A vampire.
An actual vampire!
All the warnings, impossible cosmic revelations, and the fact that she had somehow become a once-in-a-universe anomaly couldn't compete with that simple fact.
She was going to become a vampire.
A real one.
Not a costume.
Not a character.
Not a story.
Not another late-night light novel read while pretending she should be sleeping.
A vampire.
Her thoughts drifted back to Earth despite herself. Endless days at a desk. Endless overtime. Endless meetings that could have been emails. A boss that seemed to have a personal grudge against her existence. Coworkers who only remembered she existed when they needed something. Wake up. Work. Sleep. Repeat. Again and again until the weeks blurred together.
For years she'd endured it because that was just life.
Or so she'd thought.
Now it was all gone.
The deadlines.
The stress.
The exhaustion.
The boring little routine that had slowly drained the color out of everything.
Earth was gone.
The office was gone.
Her boss was gone.
The endless overtime was gone.
None of it mattered anymore. For the first time in her life, the future felt limitless. And better yet, she was apparently going to spend it as a vampire. A smile slowly spread across her face. A real one this time. Her second chance. And she intended to enjoy every second of it.
Occatus stared at her for another few moments before eventually giving up. The woman sighed heavily, then a small smile appeared. Not exasperated this time.
Fond.
"You know," she said, "most people panic when they discover they've become a reality-defying cosmic irregularity."
Wren shrugged.
"Most people don't get told they get to turn into a fantasy creature of the night."
"...Sigh."
Occatus glanced back toward the glowing windows suspended around them. For the first time since the species reveal, the System seemed to remember something important.
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"Oh."
Wren immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
The System winced slightly.
"It's almost time."
The excitement faded a little.
Just a little.
The reincarnation process was finishing.
The realization settled between them.
Wren looked toward the endless realm of Junkyard one last time. The floating mountains. The impossible oceans. The stitched-together world that should never have existed. A place built from discarded things. A place made from forgotten things. A place that somehow survived anyway.
She liked it.
Occatus followed her gaze.
"Yeah."
"I think you'll fit in."
For several moments neither spoke.
Then Occatus suddenly brightened again.
"Oh right."
The words were becoming a pattern.
"I have one more thing."
The remaining golden mana surrounding Wren began gathering together. The fragments of the Earth System's power flowed through the Void like streams of liquid sunlight. Occatus raised a hand and added a much smaller amount of her own mana. The difference was immediate. The Earth System's mana looked like an ocean. Occatus' contribution looked like a single drop.
Yet she looked incredibly pleased with herself.
"What are you doing?" Wren asked.
"Giving you the gift."
The converging lights began compressing. Condensing. Reshaping.
"A gift, what kind of gift?"
The smile widened.
"Each reincarnate gets one. Yours just so happens to be a special one. "
That wasn't an answer.
"You'll figure it out soon enough."
The lights continued shrinking. Something began forming at the center, though Wren couldn't make out what it was.
Occatus looked absurdly proud.
"I think you're going to like this more than the vampire thing."
Wren blinked.
"More than the vampire thing?"
"Much more."
That seemed impossible.
The woman pointed at her.
That sounded suspiciously ominous.
Before Wren could ask another question, the gift vanished into the reincarnation process, disappearing somewhere beyond her sight.
"The gift doesn't count if you don't tell me what it is." She argued.
"It absolutely still counts."
"That's not how gifts work."
The System nodded confidently.
"It is when I do them."
Wren found herself smiling.
For a being responsible for an entire universe, Occatus was surprisingly ridiculous.
The golden windows around them began dissolving. The reincarnation process had entered its final stage.
Occatus seemed to notice.
Her smile became smaller.
Softer.
"Well."
Wren blinked.
"What?"
The System glanced away briefly before looking back.
"This is usually where I say goodbye."
For just a moment the cheerful energy faded. It wasn't sadness exactly.
Just acceptance.
Wren suddenly realized something.
Occatus had only met three reincarnates.
And now one of them was leaving.
The thought felt strangely heavy.
"Thank you."
Occatus blinked.
Then a smile slowly crept up her face.
A genuine smile.
"You're welcome."
The light around Wren then intensified. The world began fading. The realm. The stars. The Void itself. Everything slowly started disappearing.
Wren hesitated.
And quickly asked the question she hadn't realized she wanted answered.
"Will I ever see you again?"
Occatus went quiet.
Then surprisingly, she laughed.
A single soft laugh.
"I hope not."
Wren stared.
That sounded terrible.
Occatus noticed immediately.
"Oh, that's a good thing."
"How?"
"Because if you see me again, it probably means you have done something catastrophically wrong."
A pause.
"Possibly on several levels."
Another pause.
"Potentially involving paperwork."
That somehow made perfect sense.
The light continued growing. Occatus' form was beginning to blur.
The end had arrived.
The System raised a hand.
"Live the life your universes system gave you."
The reincarnation process surged. The universe itself seemed to pull at her existence.
For one final moment she saw Occatus standing there, smiling against the endless backdrop of Junkyard.
The impossible realm.
The stable instability.
The place built from discarded things.
Then Occatus' voice reached her one last time.
"Good luck, Wren."
Wren smiled.
She intended to.
Everything started to fade black rapidly before she heard the faintest trace of Occatus' voice.
Occatus sounded strangely uncertain and nervous.
Muddled murmured words, that Wren couldn't fully make out clearly.
"A primordial vampire...I don't think she realizes what she truly is becoming..."
Then everything cut off as her surroundings vanished, and her mind went blank.