Part One - Third Year - Chapter [007]

"So what exactly do we need to do to build this world?" I mentioned Apollo.

He had projected a third-dimensional holograph into my room. Even though it was day out, the night sky of space filled my room.

We were floating in a void - with the planet right in front of us. Still but a blank slate. 

[First, you'll need to deliver the biomes] 

I thought for a moment. I recalled some of the JRPGs I had played on the PlayStation. Most of the good games had immersive expansive biomes with different weather regions.

Then I thought about how the earth is pretty much the same. Antarctica is a snowy biome, while the Sahara is our desert biome, we have beaches and breezy climates. 

"All right - first of all, we need some snowy mountains - then we could build a sprawling desert - after I would like some places with a beach or two - then maybe we need a Forest, throw in that sprawling nature. Oh! And maybe also some sprawling countryside Grasslands? Of course, we also need some Gothic castles, this is a fantasy world of magic and sword, and a modern metropolis What do you think Apollo? Can we make it so it has the medieval aesthetic, but people have electricity?" 

[That sounds great!] 

[We can certainly do that - but you would need to introduce some type of energy source…]

[How do they get their energy, do they burn fossil fuels, or maybe they have renewable energy farms around the planet.] 

"Yes - I like the idea of renewable energy," I mentioned. 

[You could also introduce something like a crystal that people can harvest to get energy from.]

"Maybe it could be some sort of ancient energy that people have managed to master over the ages," 

[I agree!] 

"What about fauna and animals - wait am I gonna model every single NPC?" suddenly the insurmountable task before me pilled up in an instant.

It gave me dread. 

[Only if you want to - we could also outsource some processes to Sybil] 

"Like sending it off to a render to a server farm? Won't Sybil get mad we're using some of her processing power?"

[Affirmative! She'll need some energy - but I'll help you allocate it - so you won't even feel it.]

[A timer will appear and you'll have to wait for that specific amount.]

"That's fair," I mused. 

I took a sat and crossed my legs, I felt like a little kid in the sandbox, the planet stood before waiting for me to create something. The possibilities felt endless - the only limit was my imagination. 

[So? Are you ready to get started?] 

"Yes, let's do it!" suddenly console after console appear in front of me, hovering like pads.

Other controls appeared as well, some nobs and sliders I could move.

Finally, a QWERTY keyboard floated in mid-air.

The console felt futuristic, but at the same time, I could grasp what was beyond me. 

[First, let me explain how you'll be populating this world.[

"Okay -" I murmured. 

[One of Sybil's many programs is human generation - you can design every single one if you'd wish, but there's also a button that creates humans based on certain parameters] 

"You say 'humans' but they're more like characters, right?" I suddenly objected. 

[Correct]

[You may wish to create special NPC's that have backstory and a special quest] 

"Wait - once I'm down there, will I still be able to create characters?" I suddenly felt a surge of creativity.

Already wanting to get my feet wet.

I felt like a DM. 

[You may, but it might take some time to create]

An interface with 3D capabilities showed up in front of me, it looked like a typical character creator you would find in a video game, a base human, but I could tweak several parameters to make them unique. Make them have different hair, and I could even tweak their personality. 

I started playing around, and in some time, I got a character that resembled me pretty much to a T.

Long hair and everything. 

I pondered for a moment. 

"This is sort of uncanny," I said to myself. Apollo had been weirdly quiet this whole time.

"Apollo you okay?" I asked into the void. 

[Affirmative, I was creating the biomes you specified just a moment ago] 

I looked down at my watch, even though I had felt like hours had passed by, only 15 minutes had gone by. 

"That's weird -" I noted. 

[What is?] 

"I could have sworn we've been at this for hours, but it's only been fifteen minutes." 

[That's because this space offers special time dilation, it's a 28/1 time difference.] 

I had no idea what the hell that even meant, but I understood time was much slower in this space. 

"Will time dilation also be affected inside the planet?" 

[Affirmative] 

"Come look - what do you think of this guy?" I said pointing at the avatar I had just spent hours painstakingly creating. 

[He looks like you - Quite dashing] 

"Thanks! But oh em gee, it took so long to create, do I have to do this for every single NPC?" 

[I recommend you only do so if you wish to give them some type of backstory - for now, you can adjust the setting and hit generate - Sybil will do the rest] 

I pushed the character that looked like me to the side and it went into a little box. 

"Save it for later - now, I guess people of every color, every shape, and every size!" I said and turned the sliders to the top.

"We need some diversity, here on this day." Then I hovered over the GENERATE button. 

"Here goes nothing," and with that I hit it.

Faces started flashing on the screen before me, the program created one after another, each as human as the one before. They looked quite good, the models looked realistic. Some of them had big bodies, others small bodies, and every single one was unique. 

Yet not a single one of them existed. I pushed my hands to my head and plowed to the floor on my back, sighing relief. I opened my eyes, and seeing the floating void, made it seem like I was floating.

However I was stuck still thanks to Earth's gravity, this was only a projection after all. 

My mind wandered to Eddy. 

I checked my phone, there weren't any new messages, then I checked his online status. 

24 minutes ago. 

He was ignoring me, or the situation was awkward as hell.

I opened his DM's and scrolled through our conversation. We talked about the most nonsensical things. It went on and on, there was so much. I rarely text like this with another guy.

Only when I want their attention, and he giving it to me meant something special to me. 

I scrolled down and opened the message box. 

But nothing came to mind, what would I even say? 

I started looking at pictures of us that time we went hiking - of the friends we had gone with.

Of how he used the same awkward poses for all his photos.

The pointing with the winking eye, the praying while on your knees.

We had some great photos.

I flipped through them.

A wave of nostalgia washed over me.

I wish there was some way I could still talk to him - some way I could see him again without things being awkward between us. 

The character creator suddenly stopped.

Focusing on creating a single human.

But I didn't notice. 

He would have called - right? 

He would have said something so our friendship wouldn't get ruined. 

Was he even thinking of me like that?

Why would things be awkward, unless he was in the closet about this type of stuff? 

Should I be the one to say something?

I don't want to force him or anything.

I put my phone to my face in exasperation.

[Uhhh! What the hell?!] Apollo sounded confused. 

The character creator was making someone, it had focused on a single person. But I was cringing so hard at the memory I had no idea what was happening in front of me. 

[Why does he look familiar?] Apollo noted, but I was still way too deep in my self-pity and cringe.

[He kinda looks like -]

Suddenly he started shouting. 

[NO NO NO!] 

Apollo protested.

But it was too late, the character pinged and continued making random humans. 

[Aiden!] 

"What? I'm up! What's going on?" I said suddenly jolting up.

[The uh - it looked like - the character model made -] Apollo was stammering his words.

"Huh? You're not making any sense," I mumbled.

[Sorry - I just thought - it looked like the character creator made someone, you know. HIM.]

"You mean -"

I gasped.

"YOU MEAN EDDY?"

[Yes - but - that's not possible] 

"Right, you said it created random humans, people who don't exist, we could get into trouble, right?" 

[Affirmative] he said dejected. 

[This world might not get approved by the council of The First Sphere] 

"No - it must be a glitch, it can't be, can't we just delete it?"

"What's the First Sphere?" I said suddenly changing topics. 

[Negative - once a character has been created and sent down into the world - it can no longer be deleted] 

[And uh - I'll tell you later] 

I scratched my head.

And stood up, then started pacing around my room.

Or was it space? 

"Shit! This has to be my fault, the character creator must have noticed I was thinking about him and created him incidentally," I panted through worried breaths. 

[That's one possible scenario]

[However no fault of your own] 

[Since it was incidental - you didn't create it - it might just get a pass.]

He sounded confident. 

We pondered at each other for a moment. 

"So what now?" I pleaded. 

[Nothing we can do about it, just hope for the best.]