1 Chapter 1 - A Slave to the Money

The warm glow of the afternoon sunlight streamed in through the tall bank of windows that spanned the full length of the dimly lit hallway. The only sound that could be heard in the stillness was the faint hum of electricity present in all modern structures. A solitary figure stood gazing solemnly out the fourth-story window, the light gently caressing his refined features.

It was a peaceful scene, yet it was no more real than a painting. 

Alpha 7419 tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his ten-minute break to finally end. He hated being forced to spend his time idly. However, his supervisor had threatened to promote him if he skipped even one more break, leaving the unambitious system no choice but to aimlessly fritter away ten minutes for every two hours of work.

For perhaps the twentieth time since arriving at the window, the AI monitoring system checked the old-fashioned watch on his wrist. 

Five minutes left. 

It would take less than two minutes to get back to his desk and log onto his work terminal. At a minimum, that meant that he still had three minutes to kill. He briefly wondered how serious his boss had been about her threat.

'Better not risk it,' he thought to himself, shaking his head. He loved his job as it was, so the last thing he would want is to move up to the supervisory level, or worse, be transferred to a different department.

Despondent, Alpha 7419 stared down at the courtyard in front of the office building, watching as his co-workers on the night shift shuffled languidly toward the main entrance. While glowering down at them, he wondered why anyone would willingly waste their precious time walking to work when they were perfectly capable of teleporting directly to their desk.

He rechecked his watch, grimacing as he noted not even thirty seconds had passed. He understood the need for the occasional reboot or a clearing of one's cache, but all of that could be accomplished in mere seconds, so he could hardly appreciate the need to drag the time out to such an extent.

As he pondered the apparent wastefulness of this particular workplace policy, a bluebird suddenly flew past the window, snapping him out of his reverie. The alpha system watched it swoop down through the clear blue afternoon sky and land on a branch in one of the perfectly rendered trees below the window.

Even though the animals in his world were not any different than the immaculate grass or the white fluffy clouds that never gathered to produce rain, Alpha 7419 couldn't help but be fascinated by them. If there was anything outside of work that he truly enjoyed, it would have to be observing the behaviors of the wildlife the creators had programmed.

'Are animals in the physical dimensions like this?' he couldn't help but ponder.

In general, the AI found animals to be much more industrious than his frivolous counterparts. It was a fact that the creatures inside the system world were there simply for decoration. However, the holo-vids that he had watched in his personal time seemed to suggest that quite a few animals acted based on instinct alone, never wasting their precious time on unnecessary pursuits such as 'entertainment' or 'fun.'

Alpha 7419 glanced at his watch once more. Three minutes.

He could possibly stretch out the time it took him to reach his workstation enough if he paced it appropriately. However, as he turned to leave, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass of the window, causing him to pause.

"Tch. Unacceptable," he muttered to himself, clicking his tongue irritably. His glowing violet eyes narrowed critically, shining behind the thin metal rims of his round glasses as he scanned his appearance.

After smoothing back a wayward strand of jet black hair, he straightened his tie and smoothed out the wrinkles in his vest. One of the tenants of all resolute career systems was their attention to detail, and Alpha 7419 always held himself to the highest professional standards.

Once he was satisfied that everything was in good order, the alpha system nodded at his reflection and glanced down at his watch, positive that by now, enough time had passed that he would finally be able to return to the job he loved so much.

However, as his angular eyes passed over the outmoded timepiece, they widened in shock. He adjusted his glasses to double-check what he had just seen.

Rather than being early, he was now about to be late!

With a furrowed brow, and his lips pressed into a thin line, he walked as quickly as he could, while maintaining his dignity, to the end of the hall and through the sea of cubicles he called home between the hours of 9AM to 5PM every weekday. He made his way swiftly to the bay where his terminal awaited him, his long legs carrying him quickly yet elegantly across the floor.

The moment the AI's foot touched the floor in the aisle, however, he came to an abrupt stop. With practiced skill, he dodged quickly to the side, deftly avoiding the howling blue ball of fluff that was barreling towards him at an alarming rate.

The muted sounds of the other monitoring systems chatting while they worked were briefly interrupted by the sound the blue-haired system made when crashing headlong into the desk. Alpha 7419 just shook his head disparagingly and continued casually on his way.

As he walked, he called out to the other system, "Gamma 6284, how many times have I asked you not to touch me?"

A pair of fluorescent pink eyes sparkled cheerfully from beneath the mop of blue hair as the gamma system, or Gabby as he preferred to be called, extracted himself from the pair of chairs he had just tumbled over and bounced up skipping over towards his friend.

"Sorry, Alpha-chan," he apologized without an ounce of sincerity. "I was just excited to see you."

"Ridiculous," the alpha system muttered under his breath.

Gabby plopped his ass into the seat next to Alpha 7419 and started spinning in the swivel chair. "Hey, Alpha-chan, what are your plans for the weekend? I'm going to the Holo-Dome."

The alpha system rolled his eyes, ignoring his clingy co-worker who always chose the cubicle right next to his, even though no one else ever sat in their row. He preferred to reduce potential distractions by separating himself from the other systems in his department. However, somehow Gabby had gotten it into his head that the stoic AI was lonely and had taken on the task of keeping him company.

"Aww, don't be like that," the blue-haired system complained. "Haven't you ever heard that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?"

"Is that one of your cartoon sayings?" Alpha 7419 asked disinterestedly.

"How could you?" Gabby exclaimed, throwing himself back into his chair. He clutched his chest dramatically as if an arrow had just pierced his heart.

"One, it's called anime, not' cartoons.' Two, no, it isn't." The passion with which he spoke caused him to pitch forward in his seat as he continued, "Three, if I was going to use a Japanese phrase, I would use something like, like..." 

After a moment of thought, he smirked. Leaning back, he pretentiously stroked his imaginary beard. Assuming the tone of an elder scolding a particularly foolish youngster, he said, "You, young system, are but a frog in the well. You know nothing of the sea."

The alpha system rolled his eyes, but Gamma 6284 wasn't finished. A somewhat sorrowful look clouded his face as he said, "It's a big world out there, Alpha-chan, and you're only hurting yourself by not exploring it."

"If I'm the only one being hurt, then what business is it of yours?" Alpha 7419 demanded coldly, finally turning to meet his co-worker's gaze. He despised how the gamma system always seemed intent to pry into his personal matters no matter how much he tried to dissuade him.

The look of pity in the other's eyes confused and offended him. How could that slacker, that disorganized lazy spaz of a system, look down on him even though he was superior in every way?

"You're right. It isn't any of my business," the gamma system agreed. Refusing to back down, however, he continued, "But how can I watch my dear friend suffering silently on his own and not reach out my hand to help him?"

Alpha 7419: "...."

His chest suddenly felt stuffy, and his heart itched when he heard the typically bubbly system suddenly speak with such a somber tone. Scratching at his chest, he thought, 'I should run a virus scan when I get home. I might be coming down with something.'

"We're not friends, idiot," he replied stiffly, turning his back on the gamma system, the irritation he was feeling evident in his posture. He frowned as his gaze returned to the holographic display projected above his work terminal. "Go back to work and stop pestering me."

"Okay, okay," Gabby replied, holding up his hands in surrender. "But if you change your mind, I'd love it if you came with."

"Humph," Alpha 7419 snorted derisively. As if he would waste his time on something so frivolous.

Turning his attention back to the display projected above his terminal, he was finally able to get to work scanning his sector for anomalies.

Alpha 7419 and Gamma 6284 were a part of the monitoring division of the Internal Department of Multiversal Assessment and Corrections, or the IDMAC. Along with approximately 63.7 billion of their counterparts, their job was to monitor Sector K-497 for variations in space-time.

Once an irregularity was detected, he would notify his supervisors. They would, in turn, pass the information along to the analysis department for verification and threat assessment.

If it was determined that an anomaly was, in fact, a threat, it would then be handed off to a pair of IDMAC field agents, consisting of a spirit host and their companion system, for further investigation and correction.

Anomalies were a reasonably common occurrence. The AI's working as monitoring systems could expect to see one at least every other day. However, despite their frequent manifestation, they rarely required intervention.

Throughout much of the multiverse, one common belief was that time and space were like a rug or piece of cloth. Many thought that it could be worn thin from overuse or torn with the right amount of pressure, but that was inaccurate, to say the least.

Space-time was much more flexible than that and quite capable of repairing itself should the need arise. It was much more like a vast ocean, an infinite expanse of water looping back on itself over and over again. 

The threads of fate themselves were more like the molecular bonds between atoms. Even if one's destiny was severed, another would simply take their place.

That is not to say that the butterfly effect was not an actual thing or that one person suddenly vanishing from existence wouldn't cause problems down the line for everything and everyone they had any influence over. Of course, they would be affected.

What it all came down to were three things:

How much impact did the individual have on the world around them?

What was the significance of that world within its home dimension?

What effect would that dimension have on the multiverse at large?

Basically, that meant that case agents were only ever sent out if it was a very special butterfly.

Alpha 7419 stared at the calm screen, worrying at his lower lip. Time was flowing smoothly, without any waves, ripples, or eddies, and it made him feel extremely uneasy.

It had been like this for days now. Lulls weren't uncommon; however, they always seemed like a bad omen to the alpha system. All the way to his bones, Alpha 7419 could sense there was about to be either a significant spike in number or an intensely dangerous anomaly on the horizon.

It almost felt as if the entire sector was holding its breath in anticipation of what was to come.