I Hate Systems

"La…lala…lalala!" Gehera hummed as she worked on their breakfast.

Compass Carburettor exited the bathroom, having taken a bath, listening to her as he commented, "Someone's happy in the morning."

"Well, the weather's pleasant today, right?" Gehera smiled happily as she scooped contents from a utensil and poured them into the frying pan, adding in oil and some condiments. Well, the reason for her mood was something else entirely.

Compass Carburettor stared at her for a couple of seconds before proceeding to get ready. Soon, they were having breakfast when she asked, "Are you sure you can face your students after that incident yesterday?"

"Yeah, why not?" Compass Carburettor tilted his head in confusion, "I don't feel insulted by her slap. Instead, she helped shorten my development by months. Moreover, I indeed came to learn of a problem with my teaching methods. So, all are a gain."

"But, you can no longer put them in simulations, right?" She asked, "After all, you cannot use your power without killing yourself."

In response to her statement, Compass Carburettor's eyes darted to the side as he observed a couple of ants busying about on the table, carefully collecting the two tiny blocks of sugar that had fallen.

His finger moved forth and crushed one of them as he stared at Gehera, "By the way, is that T-Rex by the window your pet?"

"What T-Rex…kyaaak!" Gehera screamed in shock upon staring at the massive pair of scaly eyes peeking inside the living room from the balcony. It belonged to a T-Rex that was as massive as their apartment.

Roar!

The T-Rex destroyed a nearby building with its tail, letting out a guttural roar. But a second later, it vanished while the destroyed building was now in its pristine state.

Gehera stared at him in shock, asking, "How did you do it this time? You weren't killed or anything."

In response, Compass Carburettor lifted his finger, showing the crushed figure of the ant attached to the surface, "I embody the fragility of nature's lifeforms. So, my power gets activated the moment any lifeform near me dies. Of course, it is only in the case I can observe them through my senses."

"So, you can reverse all deaths?" Gehera asked, for the last time he showed it to her, he revived and the timeline reverted to its original.

"I can, but I don't." Compass Carburettor said as he pointed at the ant corpse, "Once my ability activates, I can choose whether or not to treat that death as a dream. If I do so, the ant revives the moment I deactivate my ability. Otherwise, it stays dead."

And upon seeing her stare at the ant corpse with an inquisitory gaze, he nodded, "Yes, I can loop its death and revival as many times as I need. And when in the dreamscape, unless I deactivate it, reality won't function. The timeline of this universe remains frozen."

"So, the moment you or anything beside you gets killed, you practically rule that universe, or rather, you are presented with that opportunity thanks to the concept you embody," Gehera concluded.

"Yup," Compass Carburettor nodded, "If I will it, I can simply freeze the timeline of this universe and do whatever I want in the dreamscape. And of course, I can influence reality through it."

"But, it means you cannot use any power without deaths around you, right?" She muttered. "That means, if you get sealed…"

"I had already thought about it long ago," Compass Carburettor laughed casually as he pointed at himself, "Remember that my Dreamland has an entire world living in it. Currently, it has assimilated with my concept of Mortality."

"Basically," He scratched his cheek, "My power can activate through their deaths too. Or rather, every single material in existence forming my Dreamland is a Secret Society member. So, even the simplest of tasks causes the death and birth of them within my Dreamland."

"So, you can use your power pretty much whenever and however you want." She facepalmed before glaring at him, "Then why the heck did you jump before the car yesterday?"

"For dramatic purposes!" Compass Carburettor replied with a straight face.

"Haaah, I give up." Gehera massaged her forehead as she finished her breakfast, took her car keys and exited the house, "Make sure you leave on time. I need to hurry now, bye!"

Though of course, before leaving, she jumped into his embrace, broke into a wide grin and then rushed out of the house.

"Guess I should leave too." Compass Carburettor muttered as he packed his things, grabbed the house key and exited the house, locking the door as he placed it in the safety of his bag before pressing the button on the lift, watching it arrive at his floor a few seconds later.

The door opened as the figure of a youth standing within was revealed, a familiar face.

Staring at him, Compass Carburettor asked, "You have some business with me?"

"Yes, sir. I've come on a mission here." The youth spoke. It was Earth Star, having firmed himself as he had gone through countless simulations.

But the moment he stared at Compass Carburettor, he was stunned for a moment before throwing away all his prior preparations, 'Before, I couldn't sense the depth of his power. But now, there's nothing in him to sense.'

'Did he reach an even higher plane of existence? No, more than that, it feels like he's no different from a regular human.' Earth Star thought, frowning in response, 'Then, that means everything I prepared earlier could no longer be used. The chances of failure are just too high.'

'Then that means…' He wracked his mind into overdrive, using the entirety of his intellectual capacity as he arrived at a conclusion and stared at Compass Carburettor.

"A mission?" Compass Carburettor thought for a moment before saying, "Has an Invader arrived here?"

"No, sir. Nothing of the sort. I've already cleaned up all that was scheduled to arrive in this city." Earth Star said as he took a deep breath before extending his hand to speak respectfully, "My mission this time is to gain possession of your wristwatch."

"Can you please hand it over to me?"