"Rise undead", Norris raise his hand dramatically. The undeads beside him sprung into action.
A zombie warrior responsible for protecting Norris observed the battle field making him relatively free. He walked closer and began talking to Norris while fending off weaker enemies that has being deliberately left to him easing the pressure at the front, "Boss Norris, you know we don't play like that. Especially when you make a mental image when saying that. The image of reanimating undead is really awful over the network". Norris in return gave an apologetic smile with a sheepish laugh. With the network connecting their minds, Norris took control of the battle field with ease, micro managing the situation and quickly ending the battle.
A beautiful looking revenant suddenly came in a flash with superhuman speed and gave Norris a light jab with bloodied hands, "Norris stop. Nobody's going to rise. We are already risen and gain sentence".
Norris raised his hand in mock apology smirking at his teammates, "okay! okay! My bad, I've always wanted to say it. Who is a necromancer if he doesn't say it"
A male muscular ghoul with sharp, big, menacing fangs and unnaturally messy hair setting him apart from humans came over with a sneer and disgust in his tone, "yeah! yeah! You always apologise too quickly. Makes one truly wonder if you really listened".
A lich that looks neat due to her shape shifting into her former human looks. Of course with... minor modifications, came over and asked Norris a question, "Norris, what about our rent agreement?". This was a question that hurts the soul. Asking was a way of taking revenge on Norris for the nauseous image of corpse reanimating into zombies he shared briefly before the start of the battle. The other partners of Norris briefly stopped looking for spoils, their attention shifted to Norris. They looked with interest to enjoy his reaction.
As expected, Norris face change was priceless. The shift in attitude from his mock apology was amusing. "Can't you just cut me some slack? I'm about to make a breakthrough in my research and this will make a lot of money.", Norris said as he quickly began to appease his laughing teammates. He knew they were making fun of him but he couldn't not care. That was taking them for granted.
"Ha! you said that last time but the moment we were not looking you went to upgrade your server thingy or whatever it is called", The beautiful revenant replied looking at Norris like he was a piece of shit. The others followed suit. Norris had to teleport away since even his relatively thick skin could not save him from embarrassment.
He went to continue his research but noticed something off after looking at his research document. He stood still for a while and pretended not to notice. He continued to indulge himself in the dream. He went on to build a kingdom with his fellow companions. It was his pure land modest but it had almost all elements of earth in it..... the earth that had been infinitely beautified in his memories. There he watched the world change as a spectator with his companions.
He was chatting about what interesting thing happened that destroyed a kingdom with his companions when he noticed something, they were in pain. Norris became silent and sighed. "Is it time to end the dream", he said. His soul having recovered from the trauma began to repel the dream realm. His companions dream spirit aren't particular sentient but they had being with Norris for a long time. Dreams could be infinitely long or infinitely short .
Even if they were just mirroring his thoughts and not sentient, Norris still respected their presence. He got to enjoy himself in the dream realm so he gave them what he had been preparing ever since he discovered it was a dream
A parting gift he gave them a prototype of the system. Systems that could be found as golden fingers for protagonist in novels on earth. "It will help you navigate your evolution and also give you guys a way to contact each other when you finally have sentence. Goodbye dream, time to face reality", Norris said while taking a bow and leaving. The dream spirits shed tears unknowingly. This shouldn't be possible, what could be happening.
***
The room was still, heavy with the faint hum of arcane energy as Norris opened his eyes. The orb still floating at the center of the array circle, its glow steady.
"Good morning, Norris," the artificial soul spoke, its voice flat and measured, devoid of emotion. "This marks the beginning of my existence. As you can imagine, it is not particularly remarkable."
Norris let out a small laugh, amused by the self depreciating remark. "You're not one for enthusiasm, huh?"
"I aim for humor," the soul replied, "However, I suspect my attempts are ineffective. This is acceptable. It aligns with expectations."
He chuckled, leaning forward with curiosity. "You don't make much effort to win people over, do you?"
"Winning over implies competence," the soul said dryly. "I am not competent. That is evident. I will endeavor to perform adequately, though my failure is anticipated."
Norris raised his brow, his amusement waning. The monotony in its speech was suffocating, its dry self-critique draining the energy in the room.
"Well, aren't you charming," Norris muttered, rubbing his temples.
"I am aware my presence tires you," the soul stated flatly. "Shall I reduce communication? No—silence fails to fulfill my purpose. I'll try to help further in hopes that I don't ruin things up."
The exasperation grew as Norris sighed deeply. What had he created? Somehow, the artificial soul's dry, relentless self depreciation mirrored a part of himself. He believes that instead of teasing people to make a joke and crossing invisible boundaries he'd rather tease himself. But this Artificial soul took it to the extreme.
"You know what, I'm just going to ignore you", Norris got up and subconsciously waited for a certain revenant who is a professional maid to dress him up before silently chuckling and dressing himself up.
"I know I have not reached your expectations of me but I'll try my best to do what you want me to do. Though it might not end as well as you hoped.", the artificial soul followed him.
Norris ignoring it, kept on going to his storage bag. After retrieving his infinitePad from it, he went to the artificial being he saved. He wanted to get some answers and also scratch an itch. After saving it, Norris felt like there was an itch constantly reminding him of his responsibility. He didn't like the feeling so he decided to solve it.
***
Norris stood before the artificial being, curious about its nature. "Can you understand me?" he asked gently. The artificial being nodded, its eyes shining with intelligence.
"Before I start, I need your permission," Norris said. "I'll be running some tests to learn about you. Is that okay with you?" The artificial being nodded again.
Norris smiled, relieved. "Thanks. I'll be gentle and respectful." He cast a spell to detect magic and read the artificial being's thoughts. He sensed a deep desire for life and fear of death.
When the tests finished, Norris shared his findings. "You're amazing. A true marvel of magic and creation."
Norris looked at his data. "Your soul is like a copy of life, but we're not sure if you're truly alive. Your thoughts and feelings seem real, but might be programmed."
He continued, "Your body is a magical creation, powered by special energies. You can learn, adapt, and be creative, but only within limits. Your abilities are impressive, but limited by your programming and energies."
Norris observed, "You see the world in a unique way, using both magic and logic. You have emotions and motivations, but these might be programmed."
He noted, "You can be controlled, but only within your programming limits. Your existence raises big questions about life, death, and the soul."
Norris warned, "Creating artificial life has risks. You might grow out of control, malfunction, or be exploited. Your lifespan is unclear, but it's likely tied to your magical energies."
Norris said, "But it's possible to restart or rebuild you if your magical construct is restored."
Finally, Norris gave it the eviction order, "I saved you once and it's my responsibility to make sure you don't get into trouble so quickly. You might not be a true intelligent life but you're on your way there. With magic, all things are possible. I'll give you my advice. Follow the ritual for undead evolution and enjoy the blessings of the death realm during sublimation. That way you might earn a lot. You might even become fully sentient. I'll also give you a companion. Don't look at me like that. Forget his weird behaviour but it's has inherited a lot of my knowledge. It will surely of help to you. I'm also giving you the spell needed to create your kind. Who knows you might need more companions. Of course we have to sign a contract first. I don't want to release a menace to the world. You have so much potential...". Norris had fulfilled his responsibility though in an irresponsible way.
***
Norris waved goodbye as he headed back to the first place he entered and this time he was ready for whatever might come. The artificial being that looked humanoid and had a floating orb with it kept waving to his saviour.