"Let me be honest with you." Anima began her explanation with a disclaimer. "I don't have the full story myself. I might have been the first one in this rank, but even I don't know how old the system is. There are only theories and legends from when I was a normal Keeper, and what I've been able to piece together since I gained this position."

"What I can tell you is that the current Standard Year is twenty seventy-six, according to the system's calendar. That means that there have been more than two thousand Standard Years since the system began tracking time. I know that might not sound like a lot, given the nature of Keepers, but an average Keeper lifespan is less than a century in standard time. Barring a few exceptions, most Keepers die from invasions or rebellion early on."

"Because of that, nobody really remembers the 'first' generation of Keepers, even those three in the seventh rank. But, I assume that the first generation were all 'blank slates', like those that are created by the system after a Keeper is killed in an invasion."

After saying that, Anima took a deep breath. "As for the system itself, I have a few theories. It may have been born at the dawn of creation, as the very concept of order. Or, perhaps this is all a simulation being run by a higher power. However, I believe that last theory is improbable, as I have seen no evidence of an outside force manipulating the system since my ascension here."

"Order?" Bihena asked with a raised brow. "Given all the conflict, and the nature of the void itself, isn't the system closer to chaos?"

Anima smiled brightly once again, shaking her head in refusal. "Quite the contrary. If the system was chaos, creation wouldn't exist. There would be no defining rules, no logic. Even the void itself maintains order, as it is an infinite mass of information. Structure that information precisely, and you can create predictable results."

"The system's goal, quite frankly… is us. People like Dale and myself, and the realms that we lead. Keepers and their realms who, despite humble beginnings, persevered. It shows a civilization that can stand the test of time, one that can be considered 'complete' and able to truly hold its own in the universe."

"In order to achieve this, the system gave everyone the ability to change their realm through the market, and provide ideas to do so for other people. It gave everyone the option to receive a guide, one that could help them achieve their goals." As she said that, she gave a nod towards Terra. "However, the guide had to have restrictions, or else the Keeper would have been nothing more than a slave following their orders. That's why people like Terra couldn't interfere directly or control their own worlds."

I gave an understanding nod as she explained all of this, lowering my head in thought. "Honestly, I thought that someone like Grimor or Sarah would have been a better choice. To me, they were definitely better Keepers than I was."

Anima chuckled slightly. "Sarah… I admit, she's good at what she does. However, both she and Grimor are fundamentally wrong about what it means to be a Keeper."

"Both of them believe that it is the Keeper's job to walk alongside their people, to actively participate in the day-to-day monotony. Sarah does this in the form of running her game design company for her people, and Grimor will take up any odd jobs he finds appealing. Even your predecessor, James, did the same thing by personally contributing to the research of his world."

"And what's wrong with that?" James asked in a defensive tone, glancing off to the side, and making Anima grin.

"Honestly? Everything. If you get too involved like that, your world is doomed to fail. There's nothing wrong with walking among the people on occasion, especially at the start. However, the further things get, the more you need to distance yourself. That is why there is the strict one-month period between every invasion. It takes time for the world to advance, ready to defend against the next big threat, or recover from the last."

"Let me put it this way. When V-Day happened in your world, if Dale hadn't advanced time to allow the recovery process, and instead had done all he could to personally get involved, things would have been different. First of all, yes, he would have been able to influence things to the point where the recovery happened a lot faster. The people would have been happier, and there would have been less overall damage done."

"However, in doing so, he would have lost the time he needed to prepare for the next hostile invasion. A Keeper is akin to a parent. In the beginning, we watch over our children and guide them along the way. However, as they grow up, we let them begin to take care of themselves, and only get involved in an emergency. We prepare them with the tools that they need to take care of themselves."

After saying that, Anima shook her head once again, looking around the empty, white space. "In my opinion, the correct way to act as a Keeper is to guide from afar. Help them achieve what they need for themselves to overcome adversity. Once you do so, your rank will naturally rise, and then you will find new adversity to help them overcome. Persist in this path, and you will find the correct answer, leading you here."

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Anima puffed her cheeks out slightly, looking at me. "Honestly, Dale got involved even more directly than I did when I was a normal Keeper. My people never even heard of the term 'Keeper' until I was in the fourth rank. I communicated with them through the gods, never appearing as a person of power myself. Whenever an invasion happened, I walked among the commonfolk, acting completely oblivious as my champions fought for themselves."

"Then, when the invasion ended, I took a look at the damages caused, and created a plan for the gods to help my people recover while I advanced time again."

When I heard that, I couldn't help but speak up. "That sounds… incredibly lonely to me." I said, and Anima flinched slightly, looking away. "Is that how you were able to withstand not having another Keeper around for so long until now?"

"Oh, it wasn't that bad. I still had my companions." Anima assured me, shaking her head. "I've got a small community of friends that live in my Admin Room with me. And besides, I live vicariously through the other Keepers that I watch through the system."

"She's a total shut-in." Udona said in a surprised, but knowing tone.

"I don't wanna hear that from you, pillow fort!" Anima retorted angrily, shaking her fist towards Udona. "I remember when you created an entire theater of pillows to hide from the outside world. You don't get to talk about shut-ins!"

Udona couldn't hold back her laugh, sticking her tongue out playfully at the frustrated Anima. "Well, it's true. Though, that raises the question, are we going to have to do invasions with each other, now that you and Dale are both in the same rank?"

Anima let out a small huff, shaking her head. "No. Like I said, a civilization at this point is considered 'complete'. From what I found in the system, no matter how many people reach this rank, we won't have to deal with invasions anymore. Or rather, the invasion system itself has changed."

"Like I said before, invasions are a way to expand your culture by encountering other Keeper's civilizations. Before, you had to do this forcibly, and on a set schedule. Now, we should be able to send people to each other whenever we both want, just like going from one Admin Room to another."

"Should?" Keliope asked in confusion, causing Anima to glance to the side again.

"I've never had anyone to test it with, okay? I'm going off of assumptions here. I've always had the option, but it's been greyed out until now, and the system isn't exactly a great conversationalist."

"It's not?" I asked in surprise, looking at Terra. "I thought it would be pretty good, since it can create people like Terra."

"Heheh… about that." Anima chuckled guiltily. "I know the system says that System Companions like Terra have a random personality. Actually… I'm the one that designs their personalities. I take a look at what the Keeper was like when they were alive, and then use that to design a personality suitable for them. Before I started doing that, System Companions were similar to blank slate Keepers. They'd start off with zero personality, and only grow bit by bit over time alongside the Keeper."

"You do that pretty fast, all things considered… don't tell me that you have the ability to stop Standard Time?" I asked, to which Anima nodded as if it were obvious.

"Yup. How else could I hand out tests like the ones you and Tsubaki took in the annual meetings? Or, for that matter, do the annual meetings themselves. None of that is possible without being able to stop time for other Keepers. Granted, when it's that early on, a new Keeper doesn't really have the concept of standard time yet, so it's easy to get the new personality up."

"Oh, I should probably mention the other perks that come with this new rank, too!" Anima said with a bright smile. "Like I've said, there's no more invasions or anything like that. Also, you don't have to worry about dying anymore. I've died like, twenty times over the years. Every time it happens, I just end up back in the Admin Room. The system can't make blank slates or refresh a realm for a Keeper that doesn't exist anymore in the standard system, so death just stops being a concept for us."

"Really helps, given that most games at this level of civilization are full immersion, meaning that dying in the game would count as the death of the Keeper…" Anima added with a soft grumble. I suddenly had a pretty good idea how most of her deaths happened. "Speaking of which, would you guys like to come visit my world for a bit?"

As she asked that, the white void around us seemed to shatter like glass, and we were standing in a sleek, futuristic style home with a window overlooking a vast cityscape in the distance. Although I could sense the presence of the four basic energies, they were far less concentrated than in my own world, making me believe that Anima had walked a different path. Could she have gotten to this rank purely through advanced technology?

"Come on, we've got a lot of people to meet!" Anima said with a small smile, jumping up to her feet and walking towards the door. "I told my companions that we'd be getting a new friend soon, so they're all eager to meet you guys."

I glanced back, looking curiously at the others. Terra simply chuckled, shrugging her shoulders, while Tsubaki nodded her head. "We're with you, my Keeper." She said, and I turned to follow Anima out of the building. This may have been the end of my journey as a Keeper, but it seemed like I had a lot more to do in the future now.

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