Chapter 1

"Get out of my house. You're not welcome here anymore, because of the way you chose to live," Lucy's mother told her with a heartless tone of voice.

"You're not my daughter," Lucy's father added.

Tears filled Lucy's eyes. She stood up, and walked out while choking on the words she knew her parents wouldn't listen to. Lucy had come out as an atheist to her extremely religious parents. Her family puts God first, and anyone who doesn't put God first isn't given a second thought. The air outside felt warm on Lucy's wet cheeks. She slammed her car door shut, and sped off down the road. Lucy ignored the speed limit signs, and stop signs. She needed to escape.

"Ah!" Lucy screamed her voice hoarse.

"You're going quite fast." A calm voice spoke from the passenger seat.

"What the fuck!"

Lucy swerved her car in panic, because a passenger appeared from no where. A loud crash rang out as Lucy hit a tree with her car, and she flew out the windshield. Darkness followed. No feelings. Nothing happening. No thought.

"This is an interesting way of thinking of death." The calm voice mused.

"I can't be dead, if I am aware. Who are you," Lucy asked.

"You can call me Christian," he answered.

Christian came into Lucy's view. He wore a white robe, with long brown hair draped over his shoulders.

"Why do you look like that person," Lucy asked him.

"I'm a devil. I look like whatever or whoever you consider as a devil."

"Maybe I am dying." Lucy mused, "I must be hallucinating."

Christian walked barefoot around Lucy.

"I'm not a fan of God either," he told her.

"God isn't real."

"Where do you think we are," Christian asked while walking around the darkness.

"This is some kind of trauma response to the crash." Lucy responded.

"Hmm..." Christian snapped his fingers, and they appeared on a beach.

"Where is this," Lucy asked.

"It's a beach," Christian answered in his calm voice, "I think it's poetic. Two things clashing together for dominance. You have some understanding of what fighting for what you believe in can mean."

"I'm an atheist, and you are not real," Lucy retorted, "Ow! Why did you pinch me?"

"Pain can be a proof of reality." Christian told Lucy.

Lucy assessed herself. Rubbed her hands on her arms. Smelled the salty air. Watched the waves wash over the sand.

"What's the point of this?" Lucy asked with a annoyed voice.

"What is the point of anything?" Christian asked back, "Why are we here? What does life mean," and threw a handful of sand into the water.

Lucy slapped her cheeks in an attempt to wake up, "C'mon. Wake up, Lucy."

"Life is lonely without God." Christian said while rubbing the sand off his palms. "That's why you're here."

"There is no such thing as God. This isn't real," Lucy started complaining, "you're not real. Nothing happens after we die."

"The fact that you are aware of death, proves that things do happen after death."

"The dead stay dead." Lucy said.

"And you were dead before you were alive," Christian responded, "I've been through this argument before, Lucy."

"I'm arguing with a hallucination."

"Life needs good and evil, Lucy. Law and chaos. That's why you're here. I need you. Where are you going?"

"I'm swimming out into the ocean to drown." Lucy responded calmly. "Maybe then I'll wake up."

Christian watched Lucy tread water, and waited for her to get tired. Lucy's arms stung from exercising more than she is used to. She started to panic, as she realized she was too far from shore to get back safely. A rip-tide had caught her, and she was drifting away from shore.

"Help me!"

Christian watched as Lucy splashed around. The splashing slowed down, and then the coughing and gasping for air began.

"Help me! You bastard!"

Christian had a smirk on his face. Lucy fought, but the water was stronger. Eventually it won. Lucy sank down in the water, as it burned her lungs.

"You're so dramatic." Christian said after yawning.

Lucy was on the beach again. She wasn't dragged back. Lucy was sure she died.

"How did I get here?"

"I took away your ability to die." Christian said while helping Lucy stand up.

"But I could feel myself dying."

"Life isn't fun, when you can't feel anything." he told her.

"Why am I here?" Lucy asked Christian.

"You are my adversary, muse, and disciple."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"This world is lacking a God. I brought you here to help me. I can't play God and the Devil."

"Of course you would think this is a game. You are insane."

"I would take offense to that, if it was untrue." Christian laughed. "You won't age, and you won't die. This world is primitive to your standard. Boring. You are going to help me change this world, Lucy."

"I'm not doing shit for you."

Lucy walked off down the beach, in hope of finding civilization. After an hour of walking, Lucy found some huts made out of palm leafs. They were crudely made, and didn't look like resort decorations.

"I believe you would call this the stone age, Lucy."

"Stop sneaking up on me. Where is everyone?"

"Off hunting, and gathering. I gave you the ability to speak their language naturally."

"Are they cannibals?" Lucy asked worried.

"If all primitive people ate each other, who would be left." Christian asked with a smile.

Voices became louder as people approached.

"A stranger has invaded our homes!"

The people surrounded Lucy with stone-tipped spears pointed at her.

"I'm not an invader. Christian tell them. Christian, where did you go?"

Lucy's devil had vanished. The people were giving her curious looks. The children hid behind the adults. Lucy felt disgusted by the recently slaughtered animal they were carrying.

"We don't share food with strangers." The leader spoke.

'Divine System activating... System active.'

Lucy had a strange face, when she heard the voice from nowhere. She couldn't respond to it in front of strangers. She would be seen as crazy, talking to ghosts no one can hear.

'Divine Points 0. Gain faith from followers to acquire more DP.' Lucy's system told her.

'Are you fucking kidding me with this religious bullshit?' Lucy screamed in her mind.

"Why are you here?" The female leader of the group asked Lucy.

"I'm here to help you grow stronger, because... because many challenges are facing you all." Lucy said with wavering certainty.

The people looked doubtful, but also familiar with a challenging life style. They murmured between themselves, and then the leader spoke, "Why should I trust you?"

'Christian, I hate you. Send me back to my world.' Lucy thought.

"I can bring prosperity to you all."

'I'm sure I know a few tricks that could help out.' She thought to herself.

"Outsider stays outside our homes." The leader spoke with authority. "We cannot trust strangers."

"Is it ok if I stay around here?"

"More hands. More work. We kill lazy people."

Lucy gulped.

The people went back to their business, while keeping a side-eye on Lucy. Women washed the raw meat in the ocean, while the men cleaned the flesh off the hide. Lucy decided to wander around the area. She found a fresh water stream, and plenty of edible plants with the system identifying them for her.

'How do I build a basic shelter?' Lucy thought to herself.

'Knowledge value 0 points. Would you like to acquire knowledge?' The system asked her.

'Yes.'

Images and ideas flowed into Lucy's mind. She learned how to bundle and stack leaves, and the reason being to help water flow away from the inside. The people watched Lucy build her home. It looked like a skirt that Lucy had to hunch down in to fit inside. There were no windows, and one entrance. The door was bundles of leaves leaning against the doorway. When Lucy needed to go out, she would move the door out of the way. No hinges or locks were available to her.

The leader of the village brought Lucy some cooked meat. "This is not free," she told Lucy, "You will repay it. Now you have a debt to me."

"What do you want in return." Lucy asked before accepting the food.

"Bring me more food to eat." The leader demanded.

"I'll help, but I won't be a debt slave. Keep your food."

The female leader scowled, and walked away with the food. Lucy's stomache grumbled.

"I'll eat more of those bitter plants tomorrow, and maybe I'll find some fruit. I refuse to eat insects, even if the system says that I can."

"How are you enjoying your first day?" Christian asked from the darkness of Lucy's hut.

"Stop appearing out of nowhere!"

"They can't see me. They're going to think you're crazy." He mused.

"What is the point of this dream? Am I supposed to learn something?" Lucy asked.

Christian held up a finger, "Not a dream," then another finger, "and whatever you learn is up to you."

"I'll probably wake up in a hospital bed, after I go to sleep. Get out of my house."

Lucy went into her hut to chase him out, but he had disappeared by the time she could reach him. Lucy covered her doorway with her door leaning against it.

"I will wake up from this nightmare." She told herself

Lucy felt sore the next day from sleeping on the ground. There was a layer of palm leaves on the ground to protect her from sand mites and other bugs, but she was still sore.

"Ugh..."

'Divine Points 1.' the system announced.

"Yay, I have a point." Lucy said with an unamused tone of voice. "Why do I have a point?"

"A kid in the village thinks that you are a mystical being. Probably because of your skin tone." Christian answered.

"I'm black, and so are they. We're the same color." Lucy responded.

"They are a darker shade than you. You're more of a reddish chocolaty milk chocolate, and they are a blueish pure dark cacao."

"I'm in a different world, but I still have to deal with racism." Lucy complained to herself.

"I'm not a racist." Christian defended himself with raised hands.

"You said they are judging me because I'm different."

"People are always judging each other. You're a stranger that showed up out of nowhere."

"What do I do with Divine Points, and how do I get them?" Lucy asked.

"Divine Points, AKA DP are earned through faith from others. You can use them to perform tasks. If a task glows gold in the menu, it is considered a miracle, and will likely earn more Divine Points because people will witness your miracle." He answered.

"I can do stuff with DP, but it costs more if others see me do it." Lucy thought out loud.

"Yes."

"Give me a bottle of soda."

'Insufficient DP. Divine Points required to complete task: 100,000'

"Why is a cold drink so damn expensive?"

"Look around you," Christian pointed out, "Bottles don't exist in this time. Higher task difficulty requires more Divine Points."

"I can't believe I'm stuck here." Lucy complained.

"Who are you talking to?" The village leader asked Lucy.

Christian had disappeared, and Lucy was alone with the leader.

"I was talking out loud to myself."

"You are strange, stranger."

"My name is Lucy."

"Lucy... My name is Hess. I am the leader of my people. If you want to stay here, then you must bring me food."

"I'll pay to stay around, but I'm not your slave. You don't own me." Lucy said sternly.

Hess nodded, and walked off. Lucy let out a deep sigh that she was holding inside her chest. The tide was low, so Lucy walked along the beach collecting mussels. Lucy traded some mussels with Hess in exchange for fire. Lucy could learn the method of fire starting from the system, but starting with a live fire is much easier for her. The mussels were roasted in the fire, after Lucy ripped off the beards on the outside of the mussels. Lucy saved the mussel shells for later.

"Do you want to give up yet?" Christian asked Lucy.

"Are you taunting me to motivate me?"

"Maybe," Christian picked up a mussel shell, and looked at it, "You're planning something, aren't you?"

"What was your plan, when you forced me to be here?" Lucy asked.

"You don't appreciate my hard work?"

"I had friends, and a life. You took them away from me. I don't belong in this world."

"Would you feel better, if I said you were going to die in your world, Lucy?" Christian dropped the shell back onto the pile of them.

"You knew I was going to die, and didn't stop it?" Lucy growled.

"You're still alive." Christian responded.

"I'd rather be alive in my world. Where I belong. I don't belong here."

"You can live as a God here." He told Lucy.

"I never gave you my consent for any of this. Gods aren't real. This system you gave me is just some kind of advanced technology," Lucy ranted, "I'm not a God, and you're just an asshole. I hate these clothes, and I hate this place!"

"If you don't like this world, then change it." Christian said with a smirk.

"You smug bastard."

Lucy threw a punch at Christian, who vanished into smoke before she hit him. She screamed out of frustration. The villagers stared at Lucy, then talked among themselves more than before. Lucy felt embarrassed, and ran away to hide from her shame. The clothes that Lucy was wearing were animal furs sewn together with plant based thread. They weren't tanned, and instead stiff rawhide that doesn't flex well. After calming down, Lucy collected fire wood, and returned to her hut. She used some small flexible twigs to make a small basket at the cost of spending zero divine points to learn the skill.

'I won't give that self-proclaimed devil the satisfaction of seeing me suffering,' Lucy thought to herself, 'I will live a comfortable life.'

Lucy began identifying plants with the help of her system. She was looking for a plant that could produce a strong fiber that is also flexible, and soft. Lucy collected bundles of flax plants throughout the day, and laid them out in the stream to soak in the water. Rocks weighed down the bundles of flax to completely submerge them. Evening came, and Lucy had trouble sleeping, because she had forgotten to eat during the day.

Hess asked Lucy to bring her more mussels the next day, so Lucy collected them during the morning low tide. It was easier for Lucy to work, because she had a basket to hold the mussels in. She appreciated having something to eat, but also wanted the sea shells from the mussels.

"I need a stronger house that can withstand bad weather." Lucy told herself.

Her house could not withstand a strong storm. Lucy lacked the tools to manufacture lumber for a wooden building, the style that she was used to living in. She wanted walls and a roof that could resist collapse, and a door that could lock out dangerous animals.

"Are they nomadic people," Lucy asked Christian who appeared from behind a tree as she collected firewood.

"The climate in this area doesn't freeze in the winter," Christian began to explain, "these people tend to stay in one area. The resources are plentiful enough for the few people that live here. Do you want me to chase them away with a flood or drought?"

"Don't be so cruel."

"It's only natural events."

"It's not natural if you're causing it," Lucy retorted.

"You don't think I am a force of nature?" He asked.

"Nature doesn't have a conscious mind, Christian. You're aware of your actions. You could be helping, instead of acting like a devil." Lucy chided him.

"Who said I wasn't helping?" Christian defended himself.

"What have you done recently, besides kidnapping me to a world I don't belong in." Lucy said with an annoyed tone of voice.

"I've caused a massive wildfire," Christian responded, "causing hundreds of thousands of animals to migrate out of their natural habitat."

"How is that good?"

"You asked how I helped. We didn't use the term good here. This is a neutral event."

"You can't call a disaster neutral." Lucy yelled at him.

"Good and bad things happen regardless of my interaction, Lucy," Christian responded, "I just made things happen faster. The predator and prey population is never in perfect balance. Life will retake the burned lands eventually, and hunting in the areas where the animals fled to will be easier with the extra wildlife."

"Causing chaos is not doing a favor."

"You're attempting to bring new technology to this primitive world," Christian told Lucy, "You're forcing a timeline to jump ahead. We're both forces of nature."

"Agree to disagree," Lucy responded.

Christian shrugged his shoulders, and vanished into smoke. Lucy was annoyed.

'He lives up to the title of devil," Lucy thought to herself.

While Hess and her tribe were hunting and gathering food, Lucy was digging up clay from the creek. She was tired of drinking untreated water, and wanted to boil it for safer drinking. Lucy carefully made clay bowls and pots. She made sure to try to keep the thickness of the clay even to avoid cracking while the clay pottery dries. The villagers of Hess, as to what Lucy named the village in her mind, had pottery of their own. It wasn't a leap in technology for Lucy. She was still catching up to their level with help from her deity system. Lucy learning things that were already known to society required zero divine points from her.

"You decided to make yourself at home," Hess spoke while looking at the pottery Lucy was making.

"I want to be comfortable," Lucy began talking, "this is hardly a start to where I want to be."

"Where is that," Hess asked.

Lucy sighed and shook her head, "I can't go back there. I have to build a new live here."

"Did you do something bad," Hess asked with suspicion.

"No, I'm not a criminal. I was forced here against my will by a person."

"Is that why you yell out loud to yourself randomly as if someone was there?"

Lucy nodded, not wanting to admit she can see someone that is invisible to others. Lucy's clay pottery was left alone to dry in her hut for a week, before she fired it. A few of them cracked and broke, because of uneven heating while cooking them in a open fire. The broken pieces were saved to be broken down into grog for later.

"I need a kiln." Lucy told herself.

A higher heat was required to fully bake the clay. The partially heated clay that Lucy had made was not water-proof. Water would slowly seep through them. It was slow enough to boil water in, and that is what Lucy did. She always had a fire going to boil a pot of water. Not having to go through the trouble of lighting a new fire was important to Lucy. She collected salt water in bowls, and left them out to dry into salt. Bringing them into the hut only when it rained, and adding more salt water as the water level dropped.

Lucy built a kiln out of mud and grass trampled together, then formed into bricks. It was two steps covered in a chimney. The lower step was where the fire was lit, and the upper step was for the pottery to be cooked at a very high heat. Mud bricks were used as a door to hold in heat by covering the opening while the hot pottery cooled in the kiln. The broken pottery was smashed into grog dust by Lucy.

"Why are you cooking shells?" Hess asked Lucy.

"I'm making quicklime for cement," Lucy answered while pulling white shells from the kiln.

"What is cement."

"It's like a kind of rock."

"You're doing all this work to get a rock," Hess asked, "I can show you where some rocks are."

"This stuff is special." Lucy answered.

Lucy crushed up the shells that were cooked at a high heat into calcium oxide, with sand and crushed pottery grog. She mixed it with water into a thick paste with a stick, and formed it into a large brick with mud bricks as the forms for the walls.

"That stuff is too soft to be a rock," Hess commented.

"Wait a few days," Lucy responded.

Hess left Lucy alone, and Lucy spent her days collecting sea food from the shore, firewood from the forest, and clay from the stream. Hess would stop by every day for a portion of food, and Lucy would be crushing broken pottery. Lucy didn't need any more pottery, just grog for concrete. She was making hydraulic concrete that wouldn't absorb water, because her home will be next to the beach. It took Lucy half a year to make the concrete bricks she used to build her house. The roof was made of palm fronds laying on and tied to branches. The door was waddled wooden sticks, with a linen string from the flax to tie the door shut from the inside.

"So this is cement..." Hess said while knocking on the wall.

"It's actually concrete," Lucy responded, "It's cement with other things added to it."

"I like it." Hess nodded while looking at it, "I'll take it."

"But it's my house." Lucy responded.

"And you're giving it to me," Hess spoke while pointing her spear towards Lucy.