ushernet [340] 4.61 When it All Began
[340] 4.61 When it All Began
Planet XSQ-1827, Substation 1, Year 16,354 A.I. (15 Years before Seraphina’s Awakening.)“No, no, that can’t be right,” Madison mutters under her breath.
She looks down at the data, certain that she’s made a mistake somewhere. But no matter how many times she pores over the simulations and runs the numbers and checks and double-checks and even triple-checks the calibration, the data her team has compiled over the past twenty years simply isn’t consistent with any other explanation. The universe is being deleted, for lack of a better term, and at an absolutely catastrophic rate.
After twenty minutes or maybe two hours— it’s hard to tell— rushing through scenario after plausible scenario, hoping for some other explanation, she’s forced to eventually accept the harsh reality. Something is out there, and if we don’t do something, it’s only a matter of when, not if, we’re next.
She looks around the chamber. Empty. Save for her breaths and the sounds of her fingers tapping against the keys on the console, there’s not a single bit of noise in the substation. She glances down at her communicator: 2:54 AM.
Madison can’t help but chuckle. Must’ve lost track of time at some point while running the universal simulation matrix. Something that’s happened more and more as of late. One of the joys of having recently reached Level 200: Her body is now so magical, her body so concentrated with [Ether], that she no longer needs to eat or sleep. Absent those biological needs tethering one’s mind to the present, it’s only too easy to lose track of time while in the middle of one’s work.
And Madison has far too much work for the time she has left. She’s spent the last three days finalizing and then running the matrix and trying to figure out what the hell is going on out there and why all the communication relays to the outer rim of the universe have been dropping like gnats flying through an electrical fence. No time to handle the political situation, and by the cosmos, how is she going to get anyone else to believe such unbelievable results! Seven-sigma certainty in her simulations be damned; there’s no way to convince the sector governors to band together. Not because of poor methodology, but simply because they have every incentive not to believe her.
She sighs. It really is the worst case scenario.
Footsteps down the hall break her out of her two-second long panic. By instinct, she leaps up, draws [Divine Blade Luminaria] out of her [Inventory], and prepares to engage in combat. She’s safe here, in the lab, a more rational part of her mind assures her, but too many years on the front and decades of dungeon delves before that have ensured a certain amount of wariness remains locked in at all times.
The footsteps get louder, but they move slowly by her standards, giving her brain those precious milliseconds to properly analyze the situation. This isn’t an ambush, these aren’t monsters sneaking up on her. This is just one of her colleagues making their presence known, wanting to talk with her. Probably to let her know that she’s been at this for the last forty-two hours straight and should take a break and get some fresh air.
Her rational mind agrees that she should do so. A few hours away from the simulation matrix will give her a fresh perspective. It would be even better if she could get some sleep— she doesn’t need it, but it’s still very nice to have.
The door opens, revealing the tan-skinned, curly-haired director of the laboratory, Dr. Martin Chotono. Brilliant researcher, eloquent, effective at communication, and unlike her, actually knows how to get those political chucklefucks to loosen their pursestrings and provide the funding to keep the facility open. He’s technically the director to her assistant director, and while a part of Madison covets his title, their current arrangement works out better for both of them
“Madison,” he says. “I trust you have a good reason to be here so late?”
“Just running the simulations again, making sure I’ve not overlooked a simpler explanation than the one that keeps demonstrating itself most likely.”
Martin glares down at Madison. “I trust that there’s a good reason why you have neglected your health and well-being? I know it’s been only forty-two hours and that you don’t technically need food or water or sleep anymore, but need I remind you that you’ve worked a hundred and twenty hours this past week and nearly four hundred and fifty this past month? Good thing you’re paid on salary or I wouldn’t be able to keep the facility running!”
Madison can’t help but chuckle. “Unfortunately, yes.” She points to the erosion of one of the galactic filaments located about twelve gigaparsecs away. “Look at how much ordinary matter has just disappeared over the past thirty years. And worse, that rate of dissolution seems to be accelerating.”
Martin just stares at the screen. “And you’re certain that this is the case?”
“That’s what I’ve been doing all day… and apparently all night as well,” Madison says, exasperated. “I know the damned fools with the grants aren’t just going to drop tens of millions of credits on a project like this–”
“Billions,” Martin says. “If this really is the case, then we’re going to need billions of credits to try to figure out how to counteract… this.”
“I mean, there’s only one being capable of such catastrophe on a universal scale.”
“Pah. You know the governing council is never going to approve that kind of funding based on your Sapient System Hypothesis, Madison.”
“And what other theory is out there that could explain what we’re seeing? The entire observable universe is going to be gone in thirty years at this rate!”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong, Madison. I’m just saying that your theories are considered bold and… outlandish by the–.”
“So what do you want me to do, Martin? Just turn a blind eye to all this mess?” He’s not wrong; there’s never been proof that the System is actually intelligent, or guided by some powerful artificial general intelligence. And without said proof, it’s considered a fringe hypothesis, though thankfully not quite in the realm of quackery.
“No.” Martin’s eyes narrow upon Madison, shaking her with a will more powerful than the Level 80 man should be able to bear upon her. “You just reached Level 200, yes?”
“I did,” Madison says. Then the realization hits her. “You’re not suggesting that–”
“I am.” Martin continues. “If this truly is correct, and you believe there is no other option then perhaps it’s time that you take effective responsibility. You have a power that only one in a million people will ever acquire. Probably less than that. Perhaps this is a sign that it’s time that you let go of your personal animosity toward the sphere of politics and actually do what needs to be done for the good of the universe.”
“The good of the universe, huh?” Madison stares blankly as Martin materializes a chair and sits down beside her in front of the console. After a moment, Madison takes a deep breath and sits back down.
“I know how much you care about others, in your own way.”
“In my own way. Spoken like the political genius you are.”
Martin just smiles. “If I’m a ‘political genius’, as you call it, it’s only because I have decades more experience handling those sorts of situations, rather than spending all my time either cooped up in my lab or out there on the battlefield.”
He continues after a half-second pause, which might as well be an eternity with how fast Madison’s mind works. “I know you’re not much for traditional religious belief, but I like to believe that the universe has a will of its own, separate from that of the System. Call it ‘God’ or ‘the Great Will’ or whatever other deity humans have prayed to over the millennia, I don’t care. But I believe that the universe may be nudging you into growing into a role you have previously eschewed out of personal preference.”
“This isn’t a set up, is it?” Madison does her best to remain level-headed, but traces of her ire still sneak through her tone.
“That hurts a little, Madison. We’ve been working together for thirty years now. I would have thought that you would have known by now that I’m not the scheming type. Just one who tries to remain aware of what everyone wants and think about how best to achieve it.”
“You really think I should seek the planetary governorship?”
“You already take on half the responsibilities relating to planetary defense, and you already have the administrative skills from your thirty years working here. To be perfectly honest, taking the position in earnest will simply mean you’ll have the benefits of that station, rather than just shouldering all the responsibilities on a researcher’s salary.”
“I do plenty well for myself, thank you very much. But it would mean I would have a lot more budgetary influence.” Madison pauses. “Don’t tell me that’s what this is about.”
“Again, like I said, I’m merely positing a potential solution that works out well for all of us. You’ll have more authority to bring the planet’s— and the star system’s— resources to bear, and it won’t mean too much more work for you. Though, I’m curious, Madison. I’d like to know what sort of a plan you have in mind for dealing with the System. It’s not called likened to a god for nothing.”
Madison sighs and generates a simple ball of light with her hands. “We know so much about these glyphs and how they function. What’s to say that there aren’t more glyphs out there? Ones not meant to be discovered. Ones that shouldn’t even exist.”
“Ones that ‘shouldn’t exist’, you say. What specifically do you have in mind?”
“Glyphs are programs, of a sort, created by the System and which allow us to influence the world around us. What’s to say that we can’t do the reverse. A glyph created by the world, that is designed to influence the System. We can hack computers; why can’t we find a way to hack the System? Yes, it’s a difficult problem, but–”
“You want to try your hand at the glyph-design problem again? People have been working on it for fifteen thousand years! No offense meant, but brighter minds than ours have tried and failed; what makes you think we’ll have any better success than they did? Or hell, than we did when we looked into it a quarter century ago?”
“Because this time, Martin, we have no choice. I’m sure you’ve looked through the data during our conversation. We both are aware that the consequences for failure are complete and total annihilation, and within our own lifetimes to boot!”
“Madison, I know I can’t well get you to back down once you get into one of ‘these’ moods, but I would be remiss if I did not urge caution. That line of reasoning is a very dangerous one. Once people get it in their head that what they’re doing is for the good of the world, the universe, the nation… whatever group they’re claiming to represent, then that opens the door to every manner of atrocity.”
“You’re not wrong. I’ve…” Madison pauses, her mind trying not to completely go back to that battle thirty-three years ago, just before she started her new career as a researcher. “I’ve had to put those people down on a couple of occasions back in my old career.”
She sighs. “But I don’t think that steering some research funds toward the project and focusing my team’s efforts on it is quite on the same level as committing genocide on a planetary level. It is well within the customary and constitutional duties of the governor to steer the budget and take actions deemed necessary and proper to ensure the defense of the planet and its citizens and inhabitants.”
“I take it you plan to go through with this after all? You know that I will support you to the extent I’m able.”
“I would certainly hope so, Martin, considering it was your idea to begin with. Though, I would disagree about one thing. You said you weren’t a schemer and didn’t like to take those sorts of actions. And yet, here you are, clearly scheming your way into the outcome you’d decided from the beginning.”
“Not at all, Madison. As I said, it was merely the outcome I thought would work best for all of us. And, speaking of outcomes that would work best for all of us, I don’t want you to feel that you’ve been rushed into making this decision. Take a week off, clear your head, relax a bit, and get a full sense of what it is that you’re signing up for.”
“But–”
“You said we had thirty years, Madison. That’s urgent, but not so urgent that you can’t spare a few days to make sure you’re fully prepared for the challenges that will await you in your new role. And yes, Madison, for your sake, I’m pulling rank as the director on this one. Now then, I must get going myself. I’ll see you back here in a week.”