Build Sequence Is Key

Servant of the Station

"Wait!" Cecelia yelled and then put her hand on the door to keep it from closing, "Did you really mean that?"

"Mean what? That I would be your servant? Sure, I meant it. I mean who wouldn't want to be a servant." Jason said thinking he was continuing the joke.

"No, look Jason, I am serious." The mousy young woman got down right in his face and asked again, "Would you be my slave?"

Suddenly, Jason got it. This was not a joke, she was really asking. It seemed like some kind of NPC triggered quest. But if this was a game it was extremely life like. There was a chance that once he said 'yes' he would be really and truly committed. In a game back home, in real life, he could have went back to his last save point or reset the game. But here? This was a different story, here he would going to have to live with whatever this quest was. And it seemed like a class quest too. Being a servant, this was too much. He wanted to say 'no' and was about to voice that word. As he opened his mouth to say no, but the word that came out was, "Yes."

Cecelia bodily pulled him out of the car, and turning to the driver, "I apologize, here take a tip. Thanks for sticking up for me, but he is okay. There is no problem here." She said a whole bunch of things all together to assuage the driver's worries.

"Suit yourself. Have a good day missy!" The driver said and slowly ever so slowly pulled his hover car way from the outlook.

"Wait, but, I don't know why I said that. I was going to say 'no'!" Jason complained.

She laughed, "Well you said 'yes' and here we are." But then she shook her head, "Wait, before you go on. At least let me explain. Then if you truly don't care to continue. I promise I will drop it for good and you will never see me again."

Jason's brow creased, "That sounds a little drastic, but alright I will play along." Things had become a little fantastic for Jason. This was getting a little crazy.

"Well, the thing is that it is pretty simple really. As the personification of this space station I interface with the Jubilani. Right now I have an average of about a 5 percent integration with Jubilani. This integration allows me to create and update the system which everyone here uses to interact with Jubilani, the Jubilani System."

"Umm, alright..." She just said a lot of words that were really confusing.

Quickly interrupting she went on, "I know you are new. No worries, all of this will come easy to you within even a few days. The point is that even as I update the system translating data from the Jubilani dimension to these players, I only have that 5% integration. Yet my creators also set a crazy limitation on me. I can't increase my own integration, I must work together with the players themselves to do so." She gestured to include all the many people moving like bees in a hive going from place to place around them.

"Ah! So if I am understanding correctly, you couldn't even communicate the need for this increased integration until someone offered to be your servant?"

"Yes! A crazy NPC quest, I know!" Cecelia referred to herself as an NPC.

"But surely you are not a non-player character?" Jason asked, "You seem really human to me."

"Oh, thank you." She pulled back the hair that had fallen over her left shoulder, "I do have some self determination and a bit of agency if I do say so myself."

He smiled at her bragging, "Yes, I think you have some great agency, too."

"Hush, now you are just trying to flatter me." She said coyly, a no that meant keep doing it.

"Well, it is true that I really don't know you very well yet. I will have to see if you really do have agency." Jason said with a smile.

She blushed, "Oh, you! Well, I am a non-player character, I can't go into the system. So I can't level up. All I can do is act as the go between, the mediator for the players and the Jubilani dimension."

"Alright, so all you need me to do is to give you all my rewards? I don't even know what type of game we are playing here."

"Yes, and no. All your experience points would flow to me. I can't directly earn them so the only way I have to leveling within the context of the system is indirectly through a servant. Also throughout the game play building materials can be gained that here on the station can be used to build the station itself. However, that said, any other items or gifts gained I won't be able to use and will be yours to keep." She ended that part of her explanation and then quickly held up her hand when Jason went to ask more questions, "The game you will be playing is a real time strategy implementation. Every time you plug in, you start at the beginning with the same resources."

"Wow."

"Ha! You are so cute. There are possibilities for unlocking additional modes of the game. Change the initial resources, but you have to level up for that."

"So basically, I won't be able to change anything ever."

Cecelia brought her fingers to her chin, "No, it isn't like that. This quest has an end. You can read about the quest in your menu, but you only need to continue as my servant until my integration reaches 15%. Fifteen percent, right, it is not that much."

Jason shook his head, "You must not have omniscience because I don't have or can't access the system. Which you should know, since you basically are the system, right? The fact that you don't know that is a bit fishy..."

"Oh, right, you did say that you were an error. No I am not the system, I am the embodiment of the system. There is a big difference."

"Okay..."

"Yes you will have to take it on faith for now. And I should warn you, the rate at which the integration proceeds could be extremely slow. It could take years and years. I really don't know and won't know until we try it out."

"Alright, thanks for the warning. But I have another question. Is there a way to earn milk as a reward for playing? And would milk be something you would take?" Jason asked sincerely.