The golden seal on Kaelen's chest did not just crack.
It splintered into a thousand needles of white light that pierced his lungs from the inside.
Every breath was a transaction of agony.
The Widow stood before him her black lace veil fluttering in a wind that did not exist in the vacuum of the solar core.
She was the origin of the code.
She was the silent partner who had allowed the Original Architect to play god with the multiverse.
And now she was here to settle the estate of a dead reality.
[WARNING: SYSTEM DELETION IN PROGRESS]
[PROGRESS: 92% COMPLETE]
[CURRENT STATUS: PROBATE LIQUIDATION]
Kaelen Thorne gripped the edges of the Architect's desk his knuckles turning white as his very skin began to turn into translucent digital fog.
He looked at the woman with eyes that refused to dim.
You talk about inheritance Kaelen gasped his voice echoing through the dissolving chamber.
But in any probate court there is a hierarchy of claims.
The Widow tilted her head her smile visible through the violet smoke of her veil.
Correct Kaelen she whispered her voice sounding like the rustle of dry leaves in a graveyard.
And a mother's claim over the fruit of her womb is the most ancient law in the System.
My son created this world using my essence as the initial capital.
Now that he has abandoned the firm I am taking back what is mine.
Including the heart he leased to a clever little mortal.
[TIMER: 45 SECONDS REMAINING]
Kaelen felt the golden threads of his Ledger being pulled into the Widow's open palm.
The connections to his million students were snapping like brittle glass.
On Earth Silas Vesper and Lia Sinclair were likely already turning into unformatted data.
Kaelen looked at the tablet on the desk.
It was glitching but the [Villainous Auditor] permissions were still active.
You are the mother of the Architect Kaelen said his voice growing deeper and colder.
But according to the Multiversal Charter a corporation is not just its creator.
It is also the sum of its outstanding obligations.
Kaelen's blood began to flow from the thorns of his crown staining the black glass desk.
He didn't wipe it away.
He used the golden blood to draw a single symbol on the holographic interface.
I am filing for Succession by Adoption Kaelen declared.
The Widow's laughter stopped instantly.
The violet smoke around her head flared into a dark fire.
Adoption? she hissed. You are a biological error Kaelen. You cannot be adopted by a god.
I'm not being adopted by you Kaelen replied his eyes erupting in a terrifying obsidian light.
I am adopting the System itself.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: HOSTILE SUCCESSION]
[DESCRIPTION: BY BECOMING THE ACTING ARCHITECT DURING A TOTAL VACUUM OF POWER THE USER HAS THE RIGHT TO CLAIM THE SYSTEM AS AN ORPHANED ASSET.]
[VERDICT: THE SYSTEM IS NOW YOUR LEGAL WARD.]
[TIMER: 20 SECONDS REMAINING]
The red deletion lines froze in mid air.
The white void outside the windows turned a deep bruised purple as Kaelen's new authority surged through the solar core.
As the legal guardian of the reality Kaelen explained he stood up slowly his body solidifying.
I have the right to challenge any prior claims that threaten the safety of my ward.
Your Widow's Claim is a debt against the Original Architect not against the System itself.
If you want your inheritance you have to go find your son in the Void.
But you cannot take the Earth.
Because the Earth is now a Ward of the Ledger.
The Widow's form flickered violently her black dress tearing at the seams as the rules of reality fought her presence.
You think you can play lawyer with the Void? she screamed her voice shattering the pillars of light in the room.
I will burn this sun to cinders just to watch you starve!
Do it Kaelen said walking toward her his hands in his pockets.
But remember that I've already sold a twenty percent stake to the Void Swarm.
If you burn the sun you are destroying their investment.
And they are currently waiting outside the red door with a very large collection agency.
The obsidian ships of the Void Swarm suddenly appeared in the flares of the sun their cannons aimed directly at the Solar Chamber.
The Widow looked at the ships then back at the cold boy in the charcoal suit.
She realized she was no longer the most powerful predator in the room.
She was just another creditor in a market that Kaelen Thorne had already rigged.
Fine Kaelen she said her voice returning to a lethal calm.
You can keep your dying world for now.
But a ward eventually grows up.
And when the System matures and tries to transcend the mortal plane I will be there to collect my tax.
The Widow vanished in a swirl of black lace and violet smoke.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[LITIGATION SUCCESSFUL]
[DELETION CANCELLED]
[STATUS: REALITY STABILIZED]
Kaelen collapsed into his chair his heart-seal finally turning back to its original golden glow.
He was exhausted his soul feeling as if it had been put through a meat grinder.
He looked at the screen.
[LEVEL: 40]
[NEW TITLE: GUARDIAN OF THE BROKEN REALITY]
Kaelen stepped through the temporal rift expecting his office.
But as he stepped through he found himself in a small dusty room that looked exactly like a 1990s accounting firm.
Sitting behind a clunky computer was a man with white hair and a name tag that says: SATURN.
Saturn looked up and smiled.
Welcome Kaelen Thorne Saturn says.
I'm glad you could make it.
We have a lot of Unaccounted Souls to discuss.
Starting with your own.