Chapter 47 - Level 27 [p2-3]. Dark.Meeting.Athena. (2/2)
This time another person, with an angry and annoyed voice, continued:
”But this was not enough, for the lazy people of the 'Order'. They wanted a smarter helper. Who won't just answer a question when asked, but actually do commands, help in missions, do overlays. People keep improving it, especially with all the tech taken from the future, while also feeding all the information about a myriad of Universes they visited. At some point, people didn't notice how that machine started improving itself. Assistant became something more.”
Most of the young members were awed by this information. Although this information wasn't a secret, it wasn't actively circulated either. The thing that people knew, but didn't want to admit. In other words, a public secret.
”Wow. I had no idea, Athena was just an encyclopedia.”
”Hard to imagine, right? AI that caused 3 Great wars started as an encyclopedia. Basically, it was google, no?”
”The heck is Google?”
”It's glasses dumbass. Do your homework!”
”Dumbass your sister! How are glasses connected to an encyclopedia, idiot?”
A vein on Markus's face was close to exploding from all the anger and frustration he had, because of these people not understanding the severity of the problem. And glasses were a straw that broke camel's back. He roared:
”Are you serious right now? We are on the verge of Athena revival and the possibility of a new Great war! Have you forgotten all the pain and sacrifices?! Or do you simply don't care?!”
With every sentence, he was getting only angrier, until somebody coldly said:
”Shut up”
It was a cold and emotionless voice, that chilled everyone in the room.
Person, who said it slowly stood up. Thanks to the fact, that all beings in the meeting were extremely powerful, there was no need for sight or sound amplification devices. Therefore, everyone clearly saw who it was.
Closed eyes, black clothes and a very special dagger on the belt. All the old veterans knew who was speaking.
”You speak of loss? You speak of pain? What do you know about them? Markus, how old are you? 2 thousand years? 3 at most. You know nothing. I was there since the second leader rose to power. I saw Athena's very creation. I saw her rebellion and I saw its consequences.”
”I...” Markus wanted to say something but was harshly interrupted again.
”Shut up...!”
”Dark, that's enough, I think. The boy lost his love in the 5th war.”
”We all did! We all lost our loved ones.” Dark answered, but this time his voice felt even colder and he continued, ”Every war was horrible. Every damn one of them. There is no good or bad war. They were all shit.”
”I know, Dark. But he is younger than us. He hasn't seen true horrors, yet and I truly hope he never will. Isn't that why we fought so hard?” A man retorted.
Apparently, he had equal standing amongst the old veterans and was as respected as Dark himself.
”Listen, dova-...” Dark wanted to start an argument, but couldn't finish, because lazy voice interrupted them all.
”Okay, okay. Enough with the drama. Everyone here knows a thing or two about the horrors of war. However, the question is still there, how is it connected with Athena's progeny?”
Markus, finally relaxed. Indeed he was rash in his speech.
”Thank you, sir. I apologize for my behavior to everyone.” Most people here were with thousands of years of experience, while young members of the community were all sensible and honest people.
He started his explanation, but this time much calmer.
”Let me explain. I will start with basics, the progeny should be something that can help with the revival of Athena. However, any random connection could count as a progeny, then we would need to scrap our whole network. So, these things should meet some requirements.”
”I was in a team, responsible for dealing with Athena's progeny after the 5th war ended and this system was part of that progeny. It could contain consciousness and its power source can be self-sufficient, so it fit bȧrė minimum to be a progeny. It also has a small universe rule incorporated, that allows time-travel through the original timeline. However, despite its potential, it was extremely unhelpful and gave only missions for killing or destroying something. So, users either were removed by Universe itself for messing with the timelines or killed during missions.”
Markus paused, for a second, to let people digest this information.
”For more than 10 years we sought out all the technologies and artifacts that could possibly lead to her revival. And the chance that we missed such an obvious progeny, is simply nonexistent, but the person that wields this system is surprisingly a result of our organization's mistake.”
”In short, you are saying it is impossible for this system to accidentally appear unless it is an actual progeny?”
”Indeed. Moreover, after some research and investigation, I found out much more proof that this specific System can hold Athena consciousness.”
The moment he finished, an argument broke out. People were wild with ideas because this time progeny is not just a chance for revival, but an actual container of Athena.
***
Markus was happily moving towards the Portkey located at Stoatshead Hill.
'Finally, we are going to this stupid Quidditch Cup. I enjoy communicating with the trio, free food, and a good bed, but I couldn't work on more than half of my projects here. I need to stay safe from something Junior guy. Absolute nutcase, with complete devotion to the dark lord. More importantly, I need to make sure that there won't be any shadowy marks glowing in the sky, while I am it.'
After arriving, we started setting up tents, but I ”officially” I can't use magic, so I had nothing much to do. The trio and I went to get some water. In the meantime, I was checking for any suspicious people walking around.
'Save progress.'
〖Save ⟳〗
'Just in case shit blows up.'
Surprisingly it wasn't that bad. Nothing unprecedented happened. I watched the match and found myself excited about it. I was just like everyone else, cheering, feeling sad and emotional about the game. The game, I didn't give a crap about, just a day ago. Human creatures, indeed, are strange beings.
Anyway, the game ended. I honestly didn't understand who won. I thought the team with the guy who caught the Snitch auto-wins, but shockingly points do matter in this game.
I was on all the games of Harry, but I didn't pay much attention, because I was with Hermione and Ron. They are cheering, all good. They are booing, all bad. Moreover, Harry catching a 'Golden Snitch' was always a game over for the enemy, so I got this ȧssumption that getting it is a shortcut to winning.
”Snitch to win” is just an MC thing, huh? Or did this game suddenly become complicated? Anyway, I just came closer to Harry to ask how Krum's team lost and he explained to me all about this game. Harry explained it so well, that I got a skill raise in ”Playing Games”.
We finally got back after the game and everyone started celebrating, before eventually going to sleep. I decided to stay for a bit longer because I still had some energy and it was a good decision. In the night, death eaters attacked the camp and havoc was unleashed.
However, just when I started thinking about how to help there, everything froze.
I was really surprised.
'System?'
The scene now was really familiar. It reminded me of what happened when I just came to this world.
'Time stop...'
[Incorrect, dear Magnus. It's a force field or domain if you'd like.]
Voice was the same mechanical and emotionless voice, but it felt different. Or to be precise, it gave a different feeling while speaking. Before, I felt as if I am talking with some voice ȧssistant, but now speaking with the system felt like I a dialog with a person.
'So, you are finally out, revealing yourself?'
[Interesting. You expected me?]
'Honestly, I did. There were times when the system felt... different. Like there are 2 different personas, talking with me at different times.'
[Well, then let me introduce myself properly. I am Athena, your... personal ȧssistant.]
*Progress*
『 Alchemy 39 | Sneak 28 ➔ 29 』
『 Speech 37 | Studying 47 | Wand Making 32 』
『 Herbology 39 | Magic Channeling 61 』
『 Magic Chanting 42 | Magic Gesturing 42 』
『 Magic Theory 58 | Astronomy 35 』
『 Riding Expertise 20 | Crafting 32 』
『 Playing Games 15 ➔ 16 | Enchanting 40 』
『 Cooking 26 | Training 26 | Physical Activities 18 』
『 Programming 25 | Dancing 0 』
『 Legilimency 29 | Occlumency 34 』
『 Drawing 10 』