Day after day, year after year, whenever Rita heard that the Order Clock would enter Quiet Mountain in three days, she would use "load" to pull the tiline back seventeen days.
With frequent ti-stops and loads, Rita occasionally got a little disoriented from being so imrsed in the World Sigh, but thankfully she had B80 and Nivalis.
Wherever they went for lessons, they always returned on ti to report to her.
The little robot stood at the table and began its broadcast.
"Ninth cycle. Two hours remaining in this ti-stop. This is your sixth ti-stop in the current Starsea day."
After that, it was Nivalis's turn to report the requests of the players while Rita wrote in the World Sigh.
Knowing BS Rita was locked in the captain's room for serious work, no player would dare disturb her. Any requests or needs were directed to Nivalis.
Even when leaving Cat's Ideal, they inford Nivalis to avoid any unexpected situations.
The little ice dragon perched on the table, notebook in hand, clearing its throat. Mimicking Shadow.Q's formal reporting style, it ticulously reported:
"Lightchaser will visit Lynx Duke after this ti-stop."
"Deceitful Bloom wants to call another tiline's Deceitful Bloom using a 'Brilliance' bullet."
"Cicada asked if you could stop Nivalis from bothering Smoke Tune. Hum, when she follows Deceitful Bloom herself, it's always accompanying Smoke Tune. How dare she?"
"Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke and Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom are on deck, waiting for you. They hope the Quiet Mountain faction can join your plan. The price is yours to decide."
"Cinders asked if you could call Wail to the ship to keep Lightchaser in check."
"Maple Syrup wants to go ho to see her daughter."
"Foolishness wants to visit Quiet Mountain Foolishness, but hopes you won't save or load for Quiet Mountain Foolishness."
Rita wasn't sure why Foolishness requested that, but it wasn't a big deal.
Nivalis seed to read reports in the order the information was recorded.
After Foolishness, she continued with Lightchaser:
"Autumn Deer has gone to see Frost Deer."
"Mud Bears asked if you could give Little Bear Cookie less work, but this was vetoed by the passing Little Bear Cookies."
"Four hundred ten cookies send their greetings to the great King of Cookies."
Every ti Nivalis reported, this line ca up.
Maple Syrup had millions of cookies for the Mud Bears. She couldn't just let them roam freely. Rita had built cookie houses for them and pulled out dozens from each to work on the ship—cleaning, cooking, and relaying ssages to players and gods.
When using [Waste Guide], her consciousness linked the entire Cat's Ideal. Every being on the ship could operate freely, unaffected by ti-stop.
But when using "load" to rewind the tiline, she couldn't save and reload every cookie individually. So every ti they encountered Nivalis, they would ask her to relay the ssage again and again.
Rita tucked the platinum World Sigh into her mind and stepped out, planning to et Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke and Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom, who could move freely even during a ti-stop.
Quiet Mountain players arrived later than expected, likely because Cat's Ideal shielded so divinations and surveillance.
When Rita appeared on deck, Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke and Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom were sitting at a tea table arranged by Cinders, sipping tea and enjoying the breeze while watching Starsea gods teach Starsea players.
She walked over and sat at the table. The Little Bear Cookies responsible for tea imdiately scurried about, warming cups and pouring tea for her.
Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke got straight to the point: "What price must we pay for Quiet Mountain players to be allowed on this ship?"
Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom added, "And the Quiet Mountain faction's teachers."
Rita had already considered this question for a long ti, but found no answer. She simply threw it back at them: "What do you think I still need now?"
Her expression was sincere, but her sincerity made it all the more infuriating.
Both Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke and Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom lowered their heads and drank long sips of tea, their boots kicking each other under the table.
Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom: "You tell her, I don't like talking to her."
Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke: "No, you tell her, I also don't like talking to her."
Rita had effectively killed the conversation.
She focused on flipping through the World Sigh. Nine cycles, 153 days, ten ti-stops per day—over three thousand days in total. She had finally written every single World Sigh in her mind.
Whether it was from Starsea, acquired by consuming the ti docks, or from the pale blue fragnts absorbed from the Order Clock, all the old echoes were now recorded.
She didn't say this to provoke Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom and Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke—it was simply the truth.
Rita vaguely sensed that she had finally touched the core truth of the worlds.
She took a sip of hot tea and set the cup down. The soft clink echoed across the table, and in that instant, both Starsea and Quiet Mountain were paused.
Even the Quiet Mountain gods who could move freely under her [Waste Guide] were frozen.
Rita had left the captain's room early today because her Sovereign ability had gained a new function: [Pause Ga].
[Incomplete·Order Talent—Sovereign] (Progress 95%┃Soul Fire: 41,308/50,000)
[Ability One] Save & Load
[Ability Two] Set Rules
[Ability Three] New Order (Passive)
[Ability Four] Pause Ga
"Let decide when a ga starts. Spend Soul Fire to pause the ga."
Rita liked the description of the fourth ability but wanted the rest of the sentence.
If she could decide when a ga began, she should also decide when it ended.
She opened her right hand. A platinum World Sigh, ordinary in book size, appeared in her palm.
With a flick, as if brushing away dust in the air, all the worlds on the ship floated toward her and settled into the book.
A flash of movent, and she appeared before the massive Order Clock.
Facing a clock that felt like an entire world, she seed tiny, yet the platinum book in her hands radiated a mysterious, vast aura that rivaled the Order Clock itself.
She stepped forward, appearing at the clock's center.
This wasn't a Cat's Ideal ability—it was the power of World Sigh. She could appear anywhere in the world, even within the ti of gods.
Unlike her order abilities or other items, World Sigh carried no pre-existing information. So of its abilities overlapped with order abilities, but they were far stronger and more versatile.
If order abilities were the privileges a player received after entering the ga—save, load, set rules, pause—then Rita, with World Sigh, was effectively the manager of both worlds and the ga.
Order abilities could record other players' divine talents. World Sigh let her record even the consciousness of dead gods.
[Sovereign]'s [Pause Ga] only paused the current tiline, but World Sigh could pause all tilines…
Yet it still wasn't enough. Rita was not a creator.
User Comments
0 comments from readers