diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f136d34..f4a7e04 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 /.zig-cache
 /zig-out
 .idea
-noom
-noom.*
+/noom
+/noom.*
 Makefile
diff --git a/build.lua b/build.lua
index b6c6e30..18a6e9f 100755
--- a/build.lua
+++ b/build.lua
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ local files = {
 	'src/lexer.c',
 	'src/parser.c',
 	'src/compiler.c',
+	'src/vm.c',
 	'src/main.c',
 }
 
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 253b34e..fde3e22 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
 			"src/lexer.c",
 			"src/parser.c",
 			"src/compiler.c",
+			"src/vm.c",
 			"src/main.c",
 		}
 	});
diff --git a/src/noom.h b/src/noom.h
index b0cf852..157ac92 100644
--- a/src/noom.h
+++ b/src/noom.h
@@ -3,17 +3,16 @@
 #ifndef NOOM_H
 #define NOOM_H
 
-
-#define STR(x) #x
-#define XSTR(x) STR(x)
+#define NN_STR(x) #x
+#define NN_XSTR(x) NN_STR(x)
 
 #define NOOM_VERSION_MAJOR 0
 #define NOOM_VERSION_MINOR 0
 #define NOOM_VERSION_PATCH 0
 #if NOOM_VERSION_PATCH==0
-#define NOOM_VERSION_FULL XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MAJOR) "." XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MINOR)
+#define NOOM_VERSION_FULL NN_XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MAJOR) "." NN_XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MINOR)
 #else
-#define NOOM_VERSION_FULL XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MAJOR) "." XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MINOR) "." XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_PATCH)
+#define NOOM_VERSION_FULL NN_XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MAJOR) "." NN_XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_MINOR) "." NN_XSTR(NOOM_VERSION_PATCH)
 #endif
 #define NOOM_VERSION_TEXT "Noom " NOOM_VERSION_FULL "  (C) 2026 NeoFlock and Noom contributors"
 
@@ -59,4 +58,7 @@ typedef struct noom_LuaVM noom_LuaVM;
 typedef noom_Exit noom_CFunction(noom_LuaVM *vm);
 typedef noom_Exit noom_KFunction(noom_LuaVM *vm, noom_Exit status, void *ctx);
 
+noom_LuaVM *noom_createVM(noom_LuaVersion version);
+void noom_destroyVM(noom_LuaVM *vm);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/src/vm.c b/src/vm.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fa1e40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/vm.c
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#include "vm.h"
+#include "helper.h"
+
+noomV_Object *noomV_allocObj(noom_LuaVM *vm, noomV_ObjTag tag, noom_uint_t size) {
+	noomV_Object *o = noom_alloc(size);
+	if(o == 0) return o;
+
+	o->tag = tag;
+	o->marked = 0;
+	o->next = vm->heap;
+	o->nextGray = 0;
+	vm->heap = o;
+	return o;
+}
+
+void noomV_freeObj(noomV_Object *obj) {
+	noom_free(obj);
+}
+
+noom_LuaVM *noom_createVM(noom_LuaVersion version) {
+	noom_LuaVM *vm = noom_alloc(sizeof(*vm));
+	if(vm == 0) return 0;
+	// initialize the universe to NULL, handles partial OOMs nicely
+	vm->heap = 0;
+	vm->graySet = 0;
+	vm->globals = 0;
+	vm->registry = 0;
+	vm->mainThread = 0;
+	vm->currentThread = 0;
+	vm->version = version;
+	return vm;
+}
+
+void noom_destroyVM(noom_LuaVM *vm) {
+	noomV_Object *iter = vm->heap;
+	while(iter) {
+		noomV_Object *cur = iter;
+		iter = iter->next;
+		noomV_freeObj(cur);
+	}
+	noom_free(vm);
+}
diff --git a/src/vm.h b/src/vm.h
index 67b4730..9d22224 100644
--- a/src/vm.h
+++ b/src/vm.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ typedef enum noomV_ObjTag {
 
 typedef struct noomV_Object {
 	noomV_ObjTag tag;
-	bool marked;
+	noom_bool_t marked;
 	struct noomV_Object *next;
 	struct noomV_Object *nextGray;
 } noomV_Object;
@@ -43,9 +43,9 @@ typedef enum noomV_ValueTag : unsigned char {
 typedef struct noomV_Value {
 	noomV_ValueTag tag;
 	// for stack slots
-	bool autoclose;
+	noom_bool_t autoclose;
 	// pointer to value
-	bool isptr;
+	noom_bool_t isptr;
 	union {
 		noom_bool_t boolean;
 		noom_int_t integer;
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ typedef struct noomV_Function {
 	noomV_String *chunkname;
 	noomV_Inst *code;
 	noomV_Value *consts;
-	noomV_Function **protos;
+	struct noomV_Function **protos;
 	noomV_UpvalDesc *upvals;
 	noomV_LocalDesc *locals;
 	unsigned int codesize;
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ typedef struct noomV_Function {
 typedef struct noomV_CallFrame {
 	// stack index of function
 	unsigned int funcIdx;
-	bool isC;
+	noom_bool_t isC;
 	union {
 		struct {
 			// 
@@ -293,6 +293,10 @@ struct noom_LuaVM {
 	noomV_Table *registry;
 	noomV_Thread *mainThread;
 	noomV_Thread *currentThread;
+	noom_LuaVersion version;
 };
 
+noomV_Object *noomV_allocObj(noom_LuaVM *vm, noomV_ObjTag tag, noom_uint_t size);
+void noomV_freeObj(noomV_Object *obj);
+
 #endif