Okay...?" Neron trailed off, still feeling like he was missing something.

  "... The Banker?" Aleene half asked this time. "The richest player in the game? One of the pioneers of God's Nature? I mean..." The older of the twins shifted uncomfortably under Neron's gaze. "It's how I could afford to let you quit and will be paying for stuff and it's... I'm kind of a big deal? At least in the game."

  "Ah," Neron nodded, understanding where the disconnect was. "I already knew that you were the head of the Bank. I have for a few weeks."

  "How?" Trau asked. "We never told you. And! We've had our privacy filters on this entire time."

  "Even if you do not tell me about it directly, you have still talked about it around the house," Neron explained simply.

  "No, we didn't," Aleene countered. "This 'Banker' thing is what other people call me. I never use it."

  "No, but you talk about your business, expansion, plans, new inventions, and stuff like that all the time. You also throw around numbers like 'millions' easily, so it was obviously doing well, especially if you have enough breathing room to take over the family's expenses."

  "That isn't a lot to go on."

  Neron sighed internally. He really should have started them on those deductive games he used to play.

  Then again, if they learned they were from Julia they probably would stubbornly refuse to have anything to do with them.

  "You both started playing in the early years of God’s Nature and Medea told me you are high level,” Neron explained his process for their benefit. “Most high-level players do not use the privacy settings, which I know you two had to since you had to before turning twenty-five. So, if I look for high level players who own a very successful business, use the privacy setting? And I knew you were not only nearby but would be coming to Calderine soon? Something I knew the Banker was also doing to deal with this whole 'El Dorado' business?"

  "When you put it like that," Aleene grimaced.

  Neron didn't think his deduction was anything too impressive. He had information others lacked from the simple fact he lived with them.

  Combined with his burgeoning network and Medea's belief that Shejou might have approached him with nefarious intent, something that would be pointless for most newbies but would be a different story if the new player was related to a powerful player, and it was just a matter of putting the pieces in place.

  "Honestly, I say I have known for weeks but I was only about ninety percent certain. There are millions of players, after all. But as soon as I saw you two, I knew for certain."

  "What gave it away?" Trau looked down at her outfit, as if searching for a name tag or flag to show her affiliation.

  "The squirrel."

  Trau's already pale skin took on a bluish tint.

  "...I thought it hadn't said anything."

  "It did not but a creature made out of spirits wailing in pain would certainly fit the Banker's infamous bodyguard, right Banshee?"

  If it wasn't obvious that the younger of the twins had changed her race, Neron would have been worried by how utterly pale she became. Then again, he wasn’t entirely certain how her race represented normal human responses. She had elfin ears, so maybe like elves, but the blue skin and white pupil-less eyes were certainly not like any elf he’d ever seen.

  "You were looking for us specifically, weren't you," Aleene accused with weariness.

  "Of course," Neron frowned at his sisters. "The entire reason I am here is to learn about what you two are doing, how viable it is, and whether I should encourage you to continue your education instead."

  There was a moment of silence, one where the three women grimaced and exchanged looks, before Medea cleared her throat and spoke.

  "I was not, actually, talking about you being the Banker or anything like that," Medea admitted with a shaky smile. "I was being literal. I just wanted to be here when you told each other your character names."

  "…Why?" Trau asked, not looking away from her older brother.

  "She told me you used roman names,” Neron said slowly, staring suspiciously at his friend. This wouldn’t be good, he just knew it. “Mine is Neron, by the way. Neron Kaiser."

  "Is that why you created a Nature called the Beast?" Aleene asked curiously. "That's pretty good, even if the name and description is pretty generic. Better than most, at least. If they're not doing something boring like using one of public Natures, they try to min-max or do something 'creative.' They don't pay any attention to how they'll actually play it."

  "The opposite actually. I wanted something that would let me try anything, so I created the Beast first then chose Neron Kaiser because it was the first thing I thought of. I just chose the Greek spelling to stay on theme and ease of distinction from other players who would go by Nero or Caesar."

  "Pretty much what we did," explained a subdued Trau. "Since you were 'Augustus' and there was 'Julia.'" There was a slight hesitation and grimace when their adoptive mother's name came out but the youngest of the siblings continued as if nothing had happened. "We decided to also use roman names. I used Aurelia before I deleted that character and created a new one, Claudia."

  "I'm still using my first character, Octavia," Aleene added casually.

  For a heartbeat Neron wondered what had Medea grinning so hard.

  Then the pieces fell into place, and he let out a groan of exasperation.

  Medea cackled.

  "What?" asked a bewildered Trau- Claudia. He should use their non-de-guerre. At least while in the game. "Why's she laughing? I don't get it."

  "Another one of her favorite plays is 'Octavia,'" Neron explained over the sound of his friend's laughter. "It tells of the story of Claudia Octavia, Nero's stepsister and wife, as she is divorced and executed by the tyrant in favor of his mistress."

  The more he considered, the more layered the joke became. Not only was that play not contemporary with Nero's time despite being falsely attributed to Seneca, Nero's teacher, but it was also the source of the widely discredited belief that Nero was the source of the fire that destroyed huge swaths of Rome.

  Modern scholarship considered the play to have been created partially to discredit the former Julio-Claudian dynasty in favor of the current Flavian dynasty. It was still a well written tragedy and the sole Roman drama based on actual history to survive to the modern world, but it was also one of the most successful propaganda pieces of all time.

  One of the results of said propaganda was the attribution of Nero being 'The Beast' of Revelation and the Greek version of his name and title transliterating into Hebrew and, through numerology, being given the numeric value of '666,' the so called 'Number of the Beast.'

  The play obviously wasn't the sole reason for such vilification by early Christianity, but the fact that modern religious studies placed the writing of the book of revelation during or around the reign of emperor Domitian, a later Flavian emperor, likely didn't help.

  "Do not worry about it," Neron sighed at seeing his sisters shuffle uncomfortably which set off another round of giggles from their teacher. "It is just a coincidence, and she is just enjoying it at our expense."

  This was the kind of joke Medea loved. The type of thing where it was dubious if it even counted as a joke and not just a pattern only someone like her would notice. The type where you had the superficial level, 'Haha, you chose the same names as a pair of step siblings that got married. I bet you feel awkward. Haha,' but also had like three more levels to someone who was educated in the right subject.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Honestly, Neron was just surprised she could contain herself until they met in game. Doing some quick math, it had been over a month and a half in game time since she'd realized what sort of opportunity she was sitting on. She'd had a week in real life where she could have said something but had waited till they were together in God’s Nature.

  "Your sense of humor continues to amuse," Aleene- Octavia deadpanned with absolutely zero laughter. "Truly, you are a comedic genius on par with the likes of desert sand."

  That got a snort of laughter out of her sister.

  "I don't think you're giving her enough credit," Claudia added in 'defense' of their teacher. "She's at least as funny as a rock... Maybe a rock covered in doodles."

  "I wouldn't expect children to understand cultured tastes," Medea huffed good-naturedly, dismissing their teasing with a haughty wave of her hand. "You'll understand when you're older."

  While Neron knew she meant it in good fun, he also knew being treated like children was annoying for Claudia and a major pet peeve for Octavia.

  Barely had the older twin muttered 'You're not even fifty yet,' did he decide to head off the argument before it started.

  "Tell me about the Bank."

  "What do you want to know?" Octavia asked, sitting up straighter.

  She, like the others, knew him well enough to recognize that was changing the subject again but didn't desire to start a fight either so let it go. Jorry was the exception, as he had managed to finally wiggle his way out of Claudia's grip to fall to the ground with a cry of victory.

  Medea waved her hand, and he flew into it with a startled cry.

  "How it started, how it works, how viable it is, its biggest problems, and your future plans." Neron had done his own research but not only was it anecdotal at best, his sisters would naturally have a different view from the inside and provide more information than what was speculated online. “Also, your predictions on God’s Nature’s prospects going forward.”

  "Then I guess the first thing I should start with is that God’s Nature is, objectively, a terrible game," Octavia said, putting away her piece of metal and standing up. She removed what looked like a clay tablet from another one of her pouches, pulling at its edges as if it was dough. "Barring a few systems, it is more of a simulation than a game. But the people who enjoy simulation games, farming, survival, transportation, and so on, do not actually want to do those things in real life. Because real life work takes effort and isn't enjoyable. If they wanted to be a farmer, for example, they'd work for a few decades and buy a farm."

  By now, her clay tablet was as wide as Neron was tall and was half a meter higher than his head as he sat on the bench beside Claudia.

  "It has its appeal," Claudia clarified as Octavia stretched her tablet's base so it would stand on its own. "Magic. Skills. It's unparalleled freedom. There are things here that you can't get anywhere else. Anyone can be a farmer or play a farming sim, but to be one that can conjure small rain clouds and zap pests with lightning from their hands? That's something you can only get here."

  "Not strictly true," Medea corrected. "There are other AR or VR games that let you do that. The only revolutionary aspect of God’s Nature is the pods. Their time dilation and ability to allow physical exercise while essentially sleeping is something that is still being studied and will revolutionize several industries. You are right about the freedom though. No other game can let you do everything you can do here or is as customizable."

  "Yes. Thank you, teacher," Octavia deadpanned again. Her tablet had become a clay wall where she had lightly carved a few images and diagrams. "Anyway, the point being that, despite being a fantasy world, God’s Nature is lacking in many ways that would entice people to actually play it, baring a certain niche audience. Still millions of people, but nowhere near the tens or hundreds of millions something like this should attract. Because to most people, playing it is simply not fun. They're interested, but when they hear that there's no inventory, casting magic is a process that takes weeks for the simplest spells, and you can die at any moment because there's no such thing as game balance? On top of that dying in the wilderness means losing all your stuff and everything you’re carrying? Armor and weapons you’ve spent years saving and working for are lost because of a random flock of Skreel? It is, to put it bluntly, a shit game."

  "So I have been told," Neron nodded at Medea.

  "Then I'm sure you're aware that this world is also still suffering from the aftershocks of an apocalypse?" Octavia pointed up and beyond the park where the great Arch dominated the skyline of Calderin. "Know what that is?

  "Sure. It's a non-operable enchanted edifice that used to allow instantaneous transportation between it and other similar creations."

  "It's a broken fast-travel point," Claudia summarized for Neron. "Used to allow people to teleport between major settlements. Hasn't worked since the Woe, centuries ago."

  "Their existence is proof that Calderine and Leidon were part of a unified civilization at one point," Medea added with excitement. "Their architecture is identical, yet non-congruent with that of the cities themselves."

  "And such architectural shifts should not occur so quickly in the centuries since the Woe. At least not with long lived species around," Neron nodded in understanding. "Which means a large part of the current continent, or at least the stretch of land between Calderine and Leidon, were once unified. But such a civilization collapsed and was replaced by the cultures and civilizations that were then uprooted by the Woe, which left the city-states as we have them today."

  Neron's studies hadn't yet brought him to such deep history just yet, at least beyond the surface level, but it was something to investigate. He always enjoyed learning about civilizations, their cultures, and their rise and fall.

  "Not the point," Octavia dragged them back on track and Neron refocused. "The point is that even if the game does not provide us with the conveniences we are used to, it is theoretically possible to create them ourselves. Whether the creator planned this or not, they are a proof of concept. So, I created something to solve the biggest issues players faced. Death."

  "Early players died a lot," Medea chuckled grimly. "As in, you weren't really considered a 'real' player until you died ten times. It's one of the reasons craft and miscellaneous Natures grew much faster than combat ones in the early days, despite the boost."

  "Leidon had infrastructure already in place to handle the death and resurrection of Natives in service to the state," Octavia pointed to a symbol she drew on the tablet. "Certain individuals got state sponsorship to go out and explore and, if they died, they'd be re-equipped. They'd get rewarded for any discoveries. This is actually the root of the Explorers we have today. Not super important, as the initiative that started it isn't around anymore, but the point is that a framework for players exploring the world existed."

  "There was also the army. They always have a bunch of stuff for when their grunts die," Claudia giggled. "Can't have the recruit running around naked when rebirth-clothes dissolve."

  "There were also financial institutions like banks which could hold money for those who didn't wish to risk losing it," Medea pointed out, joining in the small class they were teaching.

  "But all these institutions and systems were not created with players in mind," Octavia said, drawing something new on the board. "Players, by their very nature, are an invasive species. And Leidon suddenly had dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of these people that appeared out of nowhere. It was chaos."

  "The only saving grace is that God's Nature was not advertised," Medea grimaced. "It only spread by word of mouth back then. So, the impact could be somewhat managed... for a little while."

  "The situation wasn't tenable," Claudia mirrored her teacher's expression. "New players would show up, try to fight a monster, die, and realize they have nothing left. No weapons or money, they'd be left to themselves. Thousands gave up and quit the game. But there were still others."

  "Even those who didn't want to fight were overwhelming to the city. Every mage was drowning in applications to learn from them. Every smithy or tannery had a line that wrapped the block, both to buy and to learn from them. But, and this was key; nobody had any money. They slept on the streets because there was no room. They starved because they had no food. Players fought each other just to serve drinks for a handful of coins."

  "That sounds... chaotic." Neron didn't say it, but a part of him would have liked to be around during those times. It sounded like a fascinating social experiment. He should see if there were videos of that time.

  It also went without saying but if it weren't for the existence of higher-level Natives keeping the peace it probably would have turned out much worse at the sudden influx of tens of thousands of players.

  "It was an opportunity," Octavia grinned and pointed to another image on the tablet, this one of a small coin affixed to a person's chest. "My first invention, the Corpse Tracker. It was what solidified my Nature. Basically, it was death insurance. When you died, it sent me a message of where your corpse is, and I would send out someone to retrieve your items. For a fraction of the cost, you can buy them back. If you don't have money, you can work off your debt by working with me and finding other bodies."

  From there, Octavia led Neron down the history of the Bank, its tumultuous beginnings of jealous rivals and predatory Native establishments. They went from equipment retrieval service to material and monetary holding with a bit of insurance. As their value increased, they expanded not just in services, but in scope to set up branches in every newly discovered or established towns.

  "Instead of carrying a large amount of coin, which is cumbersome and risks losing your entire fortune on death, they just needed a writ to withdraw a limited amount from any establishment. If they died, they lost only the fee, not the actual amount."

  Neron didn’t have too much trouble following along. Though his focus hadn't been on economics or business directly, unlike his sister, but such things often overlapped with history.

  In this case, it reminded him of a few practices that existed both pre- and concurrent with paper-based currencies. Money lending was one of the oldest and most well-established methods of accumulating further wealth. Capital attracted capital, after all. Still, that didn't explain why the Bank became so powerful so quickly.

  "It's because of our target demographic," Octavia explained when he asked, gesturing to a picture on her board. "Even if players are still outnumbered by Natives, the number of new players joining is always increasing. Furthermore, the ratio of people who are high income earners is wildly disproportionate. Only one in ten players will remain combat centered, including explorers and dungeon farmers, but over eighty percent of all players seek to level up or advance their Natures, which leads to wealth accumulation."

  "While one can argue on the moralistic and logistic aspects of treating God’s Nature as such, it is a game," Medea added, crossing her arms as Jorry slithered from her grasp and onto the bench. "An RPG. One with levels, skills, and stats. And high-level players can generate a lot more wealth than low level ones, which translates to a better experience. Good food. More impressive abilities. Greater safety."

  "Number go up. Brain feels good," Claudia's smile was teasing. "Don't think too much about it."

  Jorry finally managed to reach the safety of Neron, and he wasted no time slithering up his arm to his shoulder where the serpent ducked into Neron's shirt. His tiny head poked out of Neron's collar as he kept a wary eye on the women surrounding them.

  His tongue flickered in and out in agitation as he muttered about 'revenge,' 'hands,' and how he'd 'keep them as pets once he was bigger.'

  Neron absently patted the snake with one finger.

  What the girls were saying made sense to Neron and he didn't even need them to explain why the ratio between players and Natives was so lopsided. Even if you factored out the psychological aspect of treating the world like a game, there were other factors in play, not the least of which was the pain reduction. Combined with Natives using a growth system different from Natures and the time dilation and it was inevitable that players would have explosive growth compared to the Natives.

  "We have gone out of our way to ensure our service is as ubiquitous to players as if we were a part of the system itself," Octavia said proudly as Neron dismissed the popup from his Knowledge stat. "We make it easy. We make it affordable. We make it so they don't even think about the numbers. If you can make them comfortable enough, people will pay anything not to fear, worry, or think."

  While a part of Neron wanted to caution his sister against such generalities, he kept his mouth shut. She was the one who was running an extremely successful enterprise, and he was simply here to evaluate whether he felt comfortable leaving things as they were.

  So, he continued to listen without judgement as Octavia narrated the Bank's efforts and payoffs during the push west, the rediscovery of Calderine, and how the currency exchange neatly folded into their already large portfolio of services to make life easier for players.

  With a second city connected and Octavia's newest invention, her Vaults, the Bank had become powerful enough, popular enough, and rich enough that not even the city states could ignore them.

  Which was a problem.

  "We are a target," Claudia said bluntly. "In any town, the Bank is the first to be robbed. The Vaults have helped, but that only works against localized threats. We're big enough now that we're a tempting target for nations and powerful intuitions. So far, none of them have decided it’s worth angering players, but all it’ll take is one idiot king or mage lord and we'd be turned into their personal piggy bank."

  Neron nodded grimly, seeing the problem. Even if they weren't as interested in history as he was, both of his sisters were still well educated. They knew as well as him that it was an incredibly common historical trend that when a ruling class found themselves strapped for money then an appropriately rich 'criminal' would show up.

  Nobody wanted to be the next Knight Templar.

  "It's a downside of how you operate," Medea pointed out. "Unlike other major guilds, you have 'employees.' Mercenaries, essentially. You're lacking the personal loyalty that is fostered behind a communal identity like a guild."

  "We have a core of people we consider loyal and skilled that make up our high-level executives," Octavia defended. Neron raised a brow, and she caved. "They are fewer than other guilds and minuscule compared to what we portray," she grudgingly admitted. "If Leidon's parliament decides tomorrow that we're a threat or an asset to be seized there's not much we can do."

  "We could probably extract... ten percent of our assets?" Claudia said hesitantly. As Neron looked at her, she turned her eyes away. "I'm the executive of our military office. We do have forces, but not enough for a head on conflict with any of the other major guilds." 'Or an established army' went unsaid. "If we did, we wouldn't have needed help to conquer Urugalkin."

  "Urugalkin?" Neron asked, unfamiliar with the name.

  "The dungeon city. The one people are calling 'El Dorado,'" explained Medea plainly.

  "That won't be its name," interjected Octavia. "We actually haven't settled on one yet, but we'll make an announcement when we do."

  "What is the plan regarding that?" Neron asked.

  "We're going all in," answered Claudia instantly. "We've poured every coin we can into it."

  "To what effect? I mean, what is the end goal here?" Neron clarified. "Are you looking to become royalty of a new country? Is it just going to be a major trading hub, essentially a bigger Bank? Or do you have a different plan?"

  Neron could admit he didn't have the head for business the pair seem to have cultivated to such success. They could provide him with a breakdown of costs, profits, expected returns, or trade agreements and he wouldn't know where to start.

  No, what Neron cared about, what he'd joined God's Nature to discover, was what their plan was. Even if they were successful now, could he trust them to be financially independent so early and in such a volatile industry?

  Essentially, Neron was just here to double check if they were ready to be let go into the world without him.

  It was fine if they failed. Void knew Neron had failed countless times. He just needed to prepare if so. If this income stream wasn't viable, he'd need to start the process of regaining his jobs. He needed to be confident in them now before he committed himself to a decade of schooling.

  Everything he'd seen and heard so far told Neron that his sisters were more than competent. Still, as the one who'd taken care of them for so long, he couldn't deny the part of himself that worried.

  Their first enterprise without him was already so large, valuable, and precarious? How could he not be worried.

  "Not royalty," Octavia denied. "Autonomy. We've already secured agreements from Leidon's Council, and we'll be talking to the king next week to get the same from Calderine. Ostensibly, we'll be an independent city-state that will pay fees to both Leidon and Calderine in order for goods and services coming from us to receive special tax exemptions."

  "We're bribing them to leave us alone," Claudia translated.

  "While the city will be a trade hub, its status as a central point between spawn points will become less important as more surviving settlements are discovered," continued the older of the twins. "Its position in the center of the continent will make sure it never becomes completely isolated, but that is tangential. Our main goal is for the city to be one large Vault."

  Medea made a noise of realization and Neron shot her a look.

  "The Crags are a maze of mountains, ravines, caves, tunnels, and secret paths. It's filled with monsters and dungeons, lacks most resources a city needs, and rock slides are more common than rain,” she said with a grimace. “Strictly speaking, it's only benefit is its position between the two cities players have access to. Thanks to Urugalkin, there's existing infrastructure, but if one was looking to build a trade city there are much better options... Either on the borders of the prairies or along the Traifis."

  Neron took a moment to put the pieces together with the additional information. It wasn't hard. Surprisingly, it was Jorry who spoke first.

  "They're building a lair," the tiny serpent said, still poking his small head out from Neron's shoulder. There was clear envy in his voice. And admiration. "Keeping their treasures close. Protecting their horde with traps and monsters."

  Neron shot a look at his smallest companion, but repeated his words to the girls, though he added his own deductions.

  "If you can keep a highway defended to and from the city, you will just need to close it off if either country does decide to raid you."

  "Most of our teams are setting up routes as we speak," agreed Octavia. "We'll need to keep a good chunk of our assets in local areas, but we won't be vulnerable anymore."

  Despite having deduced Medea's little quiz, Neron noticed that his friend was still frowning in thought, her eyes flickering as she scanned popups only she could see. She didn't say anything else though, no matter what her Knowledge was telling her.

  Still, he'd heard enough.

  "Okay," he said, standing up from the bench and stretching.

  "Okay?" Claudia asked, also standing.

  "Okay," Neron repeated. "I think I understand."

  "…You do?" Octavia asked, clearly a bit nonplussed. "I still have a bit more to show you. List of forces. Potential plans if the city fails. Other sources of revenue if we do lose the Bank."

  "Let me guess," Neron said, stepping forward to ruffle her hair. She batted his hand away. "Every single one of them will ensure that you can retire with enough money to cover a few years of our expenses. Including the one you are not speaking about because we're in public."

  "...There are a lot of spy skills and spells," Claudia muttered shyly and her ghost squirrel phased into existence again.

  "No, it is fine," Neron waved off her explanation, not even blinking at the screams. "I do not really need all your secrets. I just needed to know enough to understand the general gist of what you are doing and know what to look out for."

  'So, I'll know if something goes wrong.' He didn't say it but knew they understood his point.

  Now that he'd played God’s Nature himself and knew the situation, he'd just need to check up every week or so and he'd be able to know if things were going well.

  It would be all over the forums or social media if something went wrong with the Bank after all.

  "Telling me you are making money through the game is one thing, but when you start throwing around numbers enough to make me quit my jobs and return to school? Well, I just needed a bit of context is all. And I have it now."

  "... We only managed to save up enough recently. We were reinvesting everything in the business."

  "Good. I would have been disappointed if you sacrificed long term growth just for short-term greed," Neron told them.

  And right away he knew he'd made a mistake in his wording.

  Octavia's face went impassive, and Medea looked like she'd eaten something sour. Claudia's face didn't change, but the way her conjured spirit let out a soul rattling screech told him she wasn't as passive as she appeared.

  Neron continued as if he didn't notice.

  "Keep enough for a year's expenses, put another half into savings for when you want to go to university and reinvest the rest.”

  A year would be plenty of time. Five years in the game would be enough to tell if they could recover from a disaster or if they wanted to cut their losses.

  He hadn't been working two jobs for a decade just to keep the family together. All the money he'd saved had initially been for their time in university. With their brilliance it was probable that they'd end up either at Olympus or on Earth and require separate housing.

  Now that they had the money to fund such an endeavor themselves, he'd just use his savings on himself. And if anything happened, he'd hear about it early enough that he'd just quit school again.

  Not that he expected that. They'd built this entire business empire in a few years while being handicapped by school and saving enough money that he'd feel comfortable enough to continue to higher education.

  His sisters really didn't need him anymore.

  Now to distract them.

  “Though, if you have some time, do you mind making me something?” Neron asked Octavia.

  “Of course!” She said eagerly. “What do you need? A weapon? Armor?”

  “Nothing so large,” Neron dismissed. “I just need a doll.”

  ******

  Medea glared at Neron's back as he left the park to get to his next rat-catching appointment.

  "No change?"

  "No," Medea spat out in response to Claudia's question, not tearing her eyes from her friend's profile. Jorry poked his head up from his shirt to look back at them.

  Medea didn't even need a moment to read the dozen popups, ignoring the one with false information. She didn’t say anything about how the small snake considered her friend inhuman enough to admire.

  Nor did she let it show on her face.

  One did not spend two decades with Gus without learning a few tricks.

  "Were you even trying?"

  "More than you were!" Medea snapped back at Claudia instinctively.

  Then paused.

  Took a deep breath.

  "That was unfair of me," Medea said softly.

  "...Me too. Sorry."

  "But we need to do something," Octavia pressed. "If this keeps up..."

  The problem with Knowledge was that good and bad news was equally valid.

  Even the truth Medea really did not want to acknowledge.

  "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," Claudia suggested hesitantly. "It doesn't have to be God’s Nature, right? Maybe some other game or hobby?"

  "The novelty is the only reason he's still here. He's checked up on us, and still playing. I don’t want to risk having him change just yet," Octavia denied.

  Medea didn't have the heart to tell them it was probably less novelty and more inertia. God's Nature was just a way to 'kill time' for Neron. He'd started playing so he might as well continue.

  Octavia was right that if Neron wasn't at least a little interested he'd have left once he had enough confidence in the girls' ability to take care of themselves. His questions regarding his Nature skill proved he was at least mildly invested in his character.

  But a mild investment was not anywhere close to the passion he'd need to avoid getting Lost.

  For the hundredth time, Medea focused her Knowledge on finding a solution.

  The same answer every time.

  Knowledge worked based on what Medea knew and learned about. In game, specifically, but she'd taken advantage of the time dilation of God's Nature to conduct every bit of research on those very few who'd been diagnosed as pre-Lost and managed to recover.

  Those same studies told her that, unless something changed, her friend wouldn't live to see his first centennial.

  She'd hoped the supernatural Knowledge she gained would help point out she was wrong, or at least provide a potential avenue of care, but all it had done since she'd started interacting with him in game was point out more subtle signs she hadn't noticed and given her a more exact time frame.

  What a shit game.

  "What hasn't he tried yet?" Octavia asked.

  "He's tried combat, magic, skills, academia, and politicking," Medea listed off the potential avenues of interest that she'd seen fail.

  "So crafting, exploration, survival, dungeon diving, and oppression are the only ones left."

  "Not oppression," Claudia shook her head. "If he enjoyed killing weaker creatures, he'd be more enthusiastic about killing those rats of his."

  More popups appeared and Medea blinked away the Knowledge without internalizing them. She really didn't want to get the details on what the Banshee had done recently.

  "He's going into a dungeon in a week with his training Hall," Medea informed the pair.

  "Then I'll teach him the basics of crafting."

  "What about..." Claudia trailed off, not finishing the question but by the way she looked around the park it was clear enough that it regarded whatever the pair were hesitant to tell Neron during their presentation.

  "...I should have enough to make an extra one if he does decide to try exploring." Octavia said after a moment of thought.

  Then paused.

  And smiled.

  Medea pulled up her Knowledge by instinct.

  All stuff she knew before, but combined with what Medea had learned today, more could be deduced.

  "What are you doing?" Claudia asked as her twin pulled out another tablet, this one a gleaming silver in colour.

  "You know those new flag mock-ups we were looking through? I just had an idea," Octavia grinned as she sent off a message to her team of artists.

  Medea almost let out a sound of shock at the information provided.

  Only the best players were on their fifth Step and the number of confirmed Step 6s could be counted on one hand with fingers left over. Nobody was even sure what level would force a player to that stage but the most optimistic was level 300.

  The highest-level player was only 252. At least the highest known one.

  Medea would have congratulated the young woman if that had been all. Even if they only really got along because of Neron, it was still a great achievement, and she had been one of Fien's students not too long ago.

  Yet it wasn’t all she read.

  "What are you thinking?"

  "Check this out." Octavia held out the tablet, now displaying the familiar flag of the Bank of a silver grave on a bronze coin.

  Atop the curved peak of the grave, a simple crown of gold now leaned, looking for all intents and purposes like it could slide off any second. With no ornamentation, it was little more than a circle of gold. The only marks of distinction were the seven curved spires along its top, not unlike a row of horns.

  The twins shared a pair of mischievous grins.

  Unfortunately, Medea's Curse activated again, and she could no longer congratulate her former student or comment on the change of heraldry.

  More Knowledge flowed and Medea could not blink it away without reading it.

  ...She hoped it was wrong.

  Not that she doubted the twins' desire to save their brother, but there were steps even she wasn't willing to take.

  Of the two possibilities her Cursed Knowledge presented her, the possibility that the pair would sabotage the Bank, their success, and everything they'd built if it meant gaining a few more years wasn't too surprising.

  But it was the second possibility that had Medea recoiling.

  Yet, even as she hoped this Cursed Knowledge was one of the false predictions, Medea knew it was more likely than most others she'd received.

  Once more Medea was confronted with her friend’s inhumanity, or that of his sisters.

  And once more Medea said nothing.

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