When Chelsea caught up to us, and told us about the new systems that had been created in response to Lifre’s live stream, I was dumbfounded. First of all, I didn’t think that it was possible to create systems while you were still in the meeting space. I had always assumed that there would just be a mad dash to create the system as soon as the meeting ended.
For that reason, I was prepared to spend the last one or two days of the meeting simply detailing the system, planning to submit it as soon as we returned. At least that way, it would essentially be a lottery to determine who submitted the most accurate system first, as the matching systems wouldn’t be allowed. Similar ones, sure, but not those close enough to practically be perfect copies.
Still, the price tag of thirty thousand was… honestly, not as much as I was expecting. Granted, there wasn’t all that much benefit to the system itself. Not being able to take anything you acquired out of the stream meant that it was almost purely for entertainment purposes.
That was when Chelsea told me about the example that the administrator had given her, about how the system could be used for educational purposes. Now that, that surprised me. Going by that information, it meant that characters could be created for the stream that possessed knowledge surpassing the world.
That was the point that made me seriously consider acquiring this system. Just that one aspect would be revolutionary for many worlds, able to completely change how they developed. Of course, it wouldn’t be good to use that method for every major development, as it would make people stop wanting to discover new technologies for themselves. However, when it came to a roadblock in research, something that the team was unable to overcome through normal methods, it would give them just that little push.
I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the pros and cons of getting the system. The pros, naturally, included the steady development of key technologies, as well as revolutionizing the entertainment industry.
Unfortunately, there was a major con to this system, as well. This con was the very fact that it could help the world develop more smoothly. Getting this system, I would likely find my rank rising faster than I otherwise would.
If I wanted to balance this, I would need to carefully adjust the settings for purchasing those NPCs. Not only would they need a high price, but they would not be permanent summons, to avoid having them remain in the stream over months or years. “Chelsea, can you take me to this market building?” I asked, before looking at Ryone, Irena, and Terra.
“Sorry, but would you mind if we resume the date a bit later?” When I asked that, the three girls gave knowing smiles, nodding their heads. Terra grabbed the other two by the arm.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find something to keep ourselves busy until you are done.” She said with a chuckle, pulling Ryone and Irena away.
I shook my head, smirking slightly before gesturing to Chelsea. The shorter kitsune nodded her head, her expression serious as she led me through the streets. “Just so you know, you’ll probably need to pay the fee if you’re looking for any answers on the system.” Chelsea spoke up, and I nodded.
“That’s fine. If this goes well, I might buy that system. Otherwise, I will be saving myself money by learning about this in advance. The last thing I want to do is buy a system that’s going to lead to the destruction of the world.”
James couldn’t help but snort at that. When we arrived, one of the workers seemed to already be waiting for us. Without a word, he guided us towards a private booth, smiling calmly. “I believe that you are here to discuss the ‘Interactive Stream’ system in greater detail?”
“That’s right.” I nodded my head. As expected, the worker asked for a fee of one thousand points, to which I immediately agreed.
“Very good. Then, please, ask your questions.” The worker said, crossing his hands over the table. “I have already erected the privacy screen, so nobody will hear our conversation.”
That was a relief, but I did my best to focus. “Is there a way to designate a type of NPC donation to be a ‘Specialist’ NPC, and set custom restrictions on those donations?”
The worker tilted his head from side to side, as if briefly considering, before he spoke up. “I’m afraid that I will have to ask you to be more specific. If you wish to define a type of donation with special rules, you’ll need a clear boundary.”
Taking a deep breath, I organized my thoughts. “Characters in a stream created for an educational purpose, meant to bestow knowledge on the streamer and their audience that is otherwise unavailable in the real world.”
The worker snapped his fingers, pointing at me. “And that, precisely, is why you need a clearer definition. You just described every expositional character that could appear in a story. They all possess knowledge unavailable in the real world, and are created to bestow that knowledge upon the streamer and their audience.”
I blinked, realizing that he was correct. I furrowed my brow, trying to reword the definition. “In that case… in a stream whose world laws reflect those of the real world, a character created to help the streamer with some information that their audience is meant to utilize outside of their stream, furthering the development of the real world.”
The worker’s smile grew wider at this definition. “That is certainly a more accurate description of what you are wanting. To answer your question, no, there are not settings in place that would allow restrictions to be placed on specific categories of characters. If you wanted to restrict character appearances, it would affect all character appearances.”
“Couldn’t you have just said that from the start?” I muttered, before shaking my head. “Is it possible to create an add-on for the system that will allow those modifications?”
“It certainly is.” The worker nodded his head. “After a system is created, it cannot be directly modified in the market. However, add-on systems can be created to pair with it, allowing for modified functionality.”
I smiled slightly, before letting out a sigh. “In that case, I would like to create an add-on called ‘Educational Streams’. This is a category of streaming that will use the world laws of whatever world the streamer was in when starting the stream. The donations available for educational streams will be limited to providing resources to the streamer, such as materials or specialist characters as defined previously.”
“The Keeper should have settings available when buying this add-on. One should be to set restrictions on specialist characters and advanced materials, altering how they are priced and where the money goes. Additionally, it should be possible to set it so that the streamer determines where their stream is viewable from, whether it is a local network or publicly available.”
This was to allow the educational streams to remain private, without being flooded with people that would get in the way. The worker seemed to understand that, nodding his head. “In that case, is there anything else?”
I paused, unsure if I had missed anything. To my left, Chelsea cleared her throat. “What would the consultation fee be for assistance?” She asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“For this system add-on? Five hundred points.” The man responded with a smile, to which I nodded my agreement. “Excellent! It is always nice to have an understanding customer.”
I gave a somewhat bitter chuckle, gesturing for the worker to continue.
“Now, if you are truly wishing to create ‘educational’ content like this, and define its rules, then there should be a way for the viewers to ask questions to your specialist. It is possible to have the streamer serve as an intermediary, but in the context that you are preparing this add-on for, your streamer will often be busy working on their experiments.”
“For this reason, I believe that it would be wise to have a specialist NPC capable of reading the chat on their own. You could also impose additional restrictions on the use of specialist NPCs, such as requiring the approval of a related Companion, or the Keeper themselves. In your cases, I believe that both Tubrock, Udona, and Accalia would be suitable for this supervisory role. Perhaps Ashley or Ryone, as well, depending on the nature of the specialist in question.”
I blinked, surprised that Tubrock was suddenly brought up. Thinking back, he was the God of Innovation, so this would actually be perfectly within his jurisdiction. “Is there anything else?”
“Oh, of course! There is always more that can be added and refined. Let’s see, your current realm is preparing for universe-creation. That means that you will need your educational streams to have access to the void.”
My eyes widened briefly at that. “Are normal streams not able to simulate the void?”
“No, no, of course not.” The worker said, shaking his head. “This was a safeguard put in place under the counsel of another administrator. Memetic hazards within the void would be able to leak out and infect the streamer’s entire audience. If a streamer wishes to travel from one universe to another, they must either find a special technique or device capable of such, or a viewer must donate to have them directly sent to the target universe. There is no travel through the void, whether real or simulated.”
That made me ask an entirely different question than what I had planned. “Is it possible to donate to create a memetic hazard in a stream?”
The worker smiled, clearly anticipating that question. “Yes and no. It is possible, but there are restrictions. The hazard will be censored, unable to affect the viewers. As for the streamer, the effects of the hazard will end either with their on-stream death, or when they exit their stream. However, there is an option available for streamers to disallow memetic hazards when starting their stream.”
“This setting was created with the desire to protect confidential information. For instance, if someone was streaming under a false identity, and did not want to be bothered in the real world, they would not appreciate it if a viewer donated to create a memetic hazard that revealed their true identity.”
“With your add-on, however, certain advancements would need to be able to properly simulate the void. This opens a slight risk of memetic contamination, but as the restrictions are already in place to prevent such donations, the risk is incredibly small.”
I nodded my head, thinking that it was an incredibly convenient thing to discuss with a system administrator when designing systems like this. “How expensive would this add-on be, so far?”
The worker thought about that for a moment. “Given that there are mostly restrictions being added, the price is not that high. Presently, the price would be five thousand points, if you submitted the add-on as it has been defined.”
I thought about it for a moment, before nodding my head. “There is one more restriction that I would like to add. The only ones capable of starting an educational stream should be those with a publicly recognized license to teach, or those licensed as researchers. It should not be a system open to the general public.”
The worker blinked at that, but nodded his head. “Doing so will increase the cost by fifty percent, because it requires the system to look at the personal credentials of the streamer to determine their ability to conduct the stream. That brings your total to seven thousand, five hundred points.”
I nodded my head again, smiling. “Would it be possible to purchase both the stream and the add-on now?”
At that, the worker shook his head. “Normally, it would be. However, by all technicality, your invasion began the same time as the meeting started. Because of this, you are incapable of buying any systems for your world. You can, however, submit this add-on to the market, and buy both it and the new system when you finish defending your realm.”
“I’ll do that, then.” I said with a reluctant tone. Chelsea looked over at me with a hopeful gaze, and I nodded my head. “Yes, you can do educational streams, too. I’ll just need to adjust the pricing plans. I don’t want us to advance too fast.”
