[Hello, Host.]
Triton's weary and pained eyes widened as a somewhat familiar voice resounded for the third time inside his mind. It felt as if someone was feeding words directly to his consciousness. Only this time it wasn't a distorted mess that rang painfully but a soothing voice that was as clear as day. It was an androgynous voice but leaned more towards masculinity, a smooth, slightly husky voice, neither distinctly high nor low, but hovering in an ambiguous neutral frequency. It carried a subtle resonance, with a bit of depth that added warmth and richness to its tone, suggesting strength without overemphasis.
However, a sudden unfamiliar voice reverberating inside his head wasn't the aspect of the situation that startled Triton the most.
"Those were the same words Aelric's system said when he awakened..." Triton's blood-covered face broke into a small smile. "No fucking way, right?"
No sooner than those words left his mouth did a voice of affirmation grace his consciousness.
[Yes, Host, your speculations are accurate.]
"I just got a system."
x—X—x
The time was approaching one-thirty. The night was cloaked in deep, velvety darkness, the world hushed under a blanket of stillness. The air had cooled, carrying a crispness that whispered of the approaching dawn. Stars shimmered brightly in the vast sky, twinkling like scattered diamonds, while eight silvery crescent moons hung low, casting gentle glows over the landscape. Lyraxia Prime had over thirty celestial bodies in orbit around it, but from Markhram City, only eight of them were visible, with the Nanojoe moon casting the largest shadow.
Triton moved about his attached bathroom in slow steps, taking in the subtle warmth of the tiles, water droplets still streaming down his body. He had a towel around his waist and another towel in his hands. He rubbed his hair which was longer than he originally anticipated, falling to his neck. His body was unfathomably toned, with bulging muscles, eight defined abs, and popping shoulders. Aldred's vascularity was off the charts with veins visible on every inch of his physique.
'That was... something.'
The bathroom attached to Aldred's room was, in simple terms, overwhelmingly excessive. However, for the first time, Triton didn't mind the extravagance, on the contrary, he embraced it with open arms. The one-hundred-eighty motor jacuzzi with an in-built bath-salt dispenser, tsunami shower, and fifteen massagers with a 'paradise' setting took him for the ride of his life, so much so that he had spent nearly an hour playing around in the oversized jacuzzi.
He exited the bathroom, passed by a grooming lounge, and trudged into his majestic chamber. As he reveled in the lingering sensation of full-body pressurized water massage, a sudden yelp interrupted his train of thought. He looked up from the extraordinary fluffy towel caressing his face and was confronted with a house helper holding a bundle of clothes. The beautiful young lady's light skin had gained a crimson hue and her embarrassment was clear to see. She had closed her eyes as Triton stepped into the room, but it was obvious at a glance that she was cracking them slightly to peek every few seconds.
"Oh, please leave the clothes there, Marciena."
Triton's deep and robust voice rang out, startling Marciena, and making her jump. Triton had originally gestured towards a particular single-occupancy couch sitting adjacent to the entrance of the room, quite a distance away from the bathroom door where Triton was drying his body. However, Marciena, a lady in her early twenties with golden-brown hair, turquoise eyes, average height, and a modestly voluptuous figure, shuffled all the way across the expansive room and placed the clothes on a table near Triton, and along the way continued to steal glances at him as if determined to burn the image in her retinas.
"Do you need help dr-"
"No, Marciena, I am good. Thank you."
"A-alright, Sir."
Marciena waddled her way to the door as she looked back every few steps, hoping Triton would change his mind, but all she found was disappointment. She had no choice but to leave with a bow toward Triton and close the door behind her.
[That was awkward.]
"Tell me about it."
Triton lamented as he dried off the rest of his body and proceeded to don himself in the comfortable pajamas Marciena had so graciously prepared for him.
"Oh my god, I can feel them." Triton groaned in comfort as he finished putting on the purple-red pajamas tailored from an extremely smooth and fluffy fabric. The clothes were breathable and the interaction between his skin and the material gave rise to a cozy sensation.
"My balls can finally breathe."
Triton chuckled as he threw the towels on the table and approached the bed where a silver sleeveless vest and golden regal leggings were thrown haphazardly. They glowed under the dim lighting of the room, emanating a sense of power and mystique.
The divine artifacts were relatively manageably comfortable and provided Triton with a sense of security. However, they were simply too much and Triton desperately needed a bath, so the first thing he asked the system was to help him undress.
The system seemed to sense Triton's desperation, and although certainly somewhat peeved, unclasped [Voidstar Pathfinders], eliciting an uncharacteristic high-pitched moan from Triton. The system also undid the restrictions on [Sentinel's Wardweave Vest] and [Sentinel's Wardweave Leggings].
Although Triton was extremely excited about having a system and wouldn't wish for anything else, he had asked the system to delay its introduction until he had undergone resurrection.
[So, now can we talk?]
"Oh, uh, yeah, just give me a second to clean this up."
Triton picked up the legendary [Voidstar Pathfinders] and settled them against the wall where he couldn't see them and dumped the divine sentinel set on one of the many couches adorning his living space. He then proceeded to jump onto the bed and relished in the loving embrace of his cuddly mattress.
[You seem comfortable, Host.]
The system's voice was soothing, Triton felt as if a gentle hand was caressing his consciousness. It was weirdly arousing at first, but he had gotten the hang of it.
"Yeah, finally."
Triton rolled around on his bed and grabbed all the pillows in his vicinity and created a pillow tower to rest his back against.
[I have scoured your memories and f-]
"Wait a second. You looked through my memories!?"
Triton's expression fell as he interrupted. The system had mentioned that to converse Triton could simply direct his communicative thoughts toward it but he hadn't figured out that particular technique quite yet so he was just speaking out loud.
[Oh, yes, I apologize if that offends you. I understand that you must treasure your privacy.]
"No, no, no, that isn't the problem. If you've searched my memories then tell me who I am!" Triton exclaimed as he bounced on the bed, finally coming across a ray of hope amidst complete darkness.
Triton recalled how the system Aelric activated when he awakened perused his memories and became intimately familiar with him, tweaking the quests and challenges according to Aelric's strengths and weaknesses, both physical and mental. It was also this function of the system that had helped Aelric overcome some of his psychological and emotional traumas.
[Host?] The soothing voice resounded in confusion.
"Just do it."
[You're Triton Bancroft, born on the third of July in the year 2014. Your family was financially unstable so you worked to support them since you were thirteen and you spent most of your time do- What is this?]
Triton wanted to intercept the monologue and clarify that the information he sought was regarding Aldred Allister's past, not that of Triton Bancroft. However, he could sense that the system had been holding back on words, so he was going to allow the system to let everything out, but the voice in the head suddenly halted, and its last words concerned Triton.
"Huh? What?" Triton asked with his eyes clouded in skepticism but was left unanswered. He waited for a couple of seconds before speaking up again. "Hey, system, what's happening?"
Triton's expression darkened by the second.
"Buddy? Friend? Comrade?" Triton clenched his hands around the bedsheet. "You listen here, you are the only thing I have in this world, and if you dare to fucking le-"
[Oh, yes, I apologize about that Host. What were you saying?]
"Oh, nothing at all. So, what was the holdup?"
Triton's expression eased into a smile as the crumpled bedsheet returned to normal within a few seconds.
[Well, the thing is...]
The System's voice trailed in hesitation, evoking a sense of trepidation in Triton. It was a system, and Aelric's had led him to interstellar supremacy, what could stump it like this?
'Is it the transmigration? Aelric's was pretty chill with it though. Wait, am I fucked?'
As Triton spiraled and was an inch away from having a panic attack, the system began again.
[The Host had died when he was twenty-seven, right?]
"I don't like how you just confirmed that I did indeed die, I was holding off on opening that particular can of worms." Triton frowned. He had no idea what to feel, for while he was indeed devastated that he had died, but also concerned about what the system was insinuating. "But yes, I was twenty-seven, why?"
[Your memories, those that I have browsed multiple times now. Your experiences from birth until your demise, and the eleven hours you have spent in this world, all add up to a little over twenty-four years. Around three years of your memories are missing.]
"Huh? What do you mean? Is that the time I spent sleeping? Seems low though."
[No, sleeping is included in those twenty-four years previously mentioned. It appears as if a portion of your memories, ever since January of 2028, have been erased.]
Triton's eyes widened before returning to normal, a slight hum escaping his lips as he contemplated. He raised his hand and scratched his jaw as if solving a riddle.
"Buddy."
[Host?]
"Are you familiar with 'The Vow of Interstellar Supremacy?'" Triton's inquisitive voice rang out as he questioned the system to confirm his theory. "Also, do you happen to know where we are?"
[I am unfamiliar with that particular name. As for your second question, I assume you are not asking about the planet we stand on or the star system this world belongs to, so I will answer negatively to that as well.]
The system's comforting voice was leveled and monotonous, but it was rather easy to infer emotions from them, just as the book suggested. The system wasn't an emotionless bot with no feelings of its own, it was a sentient existence that could communicate with humans on similar emotional grounds.
"Ignore the memory thing, I will explain it to you later." Triton threw that particular issue way back the hatch. "Zarion Vorlan-Blackcrest, what do you know about him? I can't calm down not knowing who I am, just waddling along like a clueless penguin."
Triton's voice reeked of desperation and despair. His expression was one of hopelessness, he was searching for a single second of respite in the unending and ever-engulfing abyss.
[I see that the name on your information window says Zarion. However, all the memories I gathered were yours, there is nothing else.]
"Fuck."
Triton ground his teeth and held his head in irritation. He grabbed a pillow and threw it across the room, the pillow smashed against the wall and blew up into multicolored feathers and fabric.
[I understand your frustration, Host. Please don't fret, I will be here with you from now on.]
A sudden soothing pulse originated from Triton's mindscape, washing over his entire body. He sighed and laid down again, slumping against the pillow tower, and flopped his hands in defeat.
"Well, it is what it is. Also, drop the 'Host' thing, just call me Triton. I need someone to call me that so I don't lose track of who I am." Triton wrapped his arms around his knees and chuckled dryly, his words reverberating in the luxurious, ample, yet lonely room.
[Understood, Triton.]