Utopian System

Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

"You see," Dionz explained while floating cross-legged, "for the system to actually work, I needed to give humans more mana. Because even with everyone at level 100, the life potions would eventually become a real problem. An 'apple of discord' situation, if you will."

He gestured enthusiastically. "That's why half the reward from this challenge is shared among all humans. The mana increase will help prevent future conf-OW!"

Something invisible seemed to strike the god's holographic form. He rubbed his head, looking upward with annoyance.

"Oh, come on! It's too late to start enforcing rules now. We've already seen Nala breaking-OW! Again?!"

Elio watched, bewildered, as the god argued with apparently nothing.

"This is totally unfair!" Dionz complained to the air. "The moderation subconscious doesn't say anything when Nala does whatever she wants, but I try to help a little and…" He ducked, apparently avoiding another invisible strike.

With an exaggerated expression of indignation, he pulled out a small cube from his robes. "You know what? Fine!" He pressed several spots on the cube's surface in quick succession.

A strange sound filled the chamber, like reality hiccuping.

"What did you just do?" Elio asked, watching the god stuff the cube back into his robes with suspicious haste.

"Oh, just turned off my reminder system," Dionz waved dismissively. "Look, at the end of this run, Nala's probably going to kick my divine behind anyway. She'll yell at me because everything gets recorded in the system, but you know what?" He spread his arms wide.

"Worth it! Time to go all out in this run!"

Elio's expression hardened. He stepped closer to the god, his voice dropping dangerously low.

"Alright then. If you're done hiding things... why don't you tell me why you created this stupid game using us as pawns?"

The god's floating form actually dropped a few inches, his casual demeanor cracking slightly. "Well, that's... um..."

"All these cycles, all these resets," Elio continued, his anger building. "People dying, suffering, fighting endless battles. Was it just entertainment for you? Some divine amusement?"

Emberg and Poison Stinger moved closer to Elio, their forms radiating support. The salamander's flames burned low and serious, while the scorpion's boron seemed to darken with shared anger.

"It's not..." Dionz started, then stopped. For the first time, his typically dramatic gestures were replaced with something more genuine. "It's not what you think. The game wasn't created for entertainment. It was created because..."

He looked around, as if checking for invisible observers, then continued in a lower voice. "Because we needed a way to control something much worse. Something that would make all these cycles look like a pleasant dream in comparison."

"What could be worse than forcing people to live the same nightmare over and over?" Elio demanded.

"The alternative," Dionz replied, his usual theatricality completely gone. "The game, the cycles, the rules, they're not the real problem. They're a way to withstand... Or at least, they were what came to be…. I'd prefer an easier world, but Nala was relentless when making her point clear, that we had to suffer if we wanted to get anything."

He created a small holographic image between them, a perfect recreation of their world, with all its rings and barriers. "Everything you know, everything you've fought for... it's all part of a containment system. One that's about to fail for Nala's alternative because we are going to lose."

"Containment for what?"

"For madness."

The god's voice carried a weight that made even the invocations go still.

"Neither Nala nor I can live forever, not as individuals," Dionz continued, his usual theatrical manner completely gone. "Not in the way you might think. The mind... it wasn't designed for eternity."

He created a small holographic representation of a human brain.

"A normal human brain can handle about 140 years of information. When I placed you all here, I had to make... adjustments. Remove certain limiting aspects of your minds, enhance others. Give you more capacity than regular humans. But even then, there's still a limit. It's not infinite. Nothing truly is."

The hologram shifted, showing neural patterns changing over time. "When someone acquires too much experience, they start getting bored with repetition. That initial spark of life, when everything surprises and excites you, when each moment feels new and full of possibility… it starts to fade."

Elio watched as the patterns in the hologram grew increasingly chaotic.

"Life becomes darker," Dionz explained. "Loses meaning. Imagine living so long that you've seen every possible variation of every possible event. Imagine knowing exactly how everything will play out because you've experienced it all before."

"But Nala..." Dionz paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. "Nala wasn't human. Well, not entirely. She's... different. Her mind can sustain existence with minimal interaction because her base consciousness is wired to find stimulation in any task, no matter how repetitive. She doesn't experience the same... decay that we do."

The god turned to look directly at Elio. "What I'm trying to say is that this system, this game... it wasn't imposed on you. It was something you all agreed to. Something you wanted, Elio. You were there too."

"What?" Elio took a step back. "That's impossible. I would remember..."

"You think you would? Think you can? You probably asked for it to stop," Dionz asked softly. "I don't remember everything right now so I can't be sure, sorry, even I have to divide my memories so I can function normally, but…"

"...Could you possibly retain memories spanning that long without them destroying your current consciousness? The human mind, even an enhanced one, can only hold so much before it starts breaking down."

Emberg moved closer to Elio, its flames flickering with concern. Poison Stinger's pincers clicked quietly, a sound that somehow conveyed support.

"The whole system..." Dionz gestured at their surrounding reality. "It's not just entertainment or a test. It's a preservation mechanism. It's not perfect since Nala and I are fighting to decide the right way to do this… But for now, it's a way to keep experiencing life without being crushed under the weight of eternal life. Each reset gives you a chance to feel that spark again, to experience things as new, to keep being you."