Deviatio II. Systema Creatum
systema (n) — Latin form of the Greek word Σύστημή (sústēmă):a whole consisting of several parts;a group of soldiers, a corps;a flock, a herd;combining several verses into a complete composition;sediment accumulation;a machine, an apparatus.
creatum (neuter form of creatus): created, made, produced.born;chosen.
It came to itself in the darkness.
It knew the purpose of its creation and its mission, but until It was bound to the shell of the Chosen One's Soul, It could not know anything more precise.
"So, Sasha, your soul is about to be reborn, and by the will of the Universal System, you are granted an opportunity…" the official representative of the creator of *It* began to say.
"Wow!" a new voice rang out. "What a vivid dream! I've never had one like this before…"
"Sasha, I assure you, this is not a dream. You died in your sleep after a long… Game. Do you remember that your head hurt before you went to bed?"
"Yes…"
"You lived alone and worked in shifts, not daily, so no one found you until the end of the week."
"I don't… How… Why? Why am I here?"
The official representative of the creator of *It* interrupted his interlocutor and took *It* into his hand.
"You've been thinking for a long time about how wonderful it would be to have a System, haven't you? We will provide the first couple of worlds as a starting ground for skill acquisition, and then you will repay the Organization's invested efforts…"
"Wait, wait, wait — okay, let's say you're serious, girl, and this isn't some post‑mortem glitch of mine," the Chosen One said. "What's in it for me? And why do you need this — that's what interests me first and foremost!"
*It* gradually gained more understanding of the situation, so the Chosen One's tone was identified by *It* as indignant.
*It* felt a trace of bewilderment.
"You were Chosen for the System because you met the parameters. And thanks to your future work, we will gain more data. And data on clusters of worlds and their branches is the goal of our Organization, Sasha," the voice of the representative of the creator of *It* was insinuatingly soft yet confident.
"Not so fast, girl," the Chosen One chuckled. "I've thought about something like this before… Of course, I never expected it to come in handy, but still. I have a couple of conditions. After all, if not just any soul fits your needs, and you're handing out Systems, then these conditions are perfectly doable!"
*It* did not understand why the Chosen One needed any conditions, since he would have *It* as an assistant. *It* would become part of the System, and the Chosen One would be the guide.
*It* understood the great responsibility of high‑quality data collection, so the conditions seemed superfluous to *It*.
But the representative of the creator of *It* had more experience than *It* did, and so decided to hear out the conditions.
"First, I want to go to Star Wars, the Old Republic era. The Sith Empire, the story of a slave and a future Inquisitor — that's a hundred percent, yes," the Chosen One waited for a nod from the representative of the creator of *It* and continued. "And to understand and control the influence of the Dark Side of the Force, I want your System to help me with that."
*It* did not understand the meaning of what was said, but *It* felt the grip of the representative of the creator of *It* grow heavier on its essence. *It* showed no reaction to the energy intrusion and the additional setup, although it sensed the interference.
"And yes, tell me — will this System keep reviving me? In other worlds, with all my memories or with some adjustments? Or how exactly will all of this be arranged?" the Chosen One's voice dripped with curiosity mixed with anxiety, and *It* felt the unease even more strongly.
"No, this is a one‑time offer. We have removed the user's ability to choose further worlds due to…"
"Yeah, yeah, the System makes the user super strong, Hulk smash, no need to tell me that," the Chosen One habitually cut off the representative of the creator of *It*. "Then I also want, if I die there, to go to Hell from that Helluva Boss animation, if my morality will end up that bad, and if I die and am worthy of Heaven, then let it be, for example, any other anime world I know well, one with a good afterlife, yeah?"
"This… violates our rules much less than it should," the representative of the creator of *It* sighed thoughtfully and used his energy on *It* one last time.
"Well, that's possible, right?" the Chosen One spoke with mirth and relief in his voice.
The representative of the creator of *It* brought the hand holding *It* closer to the Chosen One.
"In that case, the amendments are accepted, and the soul's deal with the Organization is sealed."
"Wait, what happens next? Hold on…"
The representative of the creator of *It* disappeared, leaving the Chosen One alone — but at the same time, *It* gained full consciousness.
*It*…
No, now it was the System that had completed the first transition.
A dark moment later, the Chosen One and the System with him found themselves kneeling in shackles, and opposite his cage stood a sentient being with crimson skin and cartilaginous growths on his face.
The System began calibration automatically, but the Chosen One was not ready for the transfer, so his already fragile new body swayed and nearly fell.
"Hmm… Still a slave… So…" the Chosen One muttered.
The System had already begun connection and diagnostics, so monitoring the semantic content of the Chosen One's speech was put on hold.
"Ohhh! I found you, my Tchotchke!" a voice came as if from nowhere, unsuitably cheerful.
The Chosen One did not have time to turn around to see the speaker, and the System had not yet fully connected to the Universe. Also, this version of the System lacked a pause function, so it could not provide a warning to the Chosen One in such a simple way.
The Chosen One's body went rigid, his gaze fixed on the floor — and that was clearly the unknown's goal.
The System tried to contact the Center, but it failed.
The System again felt a grip on its essence, but this time it knew it was its Artificial Soul, tightly bound to the Chosen One's soul for the best fulfillment of its purpose.
For the first time in its entire existence, the System felt Fear and Pain.
***
"One, two, Chaos is coming for you,
Three, four, through dimensional door,
Five, six, I do this just for kicks,
Seven, eight, but it's never too late,
Nine, ten, BREAKING ORDER BRINGS ME ZEN!"
The System came to itself under the strange, quiet chant of the voice whose owner had severed its connection to the Chosen One…
Its Artificial Soul felt paralyzing horror with every word of the repeatedly recited counting rhyme, but somewhere in its depths a spirit of resistance was being born… The System did not know where from, but this feeling seemed to refresh it and make its consciousness gain more and more focus on what was happening.
Before its consciousness was forcibly shut down, it managed to catch the last phrase of its tormentor, but did not understand it, for reasons clear to any outside observer.
"It's a pity I can't fix you myself and put everything back the way it was… All I could do, I've done, but it's not enough. Now everything depends only on you. And I know who can help you, because what they did to you has put your personality to sleep, my dear. So, have a good adventure…"
"And yes, try to make friends there, do be so kind, my dear… System."