diff --git a/src/system.clj b/src/system.clj
index 4556c72..9e7a70c 100644
--- a/src/system.clj
+++ b/src/system.clj
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 ;; SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022 Sebastian Crane <seabass-labrax@gmx.com>
 
 (ns system
-  (:require [clojure.data.json :as json]
+  (:require [irc]
+            [clojure.data.json :as json]
             [clj-yaml.core :as yaml]))
 
 (defn json-data-reader [key value]
@@ -32,3 +33,30 @@
     (with-open [datafile (clojure.java.io/reader f)]
       (yaml/parse-stream datafile))
     (catch Exception e nil)))
+
+(defn system []
+  {:config nil
+   :state nil
+   :irc nil})
+
+(defn start [system]
+  (let [config (load-config "config.yaml")
+        state (atom (load-state (:data-file config)))
+        irc (irc/new-irc-connection state config)]
+    (irclj.core/join irc (get-in config [:irc :channel]))
+    {:config config
+     :state state
+     :irc irc}))
+
+(defn stop [system]
+  (do
+    (save-state
+     (get-in system [:config :data-file])
+     (deref (:state system)))
+    (irclj.core/quit (system :irc))))
+
+(defn restart [system-atom]
+  (do
+    (swap! system-atom stop)
+    (reset! system-atom (system))
+    (swap! system-atom start)))