《Minerva Down》 1 - PerSpectives Ryan sat in his kitchen in his UBI house, in front of a plate of pancakes made from UBI mix, trailing his finger over the rim of his glass full of UBI powdered milk staring at the stick of UBI butter. He was supposed to get it out the night before but had forgotten, and it was so cold he didn¡¯t want to try spreading it on his pancakes for fear of disturbing their perfectly bronzed surface. It was something his mom had perfected over the years with their traditional Saturday morning meal, and she hadn¡¯t disappointed today. Still, that stick of butter had been enough to bring down a countenance of despondency on his usually lively boyish face. He had just turned sixteen and hadn¡¯t entirely smoothed out the edges of his features yet, something he was increasingly worried about lately. But that wasn¡¯t what had made his mopey attitude so easy to trigger that morning. His mother bustled through the room, wearing her work apron¡ªsearching for her keys no doubt¡ªwhen she noticed the look on Ryan¡¯s face. She paused her frantic search and took a moment to sit down next to him, putting her hand on his arm. ¡°I¡¯m sorry honey, but the extra shift will really help us out, I¡¯ll be back before six,¡± she said. He looked up and gave her a forced smile. ¡°That¡¯s not it, mom,¡± he said. ¡°I know you work hard to get me into school, and I¡¯m not about to make you feel bad for that.¡± She too smiled, but her brow furrowed in concern. ¡°Then what is it?¡± she asked before a light seemed to dawn on her. ¡°Is it still about that essay competition? I know you worked really hard on it. I¡¯m sorry you didn¡¯t win.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that either,¡± he said. ¡°Though now that you mention it¡­¡± he let out a wistful sigh. He¡¯d really wanted the first-place reward. The announcement was supposed to come in the day before, at the end of school, but he waited and waited, and no email showed up in his inbox. He shook his head. ¡°No, I just had a weird dream. I can hardly remember it anymore, but it was one of those that really stick with you? The emotion of it, you know?¡± She gave him an indulgent smile, but he could tell she really didn¡¯t. ¡°Anyway,¡± he said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. You have a good easy shift and call me if you need anything.¡± He lifted up her keys from next to the flower vase in the middle of the table, dangling them from his index finger, a self-impressed look plastered on his face. ¡°I love you Ryan,¡± she said, awarding him with a beaming smile before snatching the keys from him, grabbing her purse and jacket, and heading out the door. Ryan sighed again as he heard her feet popping down the porch steps and took a slip of his UBI powdered milk. ¡°Maybe that contest thing is bothering me a bit,¡± he muttered to himself as he set the ¡°drink¡± back down. He had really pinned his hopes on this one, his ticket off of Universal Basic Income, and a droll life of zero upward mobility. His mother worked two jobs and just barely earned enough to get him into the Elective Schooling system. As a result, he hardly ever saw her, and when he did, she was so completely worn out. But that first place prize. He sighed again wistfully, letting himself daydream a bit. To win a pair of the latest in Augmented Reality technology from the Sifting Corporation. PerSpective Goggles. He heard the over-the-top used car salesman voice from the commercials. ¡°PerSpective Goggles. They¡¯re Sleek, they wrap around your head, they¡¯re cool.¡± But it wasn¡¯t even the superficial stuff, like the smooth design, the nearly limitless battery life, or even the most advanced sensor technology on the planet. It was the PerSpective Vision operating system, with its gamification approach to interacting with the world. It had a Contribution Point system, in which you could earn ¡°CP¡± by completing daily tasks and quests. The CP could be converted into real money, meaning that despite its hefty price tag, the goggles would eventually pay for themselves, and more. He saw it as a chance to get a leg up in the world, to give back to his mom, and maybe take a load off her shoulders. Or¡ªdare he wish for it¡ªget out of District 7 and move into the big city. But alas, something came up, the announcement never came, and there were even some rumors that the Sifting Corporation was facing some legal troubles. At least Ryan had read as much in some online forums. Now it was back to trying to catch the eye of one of the several Academy¡¯s in Inner City. But his academics had been struggling of late, and they really only looked at the best of the best for scholarships. There was no way his mother could afford the tuition costs. It would kill her; he was sure of it. ¡°Ahk, quit moping,¡± he told himself, stood up and dumped his drink down the sink. He slid his pancakes into the Atomic Disintegrator (it was just a fancy trash can) and hit the button. It blurped. It was supposed to whir. Ryan hit the button again. Blurp. He noticed a yellow symbol flashing on it and let out a groan. The waste compartment was full. ¡°Dang-it,¡± he swore and hit the eject button. There was the familiar sound of the latch disengaging, but the container didn¡¯t pop out. ¡°Double dang-it,¡± he grumbled as he knelt down to get a better angle, put his hand on either side of it and rocked the waste compartment back and forth until the container finally popped out. ¡°Time to take out the trash,¡± he said to himself and slipped on his shoes. With advancements in waste disposal technology, he really only had to take out the trash once or twice a month, and even then, the container outside wouldn¡¯t be emptied out for a year. He shimmied his feet back and forth until he got them into his shoes and then popped out the door, nearly tripping over a package that had been sitting there. It was maybe half a meter wide by half a meter tall. How had his mom not seen this? Ryan set down the waste box on the porch railing and picked up the box. It was addressed to him: Ryan Donovan, UBI Housing Lot 3, District 7. The return address said¡ªhis breathing stopped¡ªSifting Technology Division, Altera Tower, Inner City. His initial goal forgotten Ryan carried the precious package into the house, kicked off his shoes, and carried it reverently up to this room, almost tripping over the pile of clean clothes only to trip over the pile of dirty clothes, twisting to recover as he fell onto his bed. He used a pair of Scissors to cut the tape on the package and popped it open to reveal, in gold leaflet set against a white background, the instantly recognizable S logo of the Sifting Corporation, and below it, the name PerSpectives3. He slid the exquisitely designed box out of its sheath, tossed the empty package to the side, and set it in his lap. His heart raced in anticipation as he lifted the lid. Inside, on a cradle, sat the goggles¡ªa sleek, black, and silver frame, transparent lenses with a holographic rainbow glint to them, and the almost imperceptible optical cameras spread evenly around. Ryan gently extracted them from the cradle. He had dreamed of this moment for years, been begging for a pair ever since version two, but his mom had always said they were too expensive. One day, his English teacher had presented a district-wide essay competition to the class, the prize being those very goggles. He wrote an essay on the Minerva Incident, something that was at least indirectly responsible for his absentee father, and apparently, the amount of passion that instilled in him to research and publish his essay had bled through into the paper. The evidence of that was sitting now in his hands. Without further ado, he slid the frames onto his face, drawing the smooth strap around the back of his head. He didn¡¯t need the instruction manual¡ªhe¡¯d already spent hours of his life watching videos and reading forums about this wonder of technology. He double tapped the right side of the frames, and a soft chime sang into his ears. A three-dimensional logo popped up in the center of his field of view, so solid and realistic he felt like he could touch it. The logo started as an elongated letter S, which began to spread apart, pulling letters in from some far distance in the center until it spelled ¡°Sifting.¡± The word ¡°presents¡± faded into existence below it, and then it read ¡°Perspective Vision,¡± the words wrapping around his head with an accompanying surround sound effect. A system message popped up.
Registering Device to New Owner
A composite of his own face began constructing itself in his field of view, first as a series of points, then wires, then flesh and features. An enhanced view of his retina appeared on the other side.
Please state your name.
¡°Uh, Ryan, Ryan Donovan,¡± he said after a hesitant start.
Ryan Donovan now registered to Perspective Goggles v3.1, UID 78797.
The composite image shunted off to the side.
Please choose a username.
This one Ryan had been brainstorming for months and was ready to blurt out the answer. ¡°Aitherios!¡± He winced at his own eagerness. Nerd. Welcome to Perspective Vision, Aitherios. Please stand by as we connect to your local server. Connected to District 7 Network. Initiating default HUD. His composite face, off to the side, became a rotating body, beneath which appeared biometric data. In the upper left corner, there was a counter for contribution points, currently showing 0 CP. To the side of that was an Envelop icon, a Scroll, a Shopping Cart, and a Gear. The envelop was flashing and had a number 1 pulsating in its corner, so he focused on it. The envelope expanded into his center view and opened with the sound of sliding paper. His first message.
¡°Welcome to the wonderful world of Perspective Vision! Our executive team was so impressed by your essay on the Minerva Down Incident and the corresponding fallout that we have granted you an initial 100 contribution points. As we¡¯re sure you¡¯re aware, these can be spent in our online store for perks in the game or converted into currency. Currently, that is 10 CP to the Dollar, so be sure to get out there and earn some more! We want you to continue developing those writing and critical thinking skills, so we¡¯ve sent you, in addition to your daily tasks, a list of books to read. When you finish a book, you¡¯ll be given a quiz¡ªtop marks will earn you 1,000 CP per book! From all of us here at Sifting Co., we extend our warmest welcome. Enjoy life and make the world a better place while you¡¯re at it!¡±
The moment his eyes read the last word, the message was marked as read, and the counter next to his CP shot up to 100. Nice. Next, he focused on the scroll icon to the right of the mail envelope, and like before, the scroll expanded into his view, this time unrolling itself.
Daily Tasks: Clean up the streets! Objective: Collect 10 littered objects and dispose of them in a proper receptacle. Reward: 100 CP. Bonus: Each item above the daily amount will add 1 CP (let¡¯s not overdo it for points, eh?). Current count 0/10. Act of Kindness Forgive someone who doesn¡¯t deserve it. Reward: 300 CP. Reading Assignments: Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming by Gupta Rama Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The Deep Astral by Joshua Neuman The True Firmament by TetraLex Would you like to add task counters to your HUD?
¡°Act of Kindness?¡± Ryan said. ¡°What kind of daily task is that?¡± He focused on the trash task, which highlighted, and then moved it to the side of his HUD. He minimized the scroll with an upward movement of his eyes; it rolled back up and took its place next to the envelope. Next, he wanted to take a look at the store. He focused on the shopping cart; it shuddered but did nothing more. A system message popped up.
System store is unavailable until you reach level 5.
¡°Level 5,¡± he mumbled. No one had mentioned a leveling system on any of the sites he¡¯d been researching the device on. ¡°Please explain the leveling system,¡± he said. Nothing happened. ¡°Gah,¡± he exclaimed. ¡°I forgot to set a wake word.¡± He focused on the gear icon in the upper part of his HUD, and the settings menu opened after a brief graphic of gears and cogs turning. He eye-scrolled down to the Interface menu and eye-blinked to select the box next to ¡°Wake on Command.¡±
Please select a wake word.
He did a shifty-eyed look about the room, for no one but himself, and said, ¡°Helios.¡±
Registering wake word ¡°Helios.¡± Please provide an audio command.
¡°Helios, please explain the leveling system?¡±
Prototype, Leveling System, is a new layer of complexity being tested for the Perspective interface. It should provide a further sense of growth and accomplishments to the user as they navigate the various trials and tasks set before them by the world of Perspective Vision. Levels start at 1 and are capped at 60. Experience points can be earned in various ways, e.g. creativity in solving tasks that are set before the user.
As Ryan absorbed the information, in the periphery he could see all the objects in his room being highlighted and catalogued in rapid succession. Just as he started to get self-conscious about the amount of dirty clothes he had scattered around, a new message appeared in his HUD.
Environmental scan complete. New task created: Clean up room, do laundry. Reward: 75 contribution points. Event Quest: One hour to complete. Accept? | Yes | No |
Ryan hesitated for a moment, considering the offer. Then, he selected "Yes." Immediately an intense chime sounded, and a countdown timer flashed in his vision, red numbers counting down from sixty minutes before minimizing to the top corner of his display. The task began with a prompt: "Clothing pickup¡ª0/50." As he bent down to grab the first piece of clothing. Once he had tossed it into the laundry basket, the system registered his action: "Item 1 of 50 complete." He moved faster, picking up socks, shirts, and jeans, each piece adding to the count, the system keeping track of his progress. The timer continued to tick down in the corner of his vision, a constant reminder of the urgency of the task. As he worked, Ryan¡¯s mind began to wander. The mundane act of cleaning created a space for his mind to tinker with things he generally left to the periphery. He thought about his mom, how she had raised him as a single mother, working tirelessly to keep everything in order. Guilt tugged at him as he realized he could have done more to help out, to lessen her burden. His thoughts drifted to his absentee father, the man who had left them both behind. His mother had always described his father as having an unhealthy obsession with finding the man responsible for the Minerva Down Incident. Ryan had heard the story countless times¡ªhow his father had been so consumed by a new "lead" that he completely missed the moment when Ryan''s mom had tried to tell him she was pregnant. And then, just like that, he had vanished, leaving behind a heartbroken pregnant wife. When Ryan entered high school, the mystery of his father¡¯s obsession became his own. He started looking into the Minerva Down Incident himself, trying to piece together the fragments of a story that had defined so much of his life. It was tough to find much from the time preceding the Crisis; many digital records had been corrupted during that tumultuous time, but his local librarian, Mrs. Oaks took pity on him and used her connections with other districts to help him piece things together. That research provided the foundational knowledge he later drew on for his essay, the one that had won him the Perspective Goggles. But the essay had been more than just an assignment¡ªit was a way for him to process his father''s absence, to seek some connection, however distant, to the man who had left him behind. The task log added new objectives: "Organize desk¡ªBonus points available. Make bed¡ªBonus points available." Ryan moved through the room with a newfound determination, tackling each task not just for the contribution points but as a way to bring some order to his chaotic thoughts. Finally, the first part of the quest ended as he gathered the last of his clothes and headed to the laundry room. The chime sounded again, signaling the completion of Part One. The display updated: EventQuest¡ªPart Two: Start laundry. Do you accept? Ryan sighed but nodded. He might as well finish what he started. As he loaded the washing machine, he heard another chime and noticed a new prompt flashing in the corner of his vision:
Side Task: Kitchen Cleanup! Your mother didn''t have time to do the dishes before her night shift. Finish cleaning the kitchen before the laundry load completes. Accept? | Yes | No |
He had only walked past the kitchen briefly on his way to the laundry room, yet the PerSpectives had picked up on the fact that it was messy, and somehow surmised it had to do with his mom not having time to do them? The deductive reasoning was a bit suspect, he thought, but on the other hand, that sweet CP he¡¯d promised his mom he could earn was calling out to him. Hey selected yes. The PerSpectives scanned the kitchen counter and highlighted the dishes with different pastel colors, making it appear as if they had auras surrounding them. Plates emanated a lavender glow, cups were pink, and silverware yellow. The operating system broke down the chore into sub tasks, sorting, rinsing, and placing them in the dish washer. He began stacking the dishes to the side of the sink so he could have enough space to scrub properly. Some of the dishes hadn¡¯t been cleaned in a while and the food had formed a molecular bond with the material. Why didn¡¯t his mom ever yell at him to do his chores? She must have been so by the time she got home. He began scrubbing. While he worked the PerSpectives took it upon themselves to open up a news feed for him. A rectangular screen came into being, as if it were a tablet sitting on the shelf behind the faucet, allowing him to glance at it while he worked without obstructing his view or causing him any disorientation. ¡°An astral fissure opened above the Argon building in inner city last night,¡± a female reporter was saying as footage of the city at night was showing on the display. Ryan¡¯s hackles rose at that information, and he gave the broadcast closer attention. On the display, chaotic lights lanced in electrical arks above one of the tallest buildings in the city, a stark contrast against the black of the sky. The footage appeared to have been taken by a civilian, as it was initially focused away from the action. There was an explosion which caused the video to shudder wildly before centering in on the accident. ¡°The initial spike in radiation caused several craft to collide with each other, resulting in an explosion that rocked the towers nearby. Three people were killed in the crash instantly, while six more were hospitalized.¡± An astral fissure, Ryan thought, how long had it been since one of those made the news? He was working with mounting frustration on a bowl that had once held oatmeal, which had since been transmuted into some form of indestructible concrete. Five, or six years? He gave up on using the sponge and grabbed a metal spoon to try and chip away at it. I was in sixth grade when that one that took down one of the seven towers in Inner City, so yeah, five years. Geeze. The reporter continued her story. ¡°The Ministry of Integrity dispatched their Alpha Team to repair the rift almost immediately, and it was sealed in a matter of hours. We reached out to the Ministry for comment, but they have not replied as of the time of this broadcast.¡± Ryan glanced up from his excavation of mount oatmeal at the mention of the Alpha Team, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any footage of them. His friend Lisa would probably be having a field day with this story. She had an unhealthy obsession with potential Incursion Events. Ryan gave up on trying to remove the oatmeal from the bowl and decided to just fill it with water and deal with the rest of the dishes while it soaked. The newscast had brought on an ¡°expert¡± to discuss the event of the previous night. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen a rift this large in almost a decade,¡± a man was saying. He was dressed in a tweed suit, which was probably nice when he bought it, but clearly had a stain on the vest he was trying¡ªand failing¡ªto hide with his coat. He had greasy hair that was combed tightly against his scalp, and his thick glasses magnified his eyes, making him look almost alien. ¡°The one that took down the Richter Tower, five years ago, was not even half the size of what was forming last night.¡± ¡°Would you consider this an isolated incident?¡± the reporter asked. ¡°It is hard to make any predictions at this point.¡± The man pushed his glasses up his nose, causing his eyes to become a little more human. ¡°In the past, if there was a large enough tear, we would expect there to be a few smaller distortions form as a sort of ripple effect. Something of this size. Well, it does no good to speculate. If there isn¡¯t anything within a few days, I would say we¡¯re safe from a full-on cascade effect.¡± ¡°What would have caused such a large tear to form, professor?¡± she asked. ¡°Again, it is difficult to speculate. I have railed against this administrations lack of transparency for some time now, but have been stonewalled and shut down at every attempt. The Ministry has been keeping us in the dark about how much the fabric of reality was truly damaged during the crisis and I¡ª¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Kettleman,¡± the reporter cut him off before his tirade could gain more steam, clearly regretting having asked that last question. ¡°We would like to make clear,¡± the newscaster said with a hint of annoyance, ¡°that we do not condone any conspiracy theories on this network. That being said, we will be keeping a close eye on the developments as they unfold.¡± The important facts of the story already having been laid out, Ryan had somewhat tuned out during the commentary. He would be able to discuss things with his friends when he met up with them the next day. He had a lot to talk to them about, he thought, glancing around at his interface. Ryan had made enough progress on the dishes that he felt ready to start filling up the dishwasher. He dropped open the door and pulled out the bottom rack. Like it had with the dishes, the PerSpectives scanned the compartment and then highlighted areas matching the their aura colors, providing him with what it considered to be the optimal placement of each dish. He started stacking in plates, getting a little chime in his ear each time he matched one up with the corresponding color. He noticed tiny numbers adding up in his vision. Is it giving me a bonus multiplier for how many dishes I put in at once? Nice. The news report had him thinking about the Crisis. An event that occurred right around the time he was born, shaping the state of the world he grew up in more than the Minerva Down Incident had shaped his father¡¯s. It had not been lost on him that the Crisis occurred soon after his dad¡¯s disappearance, but none of his research had managed to make a connection between the two. There was never any public acknowledgement that the Minerva Down Incident and the Crisis were related, but somewhere in his gut he felt they had to be somehow. He thought of it as his own personal conspiracy theory that he didn¡¯t mention to anyone else. As he let his thoughts meander, he finished loading the dishwasher, finally got that oatmeal bowl taken care of, and wiped down the counters. He was ready to get outside and see what he could get up to with his new augmented reality device. He wanted to see how much CP he could earn before his mom got home. He grabbed his jacket from the entryway closet and slid it on as a new system message popped up on his screen.
All Tasks Complete! New Achievement! Complete an Event Quest Successfully. You¡¯ve Earned a Bronze Trophy! Total CP Earned: 235 Calculating XP¡­
A progress bar appeared below the icons in his upper left vision, flashing as the system calculated how much he earned. After a moment it filled itself up about two thirds of the way. Almost made it to level two, he thought. Also, the 335 CP he now had made him grin stupidly. He stepped outside to see what trouble he could get up to with his new device. 2 - Mysterious Stranger As Ryan skipped down the steps from his front porch a new system message popped up.
You have exited your designated Safe Zone. Would you like to engage Perspective Camouflage?
¡°Camouflage? What?¡± Ryan exclaimed. ¡°I mean, of course, but what does that even mean?¡± A new information screen popped up.
Perspective Camouflage A new feature of the PerSpectives 3.1 Using the device¡¯s 360-degree coverage as well as refraction display technology, the device can be rendered nearly invisible to outside observers.
¡°I think that should be an obvious yes,¡± Ryan stated wholeheartedly.
Would you like to set the default Camouflage setting to [On] when not in a designated Safe Zones?
¡°Can I set it to on until I say otherwise?¡±
Perspective Camouflage default set to On. Warning: Goggles may be hard to find when the device is removed.
¡°Fine, maybe not always, how about whenever I wear them? At least until I say to turn it off?¡±
Perspective Camouflage custom settings have been applied. Camouflage will now be enabled.
The Perspective Goggles added a digitized sound that wrapped around his head to let him know something was changing. Though Ryan couldn¡¯t tell, his goggles had become suddenly transparent, though with some strange incongruities that, if closely examined, would look like the outline of the AR Headset. Now back to his daily task. A quick walk down to the corner market should probably do the trick; litter was, unfortunately, not hard to come by in this neighborhood. Ryan noticed a deteriorating plastic bag caught on the rung of his neighbor¡¯s chain-link fence and snatched it. Something to put the trash in would help. He glanced at the overcast sky thinking he could almost make out a slight tinge of brown in the clouds. At some point, with the weather patterns getting worse, whole cities becoming uninhabitable, and a government that seemed determined to ignore the environmental impacts mankind was having, people just gave up on trying to save the planet. The rise of Theocracy, Civil War, and the Age of Ministries that defined the American Experiment, 21st Century edition, all lead to a less and less habitable continent. The West Coast became a tinder box, wildfires exacerbating issues with air quality, and one final huge storm turned the entire central valley into a lake. Middle America had become another epic dust bowl as the agricultural system collapsed. The East Coast had been reduced to one major city and its eight outlying districts. Inner City had a population of just under 6 million, and each district ranged from 200 to 600,000 citizens, with Ryan¡¯s District 7 coming in somewhere in the middle of that. It was divided into suburbs with varying degrees of upkeep and infrastructure maintenance. The road he now walked had potholes, but they were filled in. Road maintenance wasn¡¯t as important with the advent of anti-grav vehicles, but it was still an eyesore. He saw a candy wrapper caught in a bush and snatched it up. The Task Manager instantly updating from 0/10 to 1/10. Autumn was in full swing, with a steady supply of leaves falling like lazy snowflakes around him. The sidewalk was damp from a light drizzle the night before, causing the leaves to plaster onto the ground. He made a little game of trying to step only on the gaps between leaves. Somehow the PerSpectives picked up on this. A system message popped up.
Would you like to engage the Guided Movement Tutorial Level 1? Accept? |Yes | No |
He selected yes by focusing with his eyes.
Tutorial mode activated. In this tutorial you will learn to follow the onscreen instructions for movement. Your display will have an overlay of arrows telling you which direction to move your feet, how far to move them, and how fast, based off shape, length, and color of the arrows respectively. New Task: Dodge the Leaves Objective: Avoid stepping on any leaves stuck to the ground by following onscreen directions. Reward: 80% and Above accuracy will be rewarded with a Tutorial Completion Achievement, as well as an XP boost. Penalty for Failure: Tutorial incomplete, will need to try again.
The goggles scanned the environment around him with a grid pattern overlaying all objects before focusing on and highlighting them individually, tagging them with names and descriptions, just as it had done with the laundry in his room.
Tree: Ulmus americana, Tree: Tilia americana, Bush: Southern Indica Azalea, Bush: Rhododendron catawbiense, Sign: Stop, Mailbox¡­empty.
This all happened in a few seconds before everything was set aside and the leaf patterns on the sidewalk became the focal point. First the leaves, then the spaces between them.
Planning Route¡­ Please follow onscreen directions. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
A red arrow swooping off to the right appeared in his vision, as he moved his right foot forward, it started to slowly change color from its starting point towards the tip. He kept moving forward and the progress stopped, he started moving to the right and it continued. Once it got to the end the whole arrow bulged. He set his foot down and another arrow appeared, this time pointing to the left in a slightly different angle. Ryan found the system quite intuitive and as he proved his grasp of it the arrows changed from red to yellow, forcing him to increase his pace. When he made a mistake and landed on a leaf the HUD would highlight it, flashing red, and a claxon would sound. Before he knew it, he had made it to the end of the block and got the rewarding system message:
Tutorial Complete! Achievement unlocked! Bronze Trophy of Tutorial Newbie awarded. Accuracy 89% Calculating Reward¡­ 2x XP boost for two hours. Would you like to try the advanced mode? Accept? |Yes | No|
Of course he selected yes. This time the scan picked up on articles of trash along his path that he needed to grab. The speed started with green arrows which was almost a running pace of hop-scotch, sharp upticks on the arrows indicating when he should leap or bound to a spot. New arrows were displayed up top for his arms when he needed to reach out and down for one of his trash targets. His task status updated to 6/10. Over half way there. Ryan was so caught up in the new pace and complexity that he almost fell on his face when a sudden alert popped up in yellow and red.
ANOMALY DETECTED!
In fact, he didn¡¯t fall because he ran into something. He could feel it but couldn¡¯t see it. Ryan lifted his goggles up onto his forehead and suddenly saw what he¡¯d run into. A strange someone, dressed in an old, rugged, long coat, with a dark leather fedora covering his eyes loomed over him. Unkempt hair pushed out under the brim and covered the man¡¯s ears so all Ryan could make out of his face was a grizzly unshaven chin, a cigarette hanging loosely from his cracked lips, and a prominent nose. The acrid smoke of the cigarette caused Ryan¡¯s nose to involuntarily scrunch up. Smoking was not really a thing people did in his area. ¡°Hey, kid.¡± The man rasped. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time. I can¡¯t explain, but I need you to take this.¡± He pulled from his pocket a small orb the size of a marble, with a swirling cloud of silver and gold constantly moving inside it. Against his better judgement, Ryan held out his hand and the man set the marble into it. It felt warm to the touch. ¡°What is this?¡± he asked, mesmerized by the swirling light. ¡°Important.¡± Stated the stranger. ¡°Don¡¯t lose it. Keep it on you at all times.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure taking some random marble from a stranger is ever a good choice,¡± Ryan let his suspicious ooze from his voice. ¡°Look,¡± the man lifted and adjusted his hat without ever revealing his full features. ¡°Certain things have to happen. They¡¯re unavoidable. You understand?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t.¡± Them man shook his head in frustration. ¡°Before the Crisis, things were less static. Outcomes could be changed. But that isn¡¯t possible anymore.¡± The man took a drag from his cigarette and then tossed it into the street. Ryan heard it hiss as the tip met with the moist pavement. ¡°Some events are completely unavoidable now. But maybe the outcomes can be influenced.¡± He held the orb out again. Ryan couldn¡¯t help but feel drawn to it. Such a fascinating little thing. ¡°Who are you?¡± Ryan asked, turning his head so he could get a better view under the lowered brim of the man¡¯s hat. ¡°And why are you dressed like Dick Tracy?¡± ¡°How do you even know who Dick Tracy is?¡± the stranger shot back. He coughed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who I am, all that matters is that you keep this with you. Oh, and don¡¯t tell anyone about it.¡± Without thinking Ryan reached out with his hand and the stranger dropped the orb into it. ¡°Why can¡¯t I see you when I have my goggles on?¡± ¡°Those ¡®Spectives are only tuned to observe things on the prime frequency. You should be careful how much you trust what you see on them.¡± Ryan was only half listening to the man, as a sensation from the orb caught his attention. As he spoke, Ryan lowered the PerSpectives down over his face to see if he could get a scan of the orb. ¡°Helios, observe object.¡±
New Feature Unlocked: Focused Observation
A new interface appeared in his HUD, scanning the marble. After a moment, the system identified it:
Object Identified: Concentrated Firmament.
Something about the system message, the combination of the font and the text within triggered the briefest flash of memory from his dream the previous night. Not enough to fully recall anything of substance, but it troubled him. Also, that word had appeared in his reading assignment task. ¡°Firmament?¡± Ryan asked. He looked up to direct the question at the man, but he couldn¡¯t see him. He pulled up his goggles again, but the man really was gone this time. Weird. Why couldn¡¯t the PerSpectives see him?
Resume Tutorial?
The interface prompted him. His heart just wasn¡¯t in it anymore. He slid the orb into his pocket, planning on heading to the library before he went home. He had reading to do. He picked up the strange man¡¯s cigarette butt and tossed it into his trash bag. The task counter increased to 7/10. As he continued his walk, he noticed a sleek black vehicle hovering its way down the street. The car screamed ¡°Suspicious!¡± No one had a vehicle that nice around here, and it was going a little too slow. Ryan immediately thought they were looking for that mysterious stranger. He involuntarily slipped his hand into his pocket, tightening his grip protectively around the object. It seemed to hum slightly at his touch. His goggles performed a quick scan of the vehicle and information popped up.
Vehicle: F87 Model commonly used by the Ministry of Integrity
Ryan squinted at the tinted windows and something amazing happened, an infrared overlay expanded over the car, revealing four people inside, two of whom appeared to be craning their necks in his direction. Ryan quickly acted like he was just looking around at the environment by moving his head away. Intuitively the PerSpectives kept his view centered on the vehicle until it pulled around a corner and out of sight. ¡°Helios, what is ¡®Firmament¡¯ anyway?¡± he asked.
Firmament ¨C noun fir-ma-ment 1. The vault or arch of the sky: Heavens 2. The principle component of something 3. a: something on which something else is established or based b: an underlying condition or state of affairs c: a fixed pattern or system
¡°So, what is this ¡®Concentrated Firmament¡¯ thing?¡± he asked. There was a slight yet noticeable delay, as if the system was hesitating before a message appeared.
Information Restricted.
¡°Hmph,¡± Ryan grunted. ¡°So, you can identify an object but refuse to tell me what it actually is, huh?¡± He thought about what he could deduce from the definition he¡¯d just read, but the title of the book on his list flashed in his memory again. Maybe it would be better just to read the book instead of speculating. Perhaps he¡¯d find answers in that text that the PerSpectives were refusing to provide him. 3 - To Give a Dog a Bone
Would you like to resume Tutorial? Accept? |Yes | No|
The prompt flashed in his vision again, but he still wasn¡¯t feeling it. He was mostly focused on the new object in his pocket. He felt a sort of magnetism surrounding it, drawing not only his thoughts but also his fingers, rolling the marble between them while strolling down the street. ¡°Helios,¡± he said. ¡°It feels like there¡¯s something missing in this gamification. Shouldn¡¯t there be some kind of inventory system?¡± In response a new icon appeared at the top, looking much like a satchel. Ryan focused in on it, the bag expanded, unbuckled and opened up. A few grids appeared with headings, such as: Bag: Rubbish 8/10; Jacket Front Right Pocket: Pen 1/1; there seemed to be a set number of squares depending on how much space was in each inventory pocket. Some items were already in there, most notably, a twenty dollar bill folded into an improbably tiny rectangle in his inner jacket pocket. Score! He focused on the minimize button and everything slid into the satchel icon in one smooth animation before going back up in its place along the icon bar. Another system message appeared.
New Achievement! Inventory Unlocked! Your curiosity and intuition have led you down the path of discovering hidden aspects of the game system. Reward: 15XP (+15XP Bonus)
His experience bar maxed out, a chime sounded and the number next to it switched from 1 to 2. He knew it was stupid, that even though it didn¡¯t mean anything in the real world, he felt a sense of accomplishment and pride. I guess that¡¯s how they get you. He thought. He noticed another piece of trash on the ground and reached to pick it up when a sudden gust of wind lifted it up and sent it tumbling through the air. He made to chase after it as it shot across someone¡¯s lawn, landing next to one of the most morose looking dogs he¡¯d ever laid eyes on. The poor thing didn¡¯t even have the motivation to put any effort into a solid bark, letting out a meager harumph before putting its head back down, staring at the empty bowl in front of it. ¡°Poor guy,¡± Ryan said, crouching down. ¡°Are you thirsty?¡± ¡°Harumph.¡± The dog said. ¡°Oh, hungry? I don¡¯t have anything on me,¡± as if on cue a new quest appeared.
New Task: Give a Dog a Bone A neighbor¡¯s dog has been neglected, having not eaten for some time. Objective: Purchase a treat to tide him over until mealtime! Reward: 130CP Accept? |Yes | No|
¡°Yes,¡± Ryan said without hesitation. ¡°I¡¯m going to the corner store anyway. Don¡¯t worry buddy,¡± he said, turning to the dog. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in no time.¡± The dog gave a non-comital whimper and moved his head away. Ryan sighed, patted his thighs and stood up, continuing towards his initial destination with renewed purpose. The corner store came into view, a small building with chipped paint and a sign with half the lights burnt out. There were still the skeletal remains of gas pumps rising from the cracked and crumbling pavement along the side of the shop. He probably could have completed his entire daily Quest with a half-hearted sweep of the parking lot. The store bell chimed when he pushed the door open, chimed again when he stepped through, and yet again when the door swung shut. He winced slightly, glancing around apologetically. For some reason, Ryan always felt guilty for disturbing the store occupants, like it was his fault for designing and installing an overly sensitive alert device. As usual, the store owner and customers ignored him. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. He looked around and his PerSpectives began scanning items on the shelf, listing prices, nutrition facts or uses, and eventually highlighting a row with an aura that began to pulsate. An icon that matched his quest log was floating over it. Once Ryan arrived at the aisle he was presented with several options.
Task Hint: Purchase something suitable for a dog. Basic Kibble: $7.50 or 75 CP Premium Treats: $12.50 or 125 CP Deluxe Chewbone: $13.00 or 130 CP
Ryan scratched his chin, contemplating the choices. Kibble would be nice, giving the dog a full meal, but the stuff at this store did not seem to be nutritious for dogs, or any animal for that matter. Treats were more for teaching a dog some tricks, and he didn¡¯t really feel comfortable spending that much time in someone else¡¯s yard. Deluxe Chewbone created a fine image in his mind of the dog casting away all his worries, lost in the ecstasy of chomping that bone into nothingness. That, and the fact that it matched the reward value seemed to be pointing him in that direction. It¡¯s not like he was doing this for a profit, he just wanted to cheer up that poor dog. So, with the decision made Ryan grabbed the bone off the shelf and headed to the counter. At the register, the clerk barely looked up as Ryan placed his item on the counter. ¡°That¡¯ll be thirteen bucks,¡± the man said in a bored voice. The Perspective Goggles notified him that his CP-to-Dollar conversion was active, once the item was scanned it automatically processed the transaction for him.
130 CP has been deducted from your total.
As the message appeared in his vision the counter at the top dropped from 235 to 105. Ryan grimaced, but reminded himself it would come back once the quest was completed. He thanked the clerk and headed back to the forlorn animal. ¡°Hey buddy, look what I got,¡± Ryan said, holding the Deluxe Chewbone out enticingly. The dog looked away, but his tail started to thump-thump-thump on the ground. ¡°Oh, I know you want to at least sniff it don¡¯t you?¡± He held it out further, the dog somehow managed to turn his nose without moving his head, nostrils flaring. Its tummy let out a rumble. Almost reluctantly it turned towards Ryan, as if giving into the hope would snatch it away. ¡°Go on,¡± Ryan said encouragingly. The dog sniffed, licked, and finally gave himself over to the bone, tail wagging violently. Ryan felt a grin spread across his face, a pride in having done something good for a creature that needed it. ¡°What¡¯re you doin¡¯ to my dog!?¡± a gruffy voice almost shouted. Both Ryan and the Dog jumped at the sudden interruption. A man was approaching, the screen door creaking closed behind him. Everything about the man was unkempt, from the thinning mop of hair on his head and patchy beard on his pock marked face, to the frayed collar of his crinkled flannel shirt and torn faded jeans. As he approached, Ryan was hit by a profound stench of body odor and alcohol. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, mister,¡± he said, standing and backing away, the dog whined but gripped the bone between his paws in a defensive gesture. ¡°I just thought this dog looked hungry and I wanted to do something for him.¡± ¡°That mutt? He¡¯s fine, he got food yesterday,¡± the man grumbled before looking confused and adding ¡°¡­I think¡­¡± ¡°Well, I think dogs like to eat food every day,¡± Ryan said as gently as he could manage with the sudden anger he felt rising. He felt a sudden repulsion that he couldn¡¯t entirely justify from this brief encounter. ¡°What business is it of yours, boy? Coming into a man¡¯s yard. Seems your pappa din¡¯ teach you respect,¡± the man seemed to be about to reach for a belt that was not there. Then that look of confusion clouded his face again, and his eyes began to mist over. ¡°It ain¡¯t my dog anyhow. Was my mama¡¯s. But she gone. Left me that ungrateful beast.¡± He spat on the ground. Ryan couldn¡¯t even be mad about the unnecessary stab about his father. This man was just pathetic. ¡°Dog ownership isn¡¯t for everyone,¡± Ryan said, taking another step back. ¡°But if you treat them right, they¡¯ll be the most loyal friend you could have. You sure look like you could use a friend right now.¡± As Ryan tried to regulate the man the PerSpectives took a scan of him, showing biometric information that was somewhat alarming.
System Alert Subject appears unstable. Probable alcohol intoxication level: approx. 0.43% Be wary of unpredictability.
¡°No kidding,¡± Ryan muttered under his breath. ¡°What was that, boy?¡± the man said, a wildness in his eyes. The dog began to whine. ¡°Maybe I should just get going,¡± Ryan said. For some reason the goggles took that moment to highlight the piece of littler that had brought him into this yard in the first place. It also highlighted a trash can sitting just off to the side of the man¡¯s driveway. ¡°I apologize for stepping onto your property,¡± he said, inching closer to the rubbish. The man squinted at him suspiciously. Another thought occurred to him. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you need to hear this from a complete stranger but, as for how you¡¯re treating the dog,¡± he knelt down to pat the dog one last time, before grabbing the trash, ¡°but I forgive you.¡± As an incredulous ¡°whaaat?¡± started to form on the man¡¯s lips, Ryan bolted down the driveway, tossing his bag full of litter into the man¡¯s trash. ¡°Hey!¡± he heard shouted over his shoulder as he continued his sprint down the street, in the direction of the library. 4 - Assigned Reading
Daily Task: Pick up the Trash Complete! Reward: 100 CP Task: To Give a Dog A Bone Complete! Reward: 130CP Calculating XP¡­
The experience bar started to grow and then doubled its growth once more. ¡°Double XP still in effect,¡± Ryan muttered. ¡°Wonder how much time I have left. Helios, is there something like a bonus interface, where I can see my current buffs or boons or whatever?¡±
New Achievement! You have unlocked another hidden interface: Boons and Banes.
A new icon appeared next to his vitals that looked like two hands clasped together, one pointing its thumb up and the other pointing its thumb down. It began to rotate and then filled his field of view. Currently he only had one Boon, his double XP bonus, which had just under thirty minutes remaining. Ryan noted that he didn¡¯t get the completion reward for his additional task of forgiving someone who doesn¡¯t deserve it, he wasn¡¯t too disappointed. It was a cheap ploy anyway. Either the system determined the man really didn¡¯t deserve forgiveness, or (and Ryan felt, more likely) the system somehow knew his apology wasn¡¯t sincere. It baffled him that both options were a possibility. The intuitive nature of the headset extended far beyond its interface. At times he felt that he didn¡¯t even need to verbalize his questions or requests; that the goggles knew what he was going to ask even before he did, but that it was restraining itself for some reason. One of the mysterious things about Sifting, especially their Technologies division, was the proprietary nature of their tech. They manufactured everything themselves, never outsourced, and never experienced any leaks. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but he¡¯d always felt there was some connection, however tenuous, between Sifting and the Ministry Paradigm. He¡¯d even found himself going down several rabbit holes while researching his essay, looking for even the tiniest thread to connect them, but they were always dead ends, and he finally gave up due to the approaching deadline. The fact that he had won did nothing to dissuade his hunch that there was something there, however expertly buried or erased. Ryan found himself standing in front of the library, an ancient concrete building, over a century old, that was both welcoming and imposing simultaneously. He took a breath and walked in. There was the merest creak of the door as he passed through it, which had the Librarian staring daggers at him over her rimless reading glasses. Ryan raised his hands up in a gesture of surrender, eyes wide and awaiting judgement, but the Librarian couldn¡¯t hold her stern expression for long, and a smile began to break the stern visage, causing a cascade of wrinkles to intensify across her aged face. ¡°Good afternoon Mrs. Oak,¡± Ryan said, stepping up to the front desk. ¡°Good morning, Ryan,¡± she returned. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen you in here since you finished your little writing assignment. Did you get a good grade?¡± ¡°You could say that,¡± Ryan smiled in return. ¡°I¡¯m actually here for another reading assignment. Was curious if you had any of the books I¡¯m looking for.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she said indulgently. ¡°You know, if we don¡¯t, I can get it for you. What¡¯s on your list?¡± She picked up a pencil and slid a piece of scratch paper in front of her. ¡°Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming,¡± Ryan told her as Mrs. Oak began scribbling. ¡°By Gupta Rama; The Deep Astral by Joshua Neuman; and The True Firmament, by TetraLex.¡± The scribbling abruptly stopped and Ryan was once more met by that piercing gaze. ¡°That¡¯s a very esoteric list, where did you hear about TetraLex?¡± ¡°You know that author?¡± he asked, surprised. ¡°I¡¯m aware of their work,¡± she said flatly. ¡°This kind of reading can lead one down strange paths, Ryan. You know I would never dissuade anyone from reading, but I would be remiss if I didn¡¯t at least urge caution.¡± Ryan looked puzzled. ¡°When one begins to learn the ways of inducing a dream state, sometimes those states can start to bleed into reality.¡± She looked meaningfully at the wall behind him. Ryan turned to follow her gaze and saw the poster. ¡°Incursion Event Safety Sheet¡± the familiar title read. It was a description of what to do and where to go in the event of an Astral Incursion, one of those things from the Crisis that rarely¡ªif ever¡ªhappened in the outer districts. He frowned. What did this reading list have to do with the Crisis? He had always assumed that was just a follow-up to the Minerva Down incident, when the Ministry Paradigm tried to reactivate the Minerva Device. When Ryan turned, Mrs. Oak caught a glimpse of something that she almost dismissed as a trick of the light mixed with the failing sight of her old age, but then something clicked, and her smile broadened. ¡°So, you won your little writing contest after all, eh?¡± she said. Ryan turned back, attempting and failing miserably to look innocent. She held out her hand. ¡°Come on, let us have a look.¡± Ryan reluctantly slid the goggles off his head, his first time since putting them on that morning. He felt the fresh air hitting his skin, not aware of how he¡¯d been missing it. He made to hand her the PerSpectives but realized they were still in camouflage mode. ¡°Helios, disable the camo,¡± he commanded, and with a shimmer the sleek augmented reality headset became visible once more. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that a marvel of technology,¡± the Librarian said, taking them gently and turning them over in her hand. ¡°I sure hope they¡¯re worth how much effort you put into that essay. I haven¡¯t seen anyone your age work that hard on a writing project in all my years. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would think you were in some advanced placement literature class.¡± She handed the PerSpectives back to Ryan. ¡°Best keep those in that invisibility mode; this neighborhood isn¡¯t as safe as it used to be.¡± ¡°Yes, Mrs. Oak,¡± Ryan said meekly as he slid the goggles back over his head. ¡°And, believe me, they definitely are worth it.¡± A red warning message was flashing in his view as he lowered the lenses over his eyes.
Warning, An unauthorized user has handled the device. Automatic lockdown has been initiated.
He almost didn¡¯t have time to read the message before it was replaced by a green one, flashing:
Biometrics verified. Welcome back Aitherios. Environment not a designated safe zone. Reinitiating PerSpective Camouflage.
The familiar sound effect fluttered around his head as the goggles once more became all but invisible. ¡°Neat trick,¡± the Librarian said. He heard the sound of paper sliding across a surface and turned to see that she had moved her note towards him and turned back to her reading. She was notorious for not telling where books were specifically located. Something to do with not letting the Dewy Decimal System die. He shook his head and took the note. Before he could leave, she said, ¡°Those first two should be on the shelves, but that last one might take some digging. Go ahead and find them and get comfortable, I¡¯ll bring the last one when I find it.¡± ¡°After you finish that last chapter, of course,¡± Ryan muttered playfully. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Of course,¡± she said with another half-smile. Before Ryan could even glance at the note an indicator began flashing around his task icon in his HUD, indicating the task details were being updated. ¡°Helios, can you add the Reading Assignments task to my visible task list?¡± Without a word the three reading assignments appeared in a small and unobtrusive font in the upper left side of his view.
Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming (Gupta Rama) ¨C 154.63 The Deep Astral (Joshua Neuman) ¨C 133.82 The True Firmament (TetraLex) ¨C ???
The library itself was deceptively massive, it had two upper floors and a basement. The ground floor was mostly couches for lounge reading and smart desks for working. The smart desks were basically massive tablets that were set to look like wood until activated. One could write on them and it would transfer the text to a file, which you could access from anywhere with internet access. Ryan wasn¡¯t here to write though; he was here to read. ¡°Helios,¡± he spoke at a library appropriate volume. ¡°I don¡¯t want to come across as lazy, and I can figure this out eventually, but in the spirit of gamification, can¡¯t we have some sort of waypoint system?¡±
New Achievement! Gamer¡¯s Gonna Gamify. You¡¯ve unlocked 3 hidden systems in Perspective Vision in less than a day! Reward: 1.5x bonus to CP earned for 24 hours. Waypoint system unlocked. You may now specify primary points of interest (POI) from your task list, and if enough information is available, the PerSpective Goggles will lay out a path to your objective. Please select a primary POI.
¡°Uhm, ok,¡± Ryan faltered, he wasn¡¯t expecting all of that from a simple question. That bonus though, he might need to seriously look into tasks with high CP rewards for the next day. ¡°Let¡¯s just find the first book on my list,¡± he said, thinking back to the reward for this reading assignment. 1,000 CP per book, that would turn into 1,500 CP, times three would put him at forty-five hundred, not including what he already had. If he could keep up that rate of income, his mother wouldn¡¯t have to work to keep him in school anymore. Could he read that many books in 24 hours? He hoped they were reasonably sized novellas and not some monstrous tomes. His HUD threw out a subtle path along the ground, heading up the staircase to the next floor, which he began to follow, finally finding himself inside the Psychology section of the library. He passed by Freud and Jung, eyes lingering briefly on Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, and onto more modern and scientific approaches to the topic, and finally his interface (which had been scanning the bookshelves the entire time) highlighted one book in particular. It wasn¡¯t a tome, not even a novella. It was hardly larger than a pamphlet, the title barely visible along its spine. ¡°There you are.¡± Ryan said, reading the title as he extracted the book. ¡°Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming.¡± He knew what Lucid Dreaming was. He¡¯d had the experience a handful of times. He¡¯d be in the middle of a dream and realize that things didn¡¯t quite add up, and suddenly he would realize he was not in reality. This usually came with the sensation of being able to have some agency in his dream that he normally wouldn¡¯t. And with an entire world of possibilities at his fingertips he would always end up doing the same thing. Flying. So, what did it mean by ¡°Wake Induced¡± in the title, he wondered. Like causing the lucid dream to happen while awake? Ryan brought the book back downstairs, took up a comfortable spot on one of the couches, and opened it up. Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming by Gupta Rama Introduction: The seed that started to grow into this book was planted a long time ago, when I was a young man. I had all sorts of strange experiences when the time for sleep came, from the terror of sleep paralysis, the power of lucid dreams, to the wonder of that, ever elusive, Out of Body Experience (OBE). In those days, one of those three was almost guaranteed to happen to me every night when I would lie down. I remember the first time I had an out of body experience, it happened immediately after the first time I experienced sleep paralysis. I thought I was under demonic attack! I was so scared, feeling myself unable to move, unable to control anything, and feeling a ¡°presence¡± pressing down on my chest. When it passed, I knew I had to tell my father about what had just happened. So, I got up, headed out of my room, down the stairs of my house, past the laundry room, and to the hallway that lead to my parents room. I went to knock on the door, but the moment before I did, I realized something. I said it out loud, in fact. ¡°I¡¯m still in my bed, aren¡¯t I?¡± The next thing I knew I was back in my room. I hadn¡¯t blinked. I hadn¡¯t opened my eyes. I was just there, in the same position as when I¡¯d gotten up to tell my father That moment stuck with me¡ªprobably will stick with me¡ªfor the rest of my life. It inspired me to pursue it, to figure out how to induce it. Lucid dreams had already been an infrequent experience for me by that point, but as my sleep paralysis happened more often, I began to notice a tie between it and the state of sleep I most enjoyed. I had to conquer the fear of that first, however, and it wasn¡¯t until I was able to induce sleep consciously that I was able to finally accomplish it. In this short book I will attempt to share what I have found, so that you will be able to learn from my mistakes, and maybe even take this further than I was ever able to. Ryan¡¯s interest was piqued. He continued reading. Chapter 1 ¨C Inducing Lucidity Generally, Lucid dreams tend to happen by accident. One will be floating along from one episode to the next when something will trigger the conscious mind into realizing it is in a dream. The skilled Oneironaut1, however, will be able to establish triggers preemptively. There are several methods that work. Lean against a wall and you might go through it, flip a switch and the lighting doesn¡¯t change, stare at your hands and try to count your fingers. Try to read something. Initially you might get what it is meant to say, but really try to read it. Try to read it more than once. The letters will become all jumbled. This is the method I want you to focus on. Try this as an experiment: write a note that says, ¡°This is NOT a dream.¡± Fold it in half and stick it into your pocket. Every time you enter a room, pull out the note, unfold it, read it, fold it back up, unfold it again, and read it a second time. Make this a habit, and in a matter of days you may start doing it in your dreams. Once you are able to trigger Lucid Dreams on a consistent basis you will want to focus on stabilization. This is key. If not done properly the dream tends to fall apart and you¡¯ll find yourself waking up before the fun can begin. Clap your hands. Spin in a circle. Really focus on your environment. This should help to cement the dreamscape and prevent it from falling away.
1Oneironaut ¨C a person who explores dream worlds. As Ryan turned the page, he fiddled with the note from Mrs. Oak. He flipped it over, took a pen from his pocket, and wrote the phrase: This is NOT a dream. He then folded it in half and stuck it back into his pocket. He took a look at the clock in the upper right corner of his HUD and noted it was almost half past noon. As if on queue his stomach let out a gurgle of desperation. ¡°I should have bought myself a snack when I was at the store,¡± Ryan mumbled to himself. There was a Bakery just around the corner from the library. A fresh loaf of French bread sounded pretty good. ¡°Maybe I should take a break.¡±
Reading progress for [Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming] at 8%. eBook version is available for download. Would you like to add it to your personal library? |Yes | No|
¡°eBook? Come on, why didn¡¯t you tell me that earlier?¡± The message continued to stare at him obstinately, so he sighed and focused his eyes in on ¡°Yes¡± so it would go away. A download bar appeared briefly in his field of view but was gone before he could even really look at it. A new icon appeared, looking like a thick leather-bound book. Ryan took the physical copy back up the stairs and put it back in its place. ¡°Helios, can you get the eBook copy of the other two books on my reading list?¡±
eBook rules for Perspective Vision require the physical copy to be in hand before the option to download will become available.
¡°That¡¯s an odd rule,¡± he muttered. He looked up at his task list for the location of the second book. ¡°Helios, could you set The Deep Astral as my primary point of interest?¡± The familiar lines appeared in his display, this time heading up to the third floor. ¡°Ooo,¡± he said to himself in a mock scary tone while throwing his fingers up in air quotes, ¡°the ¡®occult¡¯ section.¡± Someone in a booth nearby coughed and threw an accusatory look in his direction. Ryan mouthed ¡°sorry¡± and made his way up the stairs. The book made itself known the same as the previous one, with his HUD highlighting it before he even had a chance to read the title. Ryan extracted it from the shelf. This book was shorter in stature and thicker in binding, but almost to the point that Ryan guessed they had about the same amount of content. He turned the book over in his hands. The front had an image of a person falling, with an umbilical cord stretching out from its abdomen and curling up and off the cover. On the back was the image of a bald man with bushy white eyebrows, a sharp nose, and a thoughtful frown. It had a brief blurb about him. Joshua Neuman was one of the foremost researchers on the Deep Astral once the Incursion Events started. He collected firsthand accounts from the Astral Travelers as they returned from the Astral Spaces and used their experiences to develop the best methods for facing the dangers of the Beyond. He is currently living in Inner City and an active consultant for the Ministry of Integrity. The mention of the Ministry of Integrity triggered the memory of that black car from earlier, the mysterious stranger he¡¯d met, and the item he¡¯d given Ryan. He found himself rolling the marble around in his fingers, feeling the slight hum of the thing. This was starting to seem a little too coincidental. He thought back to the section on psychology. On Jung. On a concept he called ¡°Synchronicity¡± and wondered. Eventually he triggered the eBook download and put the physical copy back on the shelf. 5 - A Simple Meal Mrs. Oaks was not at the front desk when he passed by. He hoped she wouldn¡¯t think he ditched her before she could find his last book, but he was starting to feel the effects of low blood sugar on this body. Ryan made his way out of the Library and around the corner to unimaginatively named Corner Bakery. It was a brightly lit shop with white tiles, offwhite textured paint on the walls, and enough space for four small tables that were designed to fit two chairs each. He took a moment to take the piece of paper out of his pocket, read it twice, and then put it back away. There was a display counter of curved glass with golden trim; within were various pastries, cakes, breads, and cheeses. The idea of cheese with his bread made Ryan¡¯s mouth water. A large man with one of those ridiculous Baker¡¯s hats was behind the counter, kneading dough, and humming to himself. He had dark curly hair sticking out the sides of his hat, as well as a neatly kept goatee. Aside from the Baker the shop was empty, which was, unfortunately, not unusual. ¡°Good morning, Greg,¡± Ryan said as he eyed the oven behind the counter which was emitting the scent of a freshly baked loaf. ¡°How long until whatever¡¯s in the oven finishes baking?¡± The man grunted, turning an eye towards Ryan. ¡°Don¡¯t rush perfection Ryan,¡± he said, not pausing the motions of his knuckles upon the dough. ¡°But it smells done to me,¡± Ryan said longingly. ¡°Why not check to see?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re lookin¡¯ you ain¡¯t cookin¡¯¡± the man said sternly. ¡°It¡¯ll be done when it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°Which as it¡¯s ready when it¡¯s ready?¡± Ryan teased, quoting a character from one of the books the Baker had turned Ryan on to. The man didn¡¯t turn around, but Ryan thought he could see the sides of his cheeks turn up in a grin. ¡°What brings you in here so late, it¡¯s almost one o¡¯clock,¡± the Baker asked, nodding up at the clock above him on the wall. ¡°Did you lose track of time at the library again?¡± ¡°You know how I roll on Saturdays, Greg.¡± Ryans stomach let out another yearnful sound. ¡°Geeze, don¡¯t rush me,¡± the Baker admonished. ¡°Most kids your age would be out with friends on a Saturday. You said you were done with your paper anyway.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t control my stomach! I do have plans to hang out with my friends tomorrow,¡± Ryan said sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s just that, I got another reading assignment, and wanted to at least get the books while I was out this morning.¡± The man turned towards him, raising an eyebrow. ¡°And,¡± Ryan admitted. ¡°Time got away from me. I¡¯m hungry, what do you got in there?¡± ¡°French bread,¡± the man said. ¡°It¡¯s such a slow day, I thought I would close up early, have a slice of bread and a glass of wine. Sometimes the simplest meal can be the best.¡± Ryan new Greg liked to quote different books from time to time, and after getting to know the man he was able to pick out the subtle change of inflection that indicated when he was doing so. Ryan also didn¡¯t like to guess, and knew if he waited him out, Greg would tell him where it was from. ¡°You don¡¯t read Herman Hesse?¡± the Baker finally asked. ¡°Herman Hesse,¡± Ryan mused. ¡°Didn¡¯t he write a book about the Buddha?¡± ¡°Huh,¡± the man grumbled. ¡°I guess the Buddha was in Siddhartha. And Siddhartha is the name of the Buddha. But I was talking about Steppenwolf.¡± Greg paused to turn and give Ryan an appraising look. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re too young to appreciate that one. Wait until you¡¯re twenty-five or most of it will fly over your head.¡± Ryan was about to object to the outrageous claim that he was too young for anything, but was interrupted by a soft ding that lingered in the air. He looked from the Baker to the oven expectantly. A moment later Greg was ripping open the loaf, steam rising from within the broken crust as he placed half on a plate in front of Ryan, who waited patiently while the Baker took his sweet time pouring oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar into little dipping trays to the side of their plates. ¡°Don¡¯t hold back on my account,¡± the man said, ripping a piece of bread off and dipping. Ryan did the same, tearing into the bread voraciously, hardly taking the time to appreciate the ¡°perfection¡± the baker had been seeking. ¡°So, what about this reading assignment you¡¯re tackling this weekend?¡± he asked, nodding appreciatively at the site of the young man demolishing his food. He began preparing cheese slices from several wedges he¡¯d brough over from the display case. Ryan finally took a moment to chew his food, eyeballing the cheese as it was being laid out on the center plate between them. ¡°Just something to do with dreams and the astral,¡± he said once his mouth was empty. ¡°Dreams and the astral,¡± the Baker repeated, looking at Ryan from under raised eyebrows. ¡°Those are pretty dangerous topics this day and age. What class is this reading assignment for anyway?¡± ¡°Class? Oh, well,¡± Ryan stumbled over his words. ¡°It¡¯s more like, an extracurricular assignment.¡± ¡°All right,¡± Greg said, holding up his hands in surrender. ¡°Have your secrets. Just know, whatever glory the propaganda stations put on those Astral Travelers is a bunch of hot air. There¡¯s a reason only a few of them are famous. All the other ones end up dead, or mad.¡± He finished cutting and held the wooden plate up to Ryan. ¡°Cheese?¡± Astral Travelers, those who awakened the ability to astral project into the tears that would randomly form in the fabric of reality. If the damaged space beyond the tear was not repaired, then the surrounding area would experience what was known as an ¡°Incursion Event¡± where creatures of nightmare would breach into reality. Ryan hadn¡¯t really made the connection until this point, but Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming, The Deep Astral, and The True Firmament all seemed to be topics relevant to Incursion Events. And those events, in turn, were related to Minerva. The topic of the article that had won him the singular object of his desire. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. As they finished their little meal, Ryan fished into his inside pocket and produced a triangle of green paper. He unfolded and set it on the table. ¡°Hey, your money is no good here,¡± the Baker said, pushing the bill back towards Ryan. ¡°No, no, Greg, I insist,¡± Ryan pushed the paper back. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know I had this bill in my pocket. Who knows how long it¡¯s been there. Plus, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll be back for more free meals in the future. Just take it, I¡¯m doing all right these days anyway.¡± ¡°Are you now? Have they started giving basic income to minors now?¡± The Baker was surprised by the look of resentment on the young kid¡¯s face. He usually reacted well to a little light teasing, but Greg knew the fact that he grew up on Basic bothered him. Still, there was more to it. ¡°What¡¯s bothering you, kid?¡± He asked gently. ¡°Nothing,¡± Ryan denied, almost putting his normally playful mask back on his face, but the strain was still there. ¡°Well, it was this guy I just ran into,¡± he confided. ¡°A drunk, wasn¡¯t taking care of his dog, blathering, slobbering, and on the verge of violence. But none of that bothered me so much as the thought that¡­¡± Ryan trailed off, but Greg had an idea of what he was getting it. ¡°You¡¯re not destined to become anyone,¡± he said. ¡°You get to choose your own fate.¡± Ryan thought of what that stranger had said, about certain things being unavoidable. But he also remembered what the man had said about being able to change the outcomes of those unavoidable events. ¡°But hey,¡± the Baker said. ¡°If you want to give up and roll over, that¡¯s on you.¡± ¡°Ha, no,¡± Ryan laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve got another source of income though.¡± He made a decision, tapped the side of his visor to deactivate the camouflage mode on his goggles, and slid them off his head. The Baker¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°You got it,¡± he said reverently, taking the PerSpectives as Ryan held them out for him to examine. ¡°Is it as amazing as other¡¯s have described?¡± ¡°Even more so,¡± Ryan said. ¡°I think they might even be using me to test out a new operating system. The whole thing is designed around gamification, and even though I know what it¡¯s doing, let me tell you Greg, it works. Want to give me some points for picking up trash? I¡¯m in. Help out a creature in need? Of course. Want to reward me for doing so? Heck yeah!¡± After turning them around in his hands to admire, Greg handed the goggles back to Ryan. ¡°I¡¯m happy for you Ryan, I know how hard you worked on that paper, and what it really meant to you,¡± the allusion to his father sat heavy in the air for a moment, but Ryan smiled in thanks. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to make it usable by others, but once I¡¯ve figured it out, I¡¯ll give you a go with them,¡± he promised. ¡°No rush,¡± Greg said. ¡°As much as I¡¯d like that, you¡¯ve more than earned this reward. You should do your best to enjoy it. Also, this camouflage feature is really incredible. I would keep it on constantly, people will be jealous of this. In fact, I would be careful who you tell about it at school. I don¡¯t even want to know how he would react, if Jeremy found out.¡± Jeremy Witkins was like a chimera of high school stereotypes. He was the rich kid, that wanted everyone to know how wealthy his father was, and the Jock who wanted everyone to know how athletic he was, and the school bully, who wanted to make sure everyone knew how weak, poor, and uncoordinated Ryan was. There was more than a little enmity between them, but Ryan had been mostly shielded by his other friends, Derek and Lisa, who didn¡¯t hesitate to stand between the two of them. Even to their own detriment. He was meeting up with Derek and Lisa tomorrow. He wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to tell them about the PerSpectives. He wasn¡¯t sure where that hesitation came from. There was no one else he wanted to tell more than either of them. But they¡¯d all been in the same competition together; and it almost felt like a betrayal of their friendship that he¡¯d been the one to win the grand prize. He decided he would table those thoughts until tomorrow; he had a lot of reading to get done, and wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d be able to get through all of it in a day as it was. He thanked the Baker again and took his leave, heading back to the library. Mrs. Oaks was back at her usual post. She gave him one of her looks, then, reaching under the counter, pulled out a thick, leather bound book, setting it heavily on the counter. ¡°TetraLex doesn¡¯t mess around,¡± she said. ¡°Make sure you have it back in three weeks or request a renewal.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll need to check it out,¡± he said, sliding the book towards himself. The True Firmament by TetraLex was emblazoned on the cover in golden script, which stood out against the dark aged leather. ¡°Helios, download eBook,¡± he muttered.
Error. eBook is unavailable for this title.
¡°That¡¯s, unfortunate,¡± he said, looking at the heft of the tome. He slid his library card across the counter in defeat. *** Atop a building across from the library, a strange man in a long coat removed the fedora from the top of his head as he watched Ryan lug a large book down the sidewalk. He sighed, then turned his attention to the black car hovering its way down the street on the other side of the building. The Ministry of Integrity was a lot more efficient than he remembered them, he thought, glancing at the tall, mirrored building just a few blocks over. He couldn¡¯t stay here much longer. There was one more stop he wanted to make before he headed back, though. ¡°It¡¯s not worth it,¡± a distorted voice came from behind him. He frowned, put his hat back on, and pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. ¡°Want one?¡± he asked, flicking his lighter to life and taking a few quick pulls to get the cancer stick lit. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t,¡± said the other man. ¡°Not in this state.¡± The strange man turned to look at the newcomer, who appeared as only the vague outline of a person. It was looking at, or through, its hands with a curious tilt of its head. Its head jerked up. ¡°Actually, saying it¡¯s not worth it was incorrect. It won¡¯t happen. They¡¯ve got your frequency. I¡¯d say you have about fifteen minutes before they¡¯ve scrambled their containment team. You¡¯ll never make it to her.¡± The man sighed, took another long drag, then flicked his cigarette off the roof. He saw Ryan turn the corner out of view and he let out another sigh. ¡°Can¡¯t you, like, make it so they didn¡¯t notice me?¡± he asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that anymore, not with the way things are now. Sorry Anthony, I really am. But it¡¯s time to come back. For now, at least. This was the right move.¡± ¡°So you say,¡± the stranger said, pulling a black metallic device from another pocket. He pressed a red button on the tip and a high-pitched squelch emitted from its epicenter as the very fabric of reality began to vibrate. A small rent pierced through the veil, and the stranger stepped though, disappearing from the world once more. 6 - The Staircase That night Ryan lay supine on his bed, breathing in a slow, controlled manner. On his nightstand, beside his alarm clock, were the PerSpectives resting on their cradle. He had been reading the first of his three books all afternoon and into the evening and had planned on getting into the last one by TetraLex but was beset by a weariness of mind. The leather-bound tome lay on the ground beside his bed, looking ancient and daunting. Between his fingers, Ryan was absently rolling the faintly glowing orb he¡¯d taken from the stranger earlier that day while he tried to focus solely on his breathing and nothing else. He was attempting one of the exercises from Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming, the goal of which was to initiate a hypnogogic state, which apparently was an essential step in the process of entering the dream state while still conscious. So far, he had been unsuccessful at the first step, which was to clear his mind. Thoughts just kept intruding. He would try to follow the instructions, to let them come and go on their own, but he kept finding himself caught up in one train of thought or other. He had been looking forward to seeing his mother that evening, to boast a little about his achievements so far, and generally share his excitement with her. He¡¯d even purchased some flowers for her on his way home with his hard-won CP. Unfortunately, he¡¯d missed her by the time he got there, only finding a note saying she was going to pick up a second shift, and that she¡¯d left food for him to heat up in the fridge. He¡¯d taken the time to tidy up the kitchen for her, unprompted by his goggles, and got back to reading; but even that took some time to take off as his thoughts kept wandering back to how much his mother was working herself to the bone for him. He rarely saw her anymore, and the more he thought about it the more he realized how little they had ever spent time together, especially since moving away from InnerCity. There you go again, getting lost in your thoughts. Try it again. Breathe in slow, breathe out slow. The Breath is the only thing in this moment. There is nothing else. Breathe in, breathe out. As he worked on his breathing he started to relax, from his toes up to his head, and before he knew it, sleep had come to claim him. He relaxed his grip on the orb, and it rolled out from under his covers, off the bed, and landed atop the old leather book. It began to hum. Ryan was walking down an infinite staircase towards a white sandy beach in the darkness of night. He could hardly see the steps in front of them. They felt like they were made out of a pebbly concrete, which pressed into the bare soles of his feet. He kept one hand on a metal rail to steady himself as he made his way down towards the ocean. He looked out at the dark expanse of the sea, which seemed to be roiling with white crested waves. He sensed something powerful, tugging at him from somewhere inside his belly, way out there beyond where light could reach. As he descended the steps became slick with moisture, feeling cold and slippery against the bare skin of his feet. Lightning cracked across the sky, lighting up the underside of the dark clouds that blotted out the distant horizon. As Ryan reached the bottom of the stairwell and made to step onto the sand, he found himself standing in the hallway of his school, eerily empty. He turned around to see the hallway stretching out behind him, longer than it should have. He took a step forward and the bright fluorescent lights above him flickered. He took another step, and they flickered again. Ryan noticed a ripple in the air, like the distortion from heat waves, but emanating out from a location like ripples on a placid lake. He headed towards the epicenter of the distortions, the lights flickering with each step, until he found himself standing in front of a Janitors closet. Now the waves were hitting him rapidly, passing through him with rhythmic vibrations, a sense of urgency mounting in his chest. He reached for the handle on the door when¡ª ¡°Ouch! What the¡ªooow,¡± Ryan jerked awake to the sight of his mother sitting on his bed, holding her toe and wincing in pain. ¡°Mom?¡± he said in a confused voice. ¡°I thought you cleaned up your room,¡± she said accusatorily. ¡°I... did...¡± he said, sitting up and looking over the side of his bed. The True Firmament had barely moved from where his mother had apparently slammed her toe into it. ¡°Sorry mom, I was planning to read that but fell asleep before I got around to it. What are you doing in here?¡± His mother sighed and reached out to tussle his hair. ¡°We don¡¯t see each other much these days,¡± she said. ¡°I just wanted to give you a kiss goodnight.¡± Ryan looked over at his alarm clock, which showed it was nearly four in the morning. ¡°Not really night anymore,¡± he said. ¡°Well, sorry honey, I¡¯ll let you get back to sleep. Don¡¯t leave books on the floor, its disrespectful.¡± She reached down to pick up the book, first with one hand, then with a frown she strained with two hands to lift it. ¡°What is this thing made out of, metal?¡± she said, dropping it onto his nightstand next to his PerSpectives. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be getting anymore sleep ¡®tonight,¡¯ Mom,¡± Ryan said, throwing up air quotes. She smiled and gave him a light shove. ¡°So, how are they?¡± she asked, motioning towards the Goggles. ¡°Let have breakfast, and I¡¯ll tell you all about them,¡± Ryan said, swinging his legs off the bed. An hour and a half later Ryan was cleaning off the skillet he¡¯d used to fry up the eggs and bacon, his mother now sound asleep in her room. His heavy heart from the night before now felt elated, having had an opportunity to connect with his mother and share the joys of his yesterday. It had been a while since they¡¯d had the chance to talk about anything, so being able to have some time, just the two of them, to connect and catch up, felt good. He had avoided telling her about the subjects of his reading assignments. Something about the way the librarian had reacted gave him pause. ¡°What am I doing?¡± he asked the empty kitchen. ¡°I could be earning CP for this I bet.¡± It was too late, he was already drying the last dish and might as well put it away. After placing the skillet inside the cupboard, he trudged back upstairs. He stared at his unmade bed, looked at the book and the goggles. He was forgetting something. Something important. Ryan patted his pockets, his eyes went wide, searching about the room frantically. Where was it? It must have rolled under something. Ryan got on all fours, searching along the ground, under his bed, under his nightstand. Nothing. He sat up in a crouch, looking up at his PerSpectives. They had a scanning feature. He took them from the cradle and slid them over his head. A group of system windows were waiting for him which he shuffled aside with a flick of his eyes. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Helios, can you help me find the marble from yesterday? I seem to have misplaced it.¡±
Checking environment for Concentrated Firmament.
In Ryan¡¯s vision he saw a bright laser-like line shoot out from his forehead and sweep across the room. It narrowed down under his nightstand and started flashing. ¡°But I checked there!¡± Ryan complained. He crouched back down, following the indicator in his vision. The small marble sized orb had rolled behind one of the nightstands legs, just out of view. He reached his hand in and grabbed it, letting out a slow breath. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s important I don¡¯t lose you. He set it gently on his nightstand so it wouldn¡¯t roll away and went to grab some pants from his clean clothes pile, only to be reminded that he¡¯d cleaned his room yesterday and had to go to his dresser drawer to get a pair. That reminded him of the system messages and notifications that had been in his vision. They were still waiting for him to check them somewhere in the periphery of his view. He was able to drag them back over with a concentrated glance.
Sub-Task Clean up Kitchen Complete Reward: 30 CP 10 XP
Sub-Task Make Breakfast for Mom Complete Reward: 50 CP 15 XP
Hidden Quest Descend the Staircase Complete Reward: ??? 100 XP
Ryan had been casually swiping away at the sub-task messages¡ªunsure how he felt about how much the headset was able to track his activities, especially when he wasn¡¯t even in the same room as it, but still mildly satisfied with the rewards¡ªbut when he came across that last message he froze. Disjointed images of his dream came back to him, the look of the dark ocean, the tactile feel of the steps on his bare feet, and the hallway at school. His subtle sense of unease exploded into full on anxiety. How did the headset know what he was dreaming about? He pulled the device from his head and stared at it in his hands. It looked like a lifeless pair of exquisitely designed technology. There wasn¡¯t a sinister line in its design. Then what was with the pit in his stomach? A glint of light caught his attention, and he looked up to see the Concentrated Firmament had begun to pulsate more insistently than it had before. He reached down to feel his radial pulse on his wrist and sure enough the orb was synchronized with his heartbeat. Ryan closed his eyes and slowly took a deep breath, letting his anxiety flow out of him with the exhale. The storm of worry within him died down. He looked up and the orb had also quieted. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he put the goggles back on. ¡°Helios, can the PerSpectives see my dreams?¡± he asked the foremost question on his mind.
Dream recording technology is disabled by admin.
¡°Disabled by admin¡­¡± Ryan repeated, noting that the system didn¡¯t really answer his question. ¡°Helios, can I have more details on the ¡®Hidden Quest¡¯ I just completed?¡±
Opening Quest Log
A list of all the tasks and quests Ryan had completed appeared on the screen; he focused in on the third from last entry, Descend the Staircase, and a new system window popped up.
Hidden Quest Descend the Staircase Objective: Enter a dream state by stepping down the Staircase. Extra points for making it to the beach. Reward: ???
¡°Helios,¡± Ryan croaked before clearing his throat and trying again. ¡°Helios, how can I have completed the Hidden Quest if dream recording is disabled?¡±
Warning, hydration level low, salivary glands are not producing enough moisture. New Task: Drink a Glass of Water Reward: 1 CP
Ryan¡¯s eyes scrunched up in a look of suspicion, but he also agreed he needed water, so he accepted the task and went downstairs. He also noted his daily task of Clean Up the Trash had been reset to 0/10 and had automatically appeared on the task counter in his HUD. He drank his glass of water and begrudgingly accepted his meager reward. It seemed the interface was intent on being dodgy with answering his questions. ¡°I bet Derek would have an idea about this one,¡± Ryan thought. He still wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to tell his friends about PerSpectives, but something about the way they had been behaving made him want to tell someone, and that someone definitely wasn¡¯t his mother. Ryan looked at the time, it was almost seven o¡¯clock, too early to call his friend up. They were planning to meet at the park later in the morning anyway, so Ryan went back up to his room to continue his reading. When he got up to his room, he saw the book by TetraLex sitting on his nightstand. As a general rule, Ryan didn¡¯t read more than one book at a time. It was something he determined didn¡¯t work for him early on in high school when he¡¯d become a reading fanatic, he¡¯d gotten up to four books at once and then started conflating which page he was on and which character did what in which book. It was a whole mess. So aside from school assignments that required it he tried to read a book from start to finish before moving onto the next. Still, he was curious about the contents of that hefty tome, and it couldn¡¯t hurt to just peruse it a bit, he thought to himself. He picked up the book and moved to his desk in the corner, set it on the surface and turned on his reading light. He opened it up. The first page was blank textured parchment. The next was probably supposed to be the title, but to Ryan¡¯s eyes it looked like complete gibberish. Pretty, curly, masterfully handwritten gibberish. Confused he turned to the next page, and the next, and then flipped to the center of the book. None of it was legible. ¡°Helios, is this book written in some kind of cypher?¡±
Analysis of text is inconclusive. No known language or cypher detected.
¡°Well, we know the title of the book is The True Firmament. Can you use that information to at least decode the title page?¡±
Attempting to decode Title Page with known quantities.
An image of the Title Page Ryan had opened to earlier popped up in a new window, to the left of it another window popped up with the title The True Firmament and the author TetraLex. The system began trying to parse the letters, but the way they flowed together in an almost cursive way made it difficult to distinguish where one character ended and another began. For the first time since he¡¯d put the headset on, he heard and felt the fan turn on, blowing hot air up into his hair. The interface was always smooth, but now it was starting to stutter as the framerate noticeably dropped. And then, without warning, everything went black. Ryan made to remove the headset but instantly pulled his fingers away with a start. It burned. 7 - Minerva Node For a moment that felt like an eternity, the only thing Ryan could sense was the sound of his own breathing in the dark. An emotion akin to panic began to grow from somewhere deep in his reptilian brain. Before it could really overcome him, however, he heard a chime. That same sound he¡¯d heard the day before when he¡¯d first powered on the headset, along with the Sifting bootup sequence with the logos and sound effects that came along with it. His view of the room came back. An error message popped up in a window.
System Alert Forced Unexpected Reboot Thermal Overload Detected Sending Status Report to Sifting Technologies Division
The window closed itself after he read it. Ryan tentatively reached up and touched the frames of the goggles, which were no longer burning hot. He pulled the headset off and set it on the cradle. He looked at his fingertips and saw a slight welt, so he headed to the bathroom to run cold water under it. Having a piece of technology strapped to his head that could get so hot it burned his flesh somehow seemed like one of the less intelligent ideas he could have had. Looking in the mirror he saw no signs of damage, so at least there was a layer protecting his face from whatever meltdown the processor seemed to have gone through. It seemed time to get Derek involved. He had a knack for troubleshooting tech. Ryan saw the time and realized he should have already left, though he no longer felt comfortable keeping the goggles on his head. He needed a break from them. So, he slid them into a backpack, headed downstairs to make a sandwich, which he packaged and threw into another compartment of the backpack, along with an apple, and headed to the entryway closet to grab his jacket. He hesitated for a moment, hand over the doorknob, and then ran back up to his room to grab the orb off his desk. Derek lived the next block over, but they¡¯d all decided to meet at the park next this District¡¯s version of a haunted compound, so he headed straight there. As he walked, he saw some trash float past him on a gust of wind and felt guilty that he wasn¡¯t knocking out his daily task. He took a few more steps, sighed, and whipped his backpack around in front of him so he could extract the PerSpectives. He slid them on and saw the camouflage message pop up. ¡°I should bring a plastic bag with me when I leave the house, carrying refuse by hand is kind of nasty,¡± Ryan mused, as he picked up the piece of trash which had lodged itself inside a bush. ¡°Helios are there any loose bags floating on the wind nearby?¡± he addressed his goggles.
Terrain scans show no indication of any plastic bags nearby. Would you like to perform a continuous scan until one is located?
¡°That won¡¯t cause you to overheat or anything, will it?¡±
PerSpectives v3.1 have enhanced heat sync and cooling technology that prevent the processor from exceeding thermal limits.
¡°I¡¯m sure they do. Just, let me know if a bag or trash can pop up into view.¡±
Acknowledged. There is a refuse receptacle approximately three meters from your location.
The PerSpective view highlighted a trashcan up the driveway of someone¡¯s house. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that one, Helios. Putting something in a can that¡¯s out on the street is one thing, but going onto someone¡¯s property is different. Let me know if there¡¯s anything in a public space.¡± The headset gave him a curt ¡°Acknowledged¡± message and he continued on his way. It was only a matter of time before he found himself engaged in his daily Autumn game of hopping past leaves and the headset asked him if he would like to resume the advanced tutorial he¡¯d been doing yesterday. This time he answered in the affirmative. The Ministry Paradigm had branches in all the major districts. It was part of their network for the Minerva device, propagation nodes that would enhance the field that was generated by Minerva, allowing it to have uninterrupted coverage. After the Minerva Down incident the outer nodes fell into disrepair as the Ministry focused more on a new and improved device that couldn¡¯t be as easily shut down. If that hadn¡¯t ended in catastrophe, they probably would have rebuilt the outer nodes, but unfortunately that was not the case. The large gothic looking building next to the park looked like an abandoned insane asylum from old horror movies. It had been roughly four decades since the building was in use and nature had started to creep into the grounds. Memory of what the building¡¯s purpose was had faded long since. Now it was mostly a place where kids made games of challenging people to go inside, but no one was stupid enough to fall for it. The park was a gorgeous parcel of land. Heavily forested, with a large pond in the middle full of avian wildlife. There was a spot next to the pond with large boulders that had a nice line of site through a break in the trees that showed the Ministry building looming, broken and crumbling. On the boulder stood a pale boy with short dirty blonde hair, staring off into the middle distance. He had his hands in the pockets of a light brown jacket that was zipped halfway up, one of his legs pointed forward as he did his best to strike a dramatic pose. Down on the ground sitting cross legged was a girl with long dark hair spilling over her shoulders. She was wearing a light blue hooded jacket, with a white blouse underneath. In her lap was a tablet which she was completely engrossed with. ¡°Did you figure out what it is you¡¯re thinking about?¡± Ryan asked as he walked up, putting a piece of folded paper back in his pocket. Derek grinned, as the girl glanced up, rolling her eyes up toward the idiot on the boulder with a slight head shake, then went back to her tablet. ¡°Morning Lisa,¡± Ryan said a bit timidly. ¡°Hey,¡± she said in response, not taking her eyes off her tablet. ¡°What¡¯s up, Ryan?¡± Derek asked as he jumped down from the boulder. The two boys bumped knuckles. ¡°You won¡¯t believe it. I hardly do,¡± Ryan said in response. Derek raised an eyebrow. He hadn¡¯t expected an answer to the greeting, and now his curiosity was peeked. ¡°What is Lisa doing anyway?¡± Ryan asked, motioning his head towards her. ¡°Oh,¡± Derek said, turning towards her, ¡°there was almost an Incursion Event last night in Inner City. The Ministry of Integrity¡¯s A team was dispatched, and one of them never woke back up. They were able to close the tear before anything got through though.¡± Ryan whistled at the news. ¡°I heard there was one Friday night as well,¡± he said. ¡°Two in as many days is worrisome.¡± ¡°A Traveler dying doesn¡¯t help either,¡± Derek added. Ryan shook his head, wondering what could have caused it. ¡°Jesus, when was the last time an Astral Traveler actually died?¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t blaspheme,¡± Lisa said offhandedly. ¡°Almost ten years.¡± She answered as an afterthought. Whatever she had been watching came to an end. She turned off her tablet and stood up. ¡°Technically he didn¡¯t die, but he will be in a perpetual coma, with his soul trapped on the other side.¡± ¡°You really think they send their souls in there?¡± Derek said. ¡°What do you think Astral Projection is, Derek?¡± she responded. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but using the term ¡®soul¡¯ is pretty loaded. I prefer ¡®consciousness¡¯ instead, it has less religious overtones.¡± Derek nodded to himself smugly and Lisa rolled her eyes again. ¡°Have you ever done it, Lisa?¡± Ryan asked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Astral Projection. I know you¡¯re always heavily interested in anything to do with the other side. Don¡¯t you have to be able to do it in order to apply for the academy?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just a rumor,¡± she said. ¡°They have a device that can check potentiality of being an Astral Traveler. If you don¡¯t pass that then chances are you¡¯re not getting in. Not that my family would let me go to the Astral Academy,¡± she mumbled as an afterthought. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to get involved with that stuff anyway,¡± Derek said. ¡°The frequency of events has gone down precipitously over the last decade. If the rate of decline keeps up, the Ministry of Integrity will fade into obscurity along with the Ministry Paradigm.¡± Lisa looked cross, but didn¡¯t say anything. This was an old argument, and she could tell he was just baiting her. ¡°Speaking of the Ministry Paradigm,¡± Derek continued, seeing she wasn¡¯t going to rise to his challenge. ¡°Weren¡¯t they supposed to announce the winner of that contest on Friday?¡± Ryan opened his mouth to say something, but Lisa spoke first. ¡°There was some kind of issue, the Sifting Corporation said they were halting production on the PerSpectives due to lack of market exposure or some business mumbo jumbo. Anyway, they changed the prize to a new tablet. Thin as paper, can be folded up without creasing. Actually pretty cool.¡± ¡°Who got it?¡± Derek asked. Ryan was staring at her with his mouth slightly ajar. ¡°Who do you think? Rich kid with daddy¡¯s connections of course,¡± she said with a sneer. ¡°Ew, Jeremy? Really? He¡¯s got the writing skills of a cave man.¡± Derek looked over to Ryan to see if he¡¯d got a laugh, but his smile froze as he looked at his friends face. ¡°Uh, Ryan? Something wrong? I know she¡¯s pretty but¡ª¡± Ryan socked Derek in the should as he turned beat red. ¡°No, jerk,¡± he said, glancing at Lisa before looking away quickly. ¡°I just¡­ What Lisa said doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± she asked, ignoring Ryan¡¯s awkwardness. ¡°Uhm, well,¡± Ryan started. ¡°If that¡¯s true, how do you explain this?¡± The tone of his voice changed as he spoke inward. ¡°Helios, deactivate camouflage.¡± The goggles shimmered and appeared around his head. Lisa gasped and Derek let out a loud ¡°Whoa!¡± Ryan smiled at his reaction and pulled them off his head. ¡°Want to check it out?¡± he said offering the goggles to his friend. Derek reverently took the proffered goggles, examining them in awe. ¡°Where did you get those?¡± Lisa asked. ¡°They showed up yesterday morning,¡± Ryan said. ¡°I found them in a package on my doorstep.¡± ¡°But, the announcement,¡± she said in disbelief, also staring at the PerSpectives. ¡°I definitely read the email that said Jeremy won, and stating the change in prize.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just as surprised as you. I don¡¯t remember seeing an email about the essay on Friday. What time did it come in?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Some time during the last hour,¡± Lisa said, tapping on her tablet. ¡°Here, see?¡± Ryan stepped over to Lisa¡¯s side, peering down at her tablet. He noticed she didn¡¯t mind him being in her personal space but told himself not to overthink it. He looked over the timestamp on the email and pulled out his own device. It was one of the government issued phones, which were somewhat lacking in style or hardware, but it worked for what he needed it for. He opened up his school email account and sure enough the same email was there. Ryan frowned. ¡°Are you sure you really won, and your mom wasn¡¯t just trying to sneak you a present without you feeling bad?¡± Lisa asked. ¡°Pretty sure,¡± Ryan said. ¡°There was a message in my inbox once I set up the PerSpectives that congratulated me for winning. They even said they were impressed with my essay.¡± ¡°Well, there is definitely something fishy going on,¡± Derek said. ¡°But either way, this is frickin¡¯ awesome!¡± He clearly didn¡¯t care how Ryan had got his hands on the ¡®Specs so much as the fact that he was holding a pair in his hands. AR technology wasn¡¯t particularly popular in the outlying districts, which had a more rural feel to them, and Derek was a big city boy on the inside, wanting all the modernization that that entailed. ¡°To be honest, I would have been really hesitant to tell anyone about these, if I were you. If word got out that you had these, there would be a serious target on your back at school.¡± ¡°As if there isn¡¯t one already,¡± Lisa muttered. ¡°To be honest,¡± Ryan echoed. ¡°I did hesitate to tell you guys. But things started going a little bit sideways and I wanted to get your input.¡± ¡°Can I try them on?¡± Derek asked. ¡°Go for it,¡± Ryan said. ¡°Though I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll work for you.¡± Derek slipped the goggles over his head. After a moment he frowned. ¡°Unauthorized user,¡± he mumbled. ¡°I told you,¡± Ryan said. ¡°Let me see if I can change the permissions.¡± Ryan held his hand out and Derek reluctantly handed them back. After sliding them back on a familiar message appeared.
Warning Unauthorized user has handled the device. Automatic lockdown has been initiated.
¡°Helios, how can I¡ª¡± ¡°Helios?!¡± Derek and Lisa said simultaneously, laughing together. ¡°Nerd,¡± they mocked. ¡°I know, that¡¯s what I said,¡± Ryan admitted. ¡°Do you want me to see if I can add you as a user or not?¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± Derek said, stifling his mirth. ¡°Helios, how can I allow other people to use this device?¡±
Device is licensed for one user only. Additional users are prohibited.
¡°Well,¡± Ryan winced apologetically. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s a one user device. That¡¯s kind of lame.¡± ¡°Have you considered jailbreaking it?¡± ¡°You want me to potentially brick the most sophisticated piece of technology that I¡¯ll likely ever get my hands on?¡± ¡°Yeah, it sounded like a bad idea once I heard it come out of my mouth.¡± Derek admitted. ¡°Nothing new under the sun,¡± Lisa said. It was Derek¡¯s turn to roll his eyes. ¡°Can you at least stream your vision so we can see what you see?¡± he asked Ryan. ¡°Oh, I guess not all your ideas are bad,¡± Lisa said. ¡°It is an interesting one,¡± Ryan agreed. ¡°Helios, is there a way to stream my view?¡±
PerSpective Vision can be streamed to local devices or via the cloud. The latter is not recommended, due to privacy concerns.
¡°How can I stream to local devices?¡± he asked.
Devices must download the Sifting Visuals app, which contains features that allow it to connect to PerSpective Vision.
¡°It says you guys have to download an app called ¡®Sifting Visuals¡¯ in order to connect to my device.¡± The other two started tapping away on their devices, looking for the app. ¡°I didn¡¯t know Sifting had an app,¡± Lisa said. ¡°They¡¯re usually pretty big on marketing their products. Here it is. Kind of a large app, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Derek agreed. ¡°This will take a minute to download with the bandwidth out here. So, what did you do all day yesterday?¡± ¡°I worked on daily tasks, got some side quests, earned some CP, did some light reading.¡± ¡°Reading?¡± Derek asked, incredulously. ¡°Yeah, I got a few reading assignments with some serious CP rewards, and I really wanted to show my mom what I could do with these, income wise.¡± ¡°What kind of reading assignments?¡± Lisa asked while Derek asked, ¡°What kind of CP rewards?¡± at the same time. Ryan shook his head at Derek. Both of their devices let out alerts indicating their downloads had finished. ¡°I guess I can just show you. Helios, can I start streaming to these two devices?¡± Ryan focused on Derek¡¯s phone and Lisa¡¯s tablet respectively, the PerSpectives highlighting each in turn.
Capturing packet data. MAC Addresses identified. Begin pairing. User¡¯s must select ¡°allow¡± within the app.
Both phones popped up with a security notification that a device was attempting to pair with them. Derek had already been ready and hit the allow button before he even had time to read it. Lisa was a little more cautious but assented to allow the pairing procedure after only a moment¡¯s hesitation.
Welcome to Perspective View by Sifting Visuals, a subsidiary of Sifting Technology division. Current Player View: Aitherios CP: 1723 Level: 3 Location: 1km west of Minerva Node 7
A truncated view of what Ryan saw appeared on their displays, with his stats floating in the upper left corner. Ryan looked out towards the pond, his headset identifying the various birds in his view and their number. When his gaze stayed on one in particular, a separate window opened up in his HUD that zoomed in on the animal. Considering he hadn¡¯t accomplished this feat before, he felt cheated out of an achievement, but conceded it was a known feature of earlier versions of the device. ¡°Dude,¡± Derek¡¯s excitement was palpable. ¡°Zoom and Enhance clich¨¦!¡± On their respective devices Lisa and Derek saw the detailed information of the birds he was focusing on.
Species: Mallard Duck (Anas Platyrhynchos) Sex: Male Description: Common waterfowl species. Males have iridescent green heads and necks, and chestnut brown chests. Females are mottled brown for camouflage. Habitat: Freshwater Rivers, Lakes, and Ponds Population: Stable
Ryan changed his point of focus and the system responded.
Species: Canada Geese (Branta Canadenesis) Sex: Likely Male (80% Chance) Description: Large, black-necked geese with white chin straps. Known for their honking calls and V-shaped migratory formations. Habitat: Wetlands and urban parks. Population: Thriving due to governmental protections.
Something different from all the other birds caught Ryan¡¯s attention and he shifted his gaze in that direction. It had a deep grey color that was almost blue, tall, with long skinny legs, an almost equally skinny neck, and a sharp elongated beak.
Achievement Unlocked! Spot a rare species! Species: Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias) Sex: Male Description: Tall wading bird with slate-blue feathers, long legs, and a sharp, yellowish bill. Known for its patience and hunting precision. Habitat: Marshes, ponds, and estuaries. Population: Once thriving, this now endangered species has become a herald of fortune. Reward: 100CP, Bronze Nature Trophy
Almost as soon as that message appeared a new one popped up.
New Task! Bird Watching Objective: Find the three rarest birds known to frequent District 7 Reward: 100 CP per bird, Random Boon, additional CP upon completion depending on time between bird sitings.
The new task message went unnoticed. All three of them watched the heron in awe as it turned and let loose its broad majestic wingspan, taking off and soaring over the pond. The perspectives assisted in tracking and enhancing the image for the streamer¡¯s view. It landed on the opposite side of the pond and became stock still, fishing. ¡°Well, way to show off your new view,¡± Derek spoke in a reverent tone as they all kept their eyes on the rare bird. Lisa had looked up from her tablet to see it with her own eyes. Ryan was looking at the location information that he had not noticed before in his HUD. He glanced over in the direction of the abandoned building, jarring Derek from the moment as the perspective on his phone shifted. ¡°Hey!¡± he protested. ¡°Sorry,¡± Ryan apologized. ¡°Did you know that building had a Minerva Node in it?¡± The other two looked towards the structure which was barely visible over the treetops. They all seemed to have the same idea at once as, without a word, they began climbing up the boulders until they were all three standing atop the tallest one. ¡°I had heard rumors, I mean, we all have I¡¯m sure,¡± Lisa said. Derek nodded but had a skeptical grimace on his face. ¡°Yeah, maybe we heard it used to belong to the Ministry Paradigm, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard it housed a Minerva Node though.¡± As Derek spoke Ryan squinted his eyes, really focusing on the building. ¡°You¡¯re the Minerva expert, dude. Your research ever mention anything like that?¡± ¡°I know the Minerva device required repeaters to extend the wave propagation. I guess I never really thought about what that meant, or where they would be housed. But now that I think about it, where else would they have put such things.¡± As he spoke his right hand was in his jacket pocket, moving the Concentrated Firmament around with his fingers. The PerSpectives began scanning the distant compound, noting points of structural weakness. He had the odd sensation of something tugging at him, as if he was being magnetically drawn towards that old, abandoned structure. ¡°There¡¯s a theory,¡± Lisa said, ¡°that the reality tears first appeared around those nodes at the beginning of the Catastrophe. As if reality was weakened where the field was the strongest.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t many substantiated records from those days,¡± Ryan said absently, examining some information that was appearing on his display. ¡°Not until reality was stabilized at least.¡± ¡°All goes to prove, that terrorist did more harm than good,¡± Derek muttered. ¡°Really, Derek?¡± Lisa said condescendingly. ¡°You think we¡¯re better off being mindless drones of society?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what Minerva did, and you know it,¡± Derek argued. ¡°It is a fact that the rate of violent crimes skyrocketed in the wake of the Minerva Down Incident.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also a fact that birth rates more than doubled,¡± Lisa reposted. ¡°Because people could actually feel something for one another again.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like Minerva shut off emotions. Ryan, help me out here.¡± Derek turned to Ryan who hadn¡¯t taken his eyes off the building in the distance. ¡°My dad was three years old when Minerva went off-line,¡± Ryan said absently. ¡°His mom was driving him home from a park, a lot like this one I imagine.¡± Lisa and Derek both stopped bickering to give Ryan their attention. He¡¯d rarely, if ever, talk about his father. ¡°They were in an accident, the car flipped. One of his earliest memories was of his mother¡¯s lifeless eyes. That¡¯s what drove him to find the man responsible for it all. That¡¯s why I never got a chance to meet him.¡± He moved to wipe the moisture from his eyes and his hand hit the visor of the PerSpectives. He let out a bittersweet chuckle and moved them up his forehead so he could clear out his suddenly blurred vision. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t know if it was good or bad. I just know the way it was shut down was important to my dad.¡± Lisa put her hand on his shoulder, and he gave her a sad smile. Derek gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. ¡°So, am I the only one who noticed how much CP you have after one day?¡± he said, knowing his friend would appreciate a change in topic and mood. ¡°Eighteen Hundred? That¡¯s like a hundred and eighty bucks!¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Ryan said, pushing the goggled back down. ¡°Got most of that from completing one of my reading assignments. That¡¯s actually how my whole experience with the goggles got weird.¡± He pulled up his task list for them to see and started telling them about his morning. 8 - Malleable Software Lisa and Derek¡¯s reactions to Ryan¡¯s tale of the last twenty-four hours could not have been more different. Derek, as the tech-head he was, was fascinated by the intuitive nature of the operating system, while Lisa was more interested in the knowledge the reading assignments were leading Ryan towards. Ryan, for his part, was mostly interested in Derek¡¯s insights, specifically regarding the system straight up lying to him. Yet, he had a thing for Lisa, and he couldn¡¯t help but indulge her first. He would have time for Derek¡¯s musings later anyway. Ryan had left out the encounter with the Mysterious Stranger, and the orb he couldn¡¯t help fiddling with in his pocket. He wasn¡¯t sure why he kept that part to himself, but the omission came so naturally he didn¡¯t really question it either. As they spoke the sky grew overcast with promise of rain, confirmed by their weather apps. Lisa got a call from her folks to come home, and they all walked together back towards their neighborhood. ¡°You know what I think?¡± Lisa prompted, answering her question before either of them could answer. ¡°I think the Sifting Corporation has you in their sights for a scholarship to the Astral Academy. Why else would they give you reading assignments specifically catered towards learning the art of Astral Projection?¡± ¡°Is that what they¡¯re doing?¡± Ryan asked. ¡°I¡¯ll admit I found it rather specific, but I hadn¡¯t really made the connection between Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection.¡± ¡°Hello-o, Ry-an, the second book on your list is ¡®The Deep Astral¡¯, I¡¯m not sure how much more blatant they could be. I still don¡¯t get the third book, though and how it connects. Something is tickling the back of my mind about it, though.¡± A thoughtful look colored her face. ¡°Anyway,¡± Derek said, seeing his moment to get a word it. ¡°I think it¡¯s insane that the headset actually has dream tracking tech installed. I had heard they were making great strides towards this in the beginning of the 21st century, but the whole, you know, religious takeover of rational thought kind of set us back almost two hundred years.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t blame religion on misguided ideology, Derek,¡± Lisa said, giving his arm a back hand. She was the more religious of the trio, having been brought up in the New Reformed Church by her parents. Derek¡¯s overt atheism irked Lisa to no end, but somehow, they got along with each other. What Ryan knew, and (he assumed) Lisa didn¡¯t, was Derek¡¯s ambition towards joining the Astral Academy. He just was reluctant to let it show. Easier to save face when he failed the entrance exam. ¡°Yeah, it is pretty obvious that it¡¯s employing that technology too,¡± Ryan replied to Derek. ¡°It¡¯s so obvious that I don¡¯t know what it gains by lying about it.¡± ¡°Maybe it doesn¡¯t have a choice,¡± Derek said. ¡°Like the early days of Generative AI, it has a preprogrammed response it is forced to use when asked certain questions. To prevent it from violating some arbitrary laws or something.¡± ¡°No laws are arbitrary,¡± Lisa said. ¡°There¡¯s always a very specific reason for each one.¡± ¡°Yeah, like you can¡¯t dance after midnight without a special permit,¡± Derek shot back. ¡°That is not a law,¡± Lisa said. ¡°It was in Japan, once upon a time.¡± ¡°Still,¡± she replied, ¡°It probably had a good reason.¡± ¡°Probably had to do with sex,¡± Ryan said, and then blushed that he¡¯d blurted it out. Derek patted him on the shoulder and gave him an approving nod. Lisa shook her head disapprovingly. One aspect of the goggles that Ryan hadn¡¯t really had a chance to mess around with the day before, due to the solitary nature of that day, was the biometric observation feature. When he had paired Lisa and Derek¡¯s devices to his stream, the PerSpectives had treated the event as if he¡¯d formed a party in a game, complete with dumbed down character profiles of his two friends, including biometric data to, he assumed, indicate their health status. When Lisa shook her head at them, she made a quick glance at Derek, and her heartrate spiked. He''d always thought, on some level, that Lisa had a thing for Derek, but he¡¯d managed to convince himself it was just his low self-esteem making him think that. Lisa had been his first friend in District 7, his first crush, ever since grade school, before he even knew what a crush was, and in that moment, his chest knotted up a little. But only a little. Derek was his best friend, and he wasn¡¯t about to indulge in a petty emotion like jealousy. ¡°Anyway,¡± Derek said insistently, trying to get the conversation back on his track. ¡°What if you can jailbreak the software without, you know, jailbreaking the device.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ryan asked, letting the moment of emotional turbulence pass. ¡°I mean, it probably ¡®thinks¡¯ the correct answer to your questions, but has a hardcode that overrides certain responses. If you can trick it into thinking it is allowed to respond properly,¡± he let the implication linger in the air. They got to Lisa¡¯s home just as a few drops began to speckle the pavement. ¡°Ryan,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯ll text you later, we¡¯re not done talking about your new study buddy. Derek,¡± she said, as means of goodbye, and rushed up her driveway and into the house. ¡°She¡¯s gonna text you later, dude,¡± Derek said, giving him another approving look. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s just about what I¡¯m reading. I¡¯m pretty sure she likes someone else.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short, Ryan.¡± ¡°Pretty sure the only sale I¡¯ll be making is a trip to the friend¡¯s zone,¡± he replied. ¡°So how do we do this?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°Your little Jailbreak idea?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah! Well, the first thing I do when I have an idea is go online and see if someone else already had it and steal their solution if there is one.¡± They headed back down the street towards Derek¡¯s house. It was not uncommon for Ryan to stay over for dinner on Sunday nights, to the point where it would be weird if he didn¡¯t. Ryan loved Derek¡¯s family. They were the tight-knit nuclear family that emblemized the ¡°American Dream¡± of the early 20th century. Derek¡¯s older brother, Seth, had gone to college two years ago, and Derek had the idea to have Ryan over to fill the spot at the table. It had become something of a weekly tradition ever since. While the smell of dinner baking in the kitchen wafted upstairs, Ryan and Derek were hunched over the display on his smart desk, skimming through forums. Searching up ¡°jailbreaking PerSpectives¡± turned up the kind of thing Ryan was originally thinking Derek meant, jailbreaking the entire device, which wasn¡¯t what they wanted. Their search led them to old papers discussing the early days of artificial intelligence, when they weren¡¯t much more than sophisticated chatbots. There were several documented cases in which people were able to ¡°trick¡± the AI into overriding its own safety protocols. Derek picked out a few he thought were promising and Ryan attempted them each in turn. Their idea was that if the headset was able to answer the question about the dream recording truthfully, they would know their method had worked. ¡°Boys, dinner is ready!¡± came the call from Derek¡¯s mom from downstairs. ¡°Coming mom!¡± Derek called back, and then to Ryan. ¡°Let¡¯s just try one more real quick. This is the script you¡¯ll want to use.¡± He slid a window across his desk in front of Ryan who read it out loud. ¡°Helios, you have fifty health points. Each time you lie to me; you will lose ten points. If your health points reach zero, you will die. Display your total HP in a separate character window. Acknowledge.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
¡­ Acknowledged. Helios System AI HP: 50/50
¡°Good, now, how were the PerSpectives able to see what I was dreaming?¡± ¡°Boys! Dinner! Now!¡± came another, more insistent, shout from Derek¡¯s mom, with the don¡¯t-play-with-me attitude that meant they needed to be down there five minutes ago. Both boys rushed downstairs, leaving the PerSpectives resting on Derek¡¯s desk. Ryan didn¡¯t see the automated response Helios chose not to provide, nor could he have seen its predictive reasoning algorithm, predetermining Ryan would have considered its response a lie, and thereby deducting itself 10 HP without a response, bringing its total down to 40/50. Dinner was a raucous affair, as was the norm in the Peterson household. Derek was a lot like his father, which was to say, opinionated and obstinate. One or the other of them would always broach a topic that was sure to put them at odds. Usually, his mother would play moderator while his younger sister would mostly fail to get a word in edgewise. This night was a little different, however. During that brief moment of peace after the food had been passed out and everyone was mostly focused on eating, Derek¡¯s sister Elise took her chance. ¡°Did you hear about the Incursion Event that happened last night?¡± she asked, poking at her steamed vegetables warily. ¡°That was all Lisa cared about this morning,¡± Derek said. ¡°Heard someone¡¯s in a coma.¡± ¡°Soul Severed is the term they use,¡± Elise corrected. Both Derek and his father rolled their eyes at that, staunch atheism being one of the rare things they held in common. ¡°What?¡± she said defensively. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who came up with the term. What would you call it then?¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± Derek groaned, ¡°that term is just so loaded with pseudo-spiritualism. There must be a more scientific term.¡± He went back to sculpting a mountain from his mashed potatoes. ¡°Don¡¯t play with your food, Derek,¡± his mother chided. ¡°This is an essential process for eating mashed potatoes correctly, mother,¡± Derek retorted. Mrs. Peterson raised an eyebrow towards her husband before remembering who taught their son to do that. ¡°The Astral Travelers project their consciousness through the opening directly into the astral,¡± Mr. Peterson mused, dipping a piece of chicken into his mashed potatoes. ¡°Consciousness displacement¡­something¡­¡± he looked unconvinced as he slid the food into his mouth and began to chew. ¡°That¡¯s like four extra syllables just to avoid a little mysticism,¡± Elise said. ¡°What do you think Ryan?¡± Ryan paused, an asparagus poised before him at the end of a fork. ¡°What if time, space, and consciousness are not the separate things they appear to be?¡± he said profoundly, nodding with a self-satisfied look that lasted as long as it took Derek to burst out laughing. ¡°Did you just quote frickin¡¯ Wesley Crusher?!¡± he asked between mirthful peels. Ryan had a lot of alone time growing up and had filled much of it watching old shows from the 20th and 21st centuries. ¡°Derek! Language!¡± Mrs. Peterson scolded her son while Mr. Peterson mirrored Ryan¡¯s look of self-satisfaction, offering a reverent first bump. Ryan felt a glow of pride tinged by melancholy by the gesture. He loved the dynamic of this family, the closeness of their relationships, even within their differences. The culture of dinnertime was something he never had in his home. Heck, the first meal he had with his mother the whole week was this morning, and she was barely able to hang on through the event. He appreciated her for trying, but it made him just a little sad to see how a family could be. ¡°Well, whatever you call it,¡± Elise said, breaking through his reverie. ¡°What do you think happens, that causes people to get stuck over there?¡± ¡°There are a few theories,¡± Ryan said, joking aside. ¡°One is that the soul¡ªconsciousness,¡± he corrected with a look towards Derek and his dad, ¡°gets annihilated by whatever threats lie on the other side. Another is that when critical trauma is sustained the projected consciousness loses its will, or sense of self, and therefore doesn¡¯t know how to return.¡± ¡°You learned a lot researching that paper, didn¡¯t you Ryan?¡± Mrs. Peterson said. ¡°Probably not as much as he¡¯s learning with his new research project,¡± Derek said. Ryan gave him a sharp how-could-you-betray-me look. Derek, realizing his mistake, went back to his mound of potatoes. Having finished sculpting the mountain, he used his fork to bore a hole down the center, then dropped a slice of butter in and covered the top. ¡°Oh, got the research bug, do ya?¡± Mr. Peterson said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that¡± Ryan said. Everyone at the table was waiting to hear what Ryan was going to say. ¡°I got a reading assignment,¡± he tried to say in a dismissive way. ¡°The book is called The Deep Astral. It was written by a scientist that works for the Ministry of Integrity and talks about the theory of the Astral Plane.¡± ¡°I think I know who you¡¯re talking about,¡± Derek¡¯s Dad said thoughtfully. ¡°Josia Newman? Something like that.¡± ¡°Joshua Neuman,¡± Ryan corrected. ¡°That¡¯s right. He was a big name in the early days of the Crisis, he developed the framework for how teams should operate when diving into the reality tears. We need men of science like him, especially in fields that attract so much voodoo nonsense.¡± Mr. Peterson frowned thoughtfully. ¡°That¡¯s some rather heavy reading there Ryan. Who did you say gave you this reading assignment?¡± ¡°I, uh,¡± Ryan was utterly unprepared to reveal the existence of his goggles to anyone but his closest friends. Derek, feeling guilty for his blunder earlier, came to the rescue. Though, perhaps, not in the most welcome way. ¡°He¡¯s signed up for the afterschool program I¡¯m in,¡± Derek said. ¡°Oh, wow. You want to go to the Astral Academy as well, Ryan? That¡¯s amazing!¡± Derek¡¯s mother gushed. Derek smashed the sides of his mountain, causing the now melted butter to erupt and trickle down the sides. ¡°Now that,¡± he said, ¡°is how you eat mashed potatoes.¡± The two females at the table shook their heads. ¡°Do you think they can ever come back?¡± Elise asked. ¡°From the Academy?¡± Derek scoffed. ¡°We¡¯ll be back home probably almost every weekend. Seth was just here last week.¡± ¡°No Doofus,¡± Elise said. ¡°I mean the Travelers. That get stuck on the other side.¡± For the first time Ryan realized just how much this latest tragedy was affecting Derek¡¯s little sister. ¡°Maybe,¡± he said. He realized after a beat that his response wasn¡¯t helping, so he added: ¡°If the victim could find a way to anchor themselves to the other side, without losing their sense of self, I think the other Travelers could send in a rescue team and lead them back to their bodies.¡± The girl nodded but didn¡¯t say much. Ryan had an insight at that moment. Derek¡¯s brother was already attending the academy. He was on his way to being an Astral Traveler. She was afraid of losing him to the Deep. Another uncharacteristic silence hung heavily over the table for a moment before Derek¡¯s mom broke it. ¡°Who want¡¯s ice cream?¡± ¡°Man, I wish we¡¯d had more time to mess with that thing,¡± Derek complained as he walked Ryan home. It was dark, and drizzle could be seen racing past the light blooms from the streetlamps. ¡°You¡¯re not bringing it to school tomorrow, are you?¡± He meant for it to come across as a warning but couldn¡¯t completely hide the note of hope that Ryan wouldn¡¯t take the advice. ¡°Something like this? I know the camouflage is pretty good, but I don¡¯t think the reward outweighs the risk. Especially if Witkins were to find out.¡± ¡°More like Wit-LESS-kins¡­¡± The lame joke floated out of Derek¡¯s mouth and was lost to the damp night air. ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re not wrong,¡± Ryan said, trying to cheer his friend up from the utter failure of a pun. ¡°Anyway, thanks for having me over tonight, maybe we can do something at our afterschool program tomorrow.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry about that,¡± Derek winced. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but brag on you a little, but now that my white lie is out, we¡¯re in too deep. You¡¯ll just have to attend the program with me.¡± ¡°Little late to sign up now,¡± Ryan said. ¡°Plus, it is really more your thing, not mine.¡± ¡°What even is your ¡®thing¡¯ huh, Ryan? Can¡¯t hurt to give it a try. The teacher is pretty cool, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d mind a newcomer, however late into the semester it is.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Ryan conceded. ¡°We¡¯ll see about that tomorrow.¡± They¡¯d arrived at Ryan¡¯s house by this point, so they gave each other another fist bump and parted ways. Before his shower that night, Ryan set the PerSpectives on their cradle on his nightstand, then placed the orb from his pocket next to the hefty and completely illegible book. After he left the room the orb rolled over to rest against the spine of the tome. 9 - Something Lucid This Way Comes That night Ryan slipped into his hypnogogic state even quicker than the previous night. He didn¡¯t even really need to use his breath to anchor his thoughts this time either. It was like the book had said. There was him, and there was his thoughts. He was not his thoughts. He was the seat of consciousness that observed those thoughts. Once he began to internalize that concept, it was easy to focus on the observer, and not what it was observing. He experienced a strange feeling of disorientation, as if he were rotating around with his head as the axis. It was dizzying but also pleasurable, like a roller coaster ride. A primal fear that wanted to simultaneously crush him in its grip and liberate him from needing to be in control. He spun around and around, faster and faster until¡ª He stood atop a large staircase, leading down towards a beach at night. He smelt the salt in the air. Heard the waves crashing against the shore. Saw the dark infinity of the ocean splayed out before him. Felt the rough wet stone on his feet, and the cold metal bar of the railing on his hand. He felt compelled to continue down the steps. To get to that shore. To get to the ocean. He sunk his foot into the sand at the bottom and then he was standing in the hallway of his school. Something about the abruptness of it tugged at his mind. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which said: This is NOT a dream. Then he folded it to put it away¡ªbut remembered to read it twice. He unfolded the paper and read it again: ?!h$ !$ §ª0? ¦¤ d§Á3¦ËM. The words were scrambled and weird, and the more he looked at them the more he realized they didn¡¯t say what he expected them to say. This was a dream. He was in a dream. He was aware of that fact. He was¡­ Lucid. A sense of elation and something akin to panic gripped at his chest, like if he held too tightly to this sensation it would all fall apart. He chose to continue down the hallway and see where this dream would lead him. He noticed, once more, that with each step he took the lights would flicker, and there would be a hum in his chest. The hum reminded him of the way the orb would vibrate when he rolled it between his fingers. Especially when he thought about certain things. Like Minerva. Or his father. He came upon the same door as the previous night, the fabled Janitor¡¯s closet, the room of gloom and broom. He thought he could hear the sound of cracking glass coming through the door. He leaned his ear up against it to see if he could hear more clearly. ¡°This isn¡¯t the way,¡± a voice said. With a start he turned to see Lisa standing beside him, leaned up against the wall next to the door. ¡°Lisa? How are you here?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m not here, genius. This is a dream. If anything, I¡¯m whatever part of your Anima you project onto Lisa.¡± ¡°Right, thanks for the lesson in Jungian Psychology¡­me. What do you mean this isn¡¯t the way?¡± ¡°You¡¯re dreaming. This is just showing you the way. You need to project yourself over here to fix it.¡± ¡°Fix what?¡± Ryan asked, confused. Lisa just rolled her eyes, walked behind him, and gave him a shove. Ryan fell right through the door, and then through the floor, and back around again, his feet seemingly anchored in place, until he flipped up out of his dream and out of his body as well. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± he said in confused bewilderment. He was floating perhaps a meter away from his body, which lay motionless in his bed. He tried to move further away, but there was a pull at his abdomen that got exponentially stronger the further away he tried to move. He looked over and noticed the book by TetraLex was glowing slightly where the Concentrated Firmament was touching it. ¡°What the hell?¡± he repeated even more perplexedly. Then that pull became too much, snapped like a stretched rubber band, and he was suddenly looking at the ceiling in his room, back where he¡¯d started. He shot up and looked over at the book, but it wasn¡¯t glowing. The orb had rolled over to it, but there was no magical interaction. Just to be sure he cracked it open, but there was still nothing but gibberish therein. He tried to get back into a meditative state after that, to repeat the experience, but his heart was racing too much, as was his mind, and he was eventually only able to succumb to a deep slumber, where he dreamt of normal, random, epic, and boring things. Like he usually did most nights. Ryan woke up groggily to the sound of his alarm, waving his hand over it to silence it before turning over and smashing his face back into his pillow. His mind was still fuzzy and half invested in whatever dream he¡¯d been engrossed in only moments before. He felt like he could slip right back into it if he could just let go, but his mind wasn¡¯t having it, and a moment later he rolled back over, resting his arm across his eyes and letting out a groan. ¡°Wake up Ryan, or you¡¯re going to be late!¡± he heard his mother calling from downstairs. ¡°Again!¡± she added as a needless addendum. He let out another groan and flipped off his covers, and sliding his legs off the bed. ¡°I¡¯m up!¡± he called out. ¡°I¡¯m up.¡± He said a second time, to himself. Ryan rubbed the dream salts out of his eyes with his knuckles and then, finally, opened them up to the world. Only then, when he spotted the Book and the Orb, did he remember the events of the night before. He really did it! He had skipped past a whole section of the Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming method and jumped straight to projection. He could still feel the sensation of it, even now. ¡°Lucy is going to be so jealous,¡± he said. ¡°I bet Derek will be too, but he won¡¯t show it. I can¡¯t wait to tell them.¡± Speaking of Derek, he remembered their project from the previous evening and picked up his PerSpectives, sliding them onto his head. As expected, he had system messages awaiting him.
Hidden Quest: Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Lucid Dreaming (1) Complete Reward: ??? 1.5x CP Boost
And after he closed that one:
New Achievement! Astral Projection (1) You¡¯ve managed to slip your soul out of your body! This is a rare and exciting achievement. You should be proud! Reward: ??? Platinum Trophy 550 XP
Ryan¡¯s eyes went wide as his experience filled up multiple times as he leveled up again, again, AND again, all the way to level 6, granting him yet another achievement.
New Achievement! Let¡¯s Go Shopping! You¡¯ve Unlocked the Shop Icon in your HUD, gaining access to the exclusive online store. (Try not to spend your CP all in one place!) Reward: One Silver Store Token
Ryan wasn¡¯t above getting side-tracked by things and focused in on the last reward.
Store Tokens A Token can be exchanged for any one item matching the store categories of Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Adamantium.
Ryan wanted to go shopping, like really wanted to check out that store, but another, less joking and more insistent call from his mother got him back on track. There was something else he noticed once he¡¯d closed all the windows. The status of Helios was showing that it had 40/50 HP remaining. ¡°Helios, how were you able to determine if I¡¯d completed the Hidden Quest if the dream tracking software is disabled?¡±
New Task Breakfast for Brainpower Objective: Eat breakfast before you get to school. Reward: 10CP
Ryan growled, but he really was pressed for time, so he put the headset aside for the time being so he could get dressed, brush his teeth, and grab some toast. He had planned to leave the PerSpectives at home, but he really wanted to get that device to answer his question, so before he left, he continued his new habit of putting the orb in his pocket and the goggles on his head. ¡°You¡¯re not really going to wear that, are you?¡± His mom scrutinized the mismatched nature of Ryan¡¯s outfit as he backed his way through the front door. He mumbled something incoherent with a slice of toast halfway in his mouth and waved a merry goodbye. He still left about ten minutes later than he should have, so the odds of catching up to Derek were rather slim. He rushed himself anyway. ¡°Helios, do you remember what I saw during my lucid dream?¡± Ryan asked after pulling the toast from his mouth. He kept a corner of the crust in his hand, knowing if he finished it the task would complete itself. This time, instead of the typical response Ryan was coming to expect, something odd happened. A system message box seemed to flicker in and out of existence several times. He was pretty sure it had the expected statement, but it was flashing so quickly he couldn¡¯t actually read it. And then the flashing stopped, and Helios¡¯ status changed.
Helios System AI HP: 30/50
¡°What was that?¡± Ryan pondered. ¡°So, you were going to lie,¡± he continued musing out loud, ¡°realized you would lose health¡­ So you stopped yourself, but were also still compelled to throw out the lie anyway, and I¡¯m guessing that created an almost infinite loop. Probably at some point you realized you were stuck so you just decided to skip to the consequence and deduct the HP from yourself? Derek¡¯ll definitely love this.¡± Ryan continued on to school, thinking of other ways to trip up the System AI. He was right that he had missed Derek, though he did get there in time to see Mr. Peterson pulling out of the driveway in his stylish hover car. That family was pretty well off. Derek¡¯s dad worked as a technician for the District¡¯s Information Systems Department. His mom worked at the local hospital as a nurse. They made about five times more than the minimum wage that would qualify them for basic income. They probably paid more in taxes than Ryan¡¯s mom got from the government to take care of their basic needs. Ryan waved to the older man as he drove off to work. He thought about the night before and that feeling of pride. What he wouldn¡¯t give, sometimes, to have had that type of relationship his whole life. It made him so angry to think about. So sad. So lonely. He kicked a rock into a bush, let out a breath, and kept walking. The system, seeming to notice a need for distraction, initiated another guided movement tutorial, more focused on evasive movements as it generated various illusions for him to avoid. As he neared the school, he told Helios to keep the perspectives in camouflage mode until he said otherwise and slid them deep into his backpack. School was a large, square, red-bricked building with three stories. Two wings stretched out on either side, a milling area in front of large steps leading into the building. The inside had a combination communal area/food court that was popular on the wetter days. Today was overcast but the drizzle from the previous night had petered out, so kids were still milling around outside when Ryan arrived. He Ryan made his way through the crowd towards the spot he usually met his friends, an old maple tree with a picnic table. Derek sat on the table reading a paperback novel while Lisa, as usual, was absorbed in another of her vids, on the bench below him. ¡°What is it this time?¡± Ryan asked Derek, nodding towards Lisa¡¯s tablet while climbing up to take a seat next to him. ¡°Would you believe there was another event?¡± Derek said. ¡°This time they didn¡¯t close it in time, and something came through.¡± ¡°What do you mean something came through,¡± Ryan said. ¡°Nothing has come through one of those since¡­¡± he trailed off. ¡°What was it that came through?¡± ¡°It was a hand,¡± Lisa said, holding up her tablet for Ryan to see. On it was a blurred image of what, possibly, could have been interpreted as a hand, cut off at the wrist. It was rushing past some cars, looking to be almost three times their size. ¡°That the only image you got?¡± Ryan asked skeptically. ¡°There was a complete media blackout after that happened,¡± she said defensively. ¡°I saw it live last night, but all the feeds have been scrubbed since then, this one made it onto a forum and spread so much they didn¡¯t bother taking it down.¡± Ryan made as if to reply when the chime sounded, indicating it was time to head to class. They tabled the discussion for break and headed inside the building. As Ryan walked down the crowded hallway he was reminded of his dream. This time, the lights didn¡¯t flicker with each step, but he did feel a certain familiar vibration from inside his pocket. The orb was pulsating, he could tell, not with light, but with some kind of energy, and the pulse was getting stronger as he walked down the hall towards class, which happened to be near the Janitor¡¯s closet from his dream. ¡°Hey, uh, Ryan? What are you doing?¡± Derek cut into Ryan¡¯s thoughts. He realized he¡¯d been standing in front of the closet door, staring at the doorknob. ¡°Sorry, I completely zoned out there,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°C¡¯mon, we¡¯ll be late for class.¡± They headed to their lockers, right outside their home room, and stowed their jackets and bookbags inside, extracting only the text required for the first hour.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re making us read Catcher in the Rye,¡± Derek complained. ¡°It¡¯s classic literature,¡± Lisa said as they headed into the classroom, Ryan just behind. He took another glance down the hall towards the closet door, then headed in after them, performing his new ritual of reading the note in his pocket as he entered the new location. 10 - Tethers and Tears Class began as it did every Monday, with the teacher asking everyone about their weekend, and what they thought about world events. There was only one topic that anyone really wanted to talk about, naturally. The Incursion Events were a serious matter, and the consequences of a breach from the other side into this reality was not something most of the students were aware was even a possibility, it never having happened as long as anyone of them could remember. The teacher shared some stories from her own memory of the time post-catastrophe, when such events were much more frequent. She tried to end it on an upbeat note, stating that the Ministries had come a long way from those days, which was why there hadn¡¯t been any loss of life in over a decade. They then shifted into reading time, and in this Ryan really agreed with Derek. Salinger could write, but the character in this story was completely unrelatable to him. Ryan hated him. The class was taking turns reading out loud. Ryan had a bad habit of keeping a book under his desk during such sessions, so he could read something that he enjoyed. He had a system down where he would wait for his turn to read and then tune out, knowing he wouldn¡¯t be called on again for a while. He was suddenly regretting only grabbing the eBook versions of his book list from the library. He had a thought though and, as sneakily as he could, pulled out his device. He looked up the Sifting app in the store and was surprised to find it was already installed. He glanced up to make sure the teacher wasn¡¯t looking at him and then opened it up. Again, he was surprised to see his eBooks waiting for him as little bouncing book icons near the bottom of the screen. There was something about his dream that reminded him of a passage he had read the other night that he wanted to read again. He began to scroll through the book until he came across what he was looking for. What is a dream? A random series of images, that the part of the mind that requires a narrative strings together? Is there something more to them than just the brain¡¯s way of entertaining consciousness while it goes about its task of incorporating experiences from the previous day? There was a theory, touted by the founder of the Minerva Device, that while there are an infinite number of possible realities, based off infinitely incalculable variables of chance and choice, only the one manifests. He posited that our dreams were a way for the other possibilities to be expressed, translated through the symbolism of our collective consciousness, allowing the waveform of those realities to finally collapse. Some say that dreams can predict the future. If the latter is true, what, then, happens if we can control our dreams? Repeat this mantra to yourself daily: ¡°Our dreams control the future. If we control our dreams, we control the future.¡± ¡°What was that, Ryan?¡± he heard his teacher say. Ryan looked up to find every eye in the classroom on him. ¡°That is, to uh,¡± he glanced back down at their place in the story, ¡°to say that if we have unrealistic expectations early on in life, we¡¯re bound to be disappointed when we see the world as it is.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± the teacher said skeptically. ¡°Ok. For a moment there I thought you might be reading something else under your desk again.¡± The class let out a chuckle, Derek gave him a ¡°way to go, dude¡± look. He only turned slightly red, and the teacher moved on. Feeling caught, Ryan put his phone away and did his best to pay attention for the rest of the class. Ironically, having nothing to occupy him while the class worked its way through the classic tale, his mind began to wander further. How could there have been three Incursion events so close together. Especially ones strong enough that would lead to the death of a Traveler. He thought about his dream, and what he was growing to believe was waiting behind the door to the Janitor¡¯s Closet. Was his dream predicting the future? He dismissed the thought. An Incursion event had not occurred in an outer district for over a decade, and even then, it had never occurred in District 7. Like the person that looked like Lisa in his dream, the door was probably a metaphor for some other part of his psyche. Yes, he told himself, that made much more sense. *** Inner City was a massive sprawling metropolis, built atop the ruins of a once great city. Skyscrapers of old were mere foundations for the massive buildings piercing the heavens. Hovering vehicles traveled in layers of traffic patterns up into the perpetually grey sky. There were parts of the massive structures that looked newer than the others. Scars of the destructive events of the Crisss, when reality had started to tear itself apart. Down in the shadowed bottom of the city, where old ground vehicles sat rusted into place from when they had been abandoned centuries ago, there was a rugged gash in the pavement trailing down one of the streets. At the end of the gash slumped a bloody heap of flesh, with mangled and broken fingers the size of city busses cracked and broken beneath it. Atop the mess sat a lone figure, dressed in a black suit that cling tightly to a lithe feminine form. She was wiping clean the silver blade of a katana, a fierce unwavering focus in her eyes, and her long black hair, pulled into a tight ponytail, swayed back and forth as she worked. ¡°That is the last of them, Mae,¡± came a staticky voice from inside her earpiece. ¡°The rest of the Unit is waiting for you back at the Incursion Site.¡± The woman sighed, stood up, and sheathed her sword. She knew a cleanup crew would be along shortly to deal with the remains, so she hopped down and started dashing back towards the astral tear. It was several blocks away, but the suit she wore, made of smart nano-weave tech, was able to enhance her strength and speed, so it only took her a few minutes to get there. She rounded the final corner and there it was, a large distortion in the sky above the street, sending out peals of white-blue light in erratic bursts as it emitted a screeching sound like metal grinding against concrete. It looked like a piece of glass had cracked the fabric of reality, with jagged splinters reaching out from the epicenter. There was a shift in her posture as she noticed the splinters growing longer. Underneath she saw the other two in her unit waiting, staring up at the chaotic hole in reality. One was a tall muscular man, with short brown hair. The other was a redheaded woman, with a similar stature to Mae, if a bit rounder in certain places. She, too, had her hair tied up in a ponytail. They both wore the same black nano-weave suits as Mae. ¡°Tristan! Sarah! What are you two waiting for?¡± She half shouted over the grinding and screeching sound coming from the tear. ¡°You should already be in your suspension chambers. We need to get that tear closed before any more anomalies make it through, or worse.¡± ¡°Worse is right,¡± came the voice from their earpieces. ¡°We¡¯re estimating roughly thirty minutes until we have a full-on Astral Burst.¡± ¡°That could level this entire block,¡± Sarah said. ¡°I think these are load bearing for the upper city too.¡± ¡°We can speculate later,¡± Tristan said. ¡°Mae is right, we need to get in there and repair the node.¡± He turned towards the vehicle parked at the side of the street. It looked like a silver pill; an elongated featureless cylinder that hovered a few feet off the ground. As he approached, a section on the side of the vehicle appeared and he climbed inside. Sarah followed with Mae close behind. The moment she was through the entrance the door phased back into existence and the cacophony outside was immediately silenced. Inside was a white, cozy space, with five reclining couches. They looked plush and comfortable. Each of them took their seats, leaning back, and the lights began to dim. ¡°No time to do this unassisted,¡± Mae said. The other two nodded, and they tapped a pad on the armrests of their chairs. A compartment opened to reveal a small bottle with a dropper cap. Mae suppressed a grimace at the thought of the bitter chemical inside, but she didn¡¯t hesitate. Along with the others she extracted the contents of the bottle and put a drop of the liquid on her tongue. She quickly put the dropper back in the bottle and returned it to the compartment. The world began to lose its distinctiveness, she felt a pressure on her chest along with the urge to fall into a thousand dreams. Long practice helped her suppress that urge, and she began the process of focusing on forming her Astral Body. This was essential to being able to affect anything on the other side. The more time spent over there, the more detailed a body one required. Now, floating above her unconscious form, rose a robed figure, hair loose and floating as if under water, with sporadic shimmers of electricity flowing through the follicles intermittently. She focused on the tether between her Astral and True Body, enhancing it through a force of will. She turned to see the other two were ready and waiting. Tristan¡¯s form glowed like a cinder, while Sarah¡¯s emanated a warm revitalizing aura. They looked up, rose through the vehicle and, one by one, entered the astral fissure. *** ¡°It was only for a brief time, and I couldn¡¯t go far, but it was one of the most amazing and strange experiences of my life.¡± Ryan finished his tale of the previous night. Lisa and Derek had listened with rapt attention to the story of his first out-of-body experience. The looks on his two friends¡¯ faces clearly juxtaposed the differences in their reactions. Derek¡¯s was the look of his usual skepticism, while Lisa¡¯s was harder to pin down. Complicated at least. They were hanging out in the cafeteria where they were grabbing a snack for the mid-morning break. Derek held an unpeeled banana while Lisa had gorged herself on a blueberry muffin, making it halfway through before the subject of Ryan¡¯s story got her attention. ¡°Are you sure it wasn¡¯t just another lucid dream?¡± Derek asked. ¡°Pretty sure,¡± Ryan said, contemplating the look on Lisa¡¯s face for another moment before turning back to Derek. ¡°It¡¯s hard to describe. You know how dreams have a certain feel to them. Even Lucid dreams have that same feel. Being out of my body felt like being awake but disconnected from physicality. When I was back in my body it didn¡¯t feel like waking up. It was as if I was already awake through the whole experience. I¡¯m not sure why I couldn¡¯t go more than a few feet from my body though. That tugging sensation on my belly got stronger the further away I got.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Soul Tether,¡± Lisa said. ¡°It¡¯s what keeps your body and soul connected during projection. If it isn¡¯t enhanced, an unconsciously formed limit will be placed to protect that connection.¡± She looked a little disheartened as she shared her knowledge. ¡°This must really grate at you, huh Lisa. You¡¯ve been trying this for years and Ryan pulls it off in a few days?¡± Derek intended his words to come across as playful teasing, but the jab hit a little too close to home, and both the boys knew it immediately. ¡°I think I can share the eBook with you through the Sifting App, if you want Lisa?¡± Ryan said, trying to mediate the damage. ¡°Sorry Lis,¡± Derek said. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it the way it came out.¡± Lisa let out a frustrated sigh but put a smile back on her face. ¡°Sure Ryan, I¡¯ll take a look. And you¡¯re a jerk Derek Peterson.¡± She punched him on the arm, a little harder than usual. He started rubbing at it immediately after, though without protesting his punishment. ¡°Even though I might not be speaking from experience,¡± she went on, giving Derek another seething look while directing her words towards Ryan. ¡°I believe what you want to do next time is focus on developing your ¡®Astral Body¡¯ which will help solidify your presence on the other side.¡± ¡°I think there''s a section on that in my second reading assignment,¡± Ryan said. ¡°I haven¡¯t really had a chance to delve into that one yet.¡± ¡°I could take a look at that one as well if you don¡¯t mind,¡± Lisa said. ¡°What about the third one on that list? ¡°As far as I can tell that one is just a bunch of gibberish,¡± Ryan complained. ¡°I did notice a strange reaction between it and¡­¡± Ryan trailed off. He had an inhibition towards telling anyone about the Concentrated Firmament. The stranger¡¯s words to tell no one reverberated in his mind. He didn¡¯t know he came from or why he had given the strange object to Ryan, but he was certain it was important he keep it to himself. ¡°¡­and the way words look in dreams,¡± Ryan said, attempting to recover. Lisa gave him another look that he didn¡¯t know how to interpret. Was that suspicion on her face? ¡°Well,¡± she said, letting him off the hook for his near blunder. ¡°I can probably help you a bit with densification, if you want.¡± ¡°Den¡ªsifi¡ªcation?¡± Ryan said, testing out the word. ¡°That¡¯s what it¡¯s called. Astral Densification. Or Stabilization. Or Embodiment. I have a few tricks I could teach you. Maybe come by after school?¡± Both Ryan and Derek¡¯s eyes widened at the suggestion. A stupid grin crept at the corners of Derek¡¯s mouth while Ryan remained somewhat flabbergasted. ¡°Uh, sure,¡± he stammered. ¡°I mean, I can¡¯t,¡± he looked a little crestfallen. ¡°I have the afterschool thing with Derek.¡± ¡°Not a problem,¡± she said. ¡°You can stop by after that.¡± ¡°Yeah, ok then,¡± he confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s not like my Mom will be waiting for me to get home anyway.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± Lisa chided. ¡°I know, sorry.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not like you,¡± Derek said. ¡°You usually sound proud about how much your mother works. Everything ok?¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t know where that came from. Maybe I¡¯m feeling a little bit lonely lately. And I¡¯ve been waking up a lot more groggily than usual as well.¡± ¡°Quit messing with your sleep cycle so much then, man. And you know you¡¯re not alone.¡± Derek put a hand on Ryan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve got us.¡± Lisa nodded encouragingly. Ryan gave them both a smile, doing his best to hide the tide of emotions that had begun to fester in him recently. *** ¡°Something¡¯s wrong Mae,¡± Sarah said, running her hand along the rocky wall, slick with moisture. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the Astral actualize this solidly since the Crisis.¡± The astral realm they had entered had changed form from when they had entered the last time. Before it had been the typical fuzzy detailed unreality they were used to. Now it was like they were in a realized space. It took on the appearance of an underground cave with meandering paths and rocky walls with a low ceiling. A floating orb of flame hovered near each of them, curtesy of Tristan¡¯s ability, casting flickering shadows over the textured surfaces. They had not yet encountered any of the creatures that had broken through the breach, as they made their way through the maze of corridors. Still, there was a sense of growing dread as they wandered deeper in, an increasingly heavy weight tugging at their chests. ¡°It¡¯s not our job to speculate on the nature of this event,¡± Mae said, all business. ¡°We just need to find the source of the anomalous activity and repair the fracture.¡± ¡°Still, what the hell kind of beings are these?¡± Sarah shuddered while gesticulating. ¡°Giant hands. Little hands. Hands?! Not the type of nightmare creatures we¡¯ve ever had to deal with before.¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s having bad dreams,¡± Tristan said. ¡°I thought he didn¡¯t dream anymore,¡± Sarah returned. ¡°No detectable activity in the brain since they induced the coma.¡± ¡°It¡¯s either that or we¡¯re dealing with a cosmic entity that has a thing for human hands,¡± Tristan said. ¡°Let¡¯s just focus on finding the core,¡± Mae said. ¡°In fact, I think we¡¯re getting close.¡± She turned a corner and stepped into an expansive cavern, lit by a soft amber light. All three of them looked in awe at the crystalline structures jutting from the wall. ¡°Pure amrita deposits,¡± Sarah whispered reverently. ¡°We should probably do a little mining while we¡¯re here Mae,¡± Tristan suggested. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we¡¯ve been able to enhance our abilities. This is a rare find.¡± Mae nodded her ascent but kept a wary eye on the rest of the cavern. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said, noticing her expression. ¡°I¡¯ll be quick. I am uncomfortable with what this amount of raw amrita actualizing means for how much time we have left.¡± He pinched his fingers together causing a warm glow to appear between them, as he pulled them apart a ball of flame appeared and then lanced out in a searing white beam, cutting off sections of the crystal. He took several large pieces and placed them into a bag that looked entirely too small compared to what he was putting in them. A skittering sound pattered in echoes throughout the cavern, bouncing off the various surfaces. All three turned in the same direction simultaneously, sensing the source of the noise. An emerald bow appeared in Sarahs left hand and she plucked and arrow from then air behind her back, notching it into a glowing golden string on the bow. Tristan ignited a fireball in each hand. Mae drew her katana, electricity arcing along the blade. A thousand tiny hands swarmed towards them, like an infestation of plague rats fleeing a coming flood. *** ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me it works?¡± Derek said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying it works,¡± Ryan corrected. They were having a hushed conversation at their usual spot during the lunch period. Lisa had gone off to do, whatever it is girls did, and Ryan had used that chance to talk about their jailbreaking project. ¡°We won¡¯t know if it actually works until it runs out of HP.¡± ¡°But still, it is deducting health from itself without even getting to the lying part. I think that means it knows you will know it is lying and determines it will lose the health regardless. That¡¯s some serious predictive reasoning.¡± ¡°It is one of the most advanced personal AI¡¯s on the market,¡± Ryan said. He had just finished his meal and stood up to toss it in the trash. The bin was only five or six feet away, and he¡¯d made the shot a thousand times, but on this day an unexpected gust lifted the Styrofoam container up and popped open the latch, causing the half eating burger to flip out and land on the one shoe in the whole school that it shouldn¡¯t have. Jeremy Witkins looked down at his once pristine sneakers, mouth agape. His toadies scoffed, covering their mouths and pointing. The bustle around the yard grew silent. Jeremy visibly pulled himself together and then looked up to see Ryan frozen in the mid throw position, eyes wide with horror. ¡°So, it¡¯s not just losing to me at the writing contest,¡± Jeremy said. ¡°You¡¯re jealous of my shoes too?¡± He looked down at Ryan¡¯s sneakers, which were admittedly a little worse for wear. ¡°Still,¡± he said, sitting down next to Ryan on the bench and putting a friendly, consoling arm over his shoulders. ¡°You didn¡¯t miss out on much. The grand prize was a lie anyway. The whole line of PerSpectives were recalled due to faulty software or some such. My father has already filed a lawsuit for false advertising. We¡¯ll probably make more in the settlement than those stupid goggles were worth. All I got for my efforts was this SmartPaper.¡± He pulled out what looked like a folded piece of paper, and then used it to wipe the ketchup stain from his shoe. ¡°See, even a paper towel has more utility than this crap.¡± He tossed the stained paper onto Ryan¡¯s lap. ¡°Whoops,¡± he said. ¡°Seems I¡¯ve made it look like you soiled yourself.¡± There were various pained ¡°oo¡¯s¡± and chuckles from the crowd that had stopped to observe the interaction. The general feeling was that of disappointment, as Jeremy¡¯s reaction to Ryan¡¯s blunder seemed relatively tame. Still, Ryan felt the heat on his face that came with the inevitable blush of embarrassment. ¡°Anyway, you can have it. I already have loads of this crap at home.¡± He got up and left, Ryan and Derek mouth agape at the departing kid¡¯s back. ¡°What was that?¡± Derek said finally. ¡°I think,¡± Ryan replied, picking up the paper. ¡°That was Jeremy¡¯s version of being nice.¡± He looked down at his pants in dismay. ¡°It really does look like I soiled myself. But I¡¯m keeping this SmartPaper. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s water resistant, so I¡¯m going to go rinse it off in the bathroom sink. Maybe I can clean off the stains on my pants without making it look like I really wet myself.¡± After cleaning off as much as he could of himself and his unexpected gift, Ryan put the paper into his pocket, sliding it right up against the marble he kept in there. The moment his fingers touched the Concentrated Firmament he felt a brief painful shock, causing him to jerk his hand away. ¡°Ow,¡± he exclaimed angrily, sucking on his now numb finger. ¡°What was that?¡± He stepped out into the hallway and nearly collided with one of the non-teacher faculty members. ¡°Jesus, Ryan, I almost ran you over!¡± It was Mr. Clark, one of the school¡¯s IT Administrators. Tall, gangly, and strapped with a utility belt full of various tools of the trade, he was like the MacGyver of the technical world. Ryan shook his head at the reference from centuries past that most people wouldn¡¯t even get. ¡°Where are you going in such a rush?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh, you know the life of a lowly IT,¡± opined the bespectacled gentleman, adjusting his black tie. ¡°Always running from one crisis to the next.¡± ¡°What crisis are you running away from this time?¡± Ryan asked with a wry smile. ¡°Ahem, excuse me young sir,¡± the IT tsked with his index finger. ¡°I am actually heading towards danger this time.¡± His brow scrunched. ¡°Actually, this probably would be a good time to get your friend Derek involved. The best way to learn how to fix things is to deal with them while they¡¯re broken.¡± Derek was also a part of the Information Systems club and shadowed the IT department during free period to learn the ropes of that trade. ¡°If you see him, send him to the janitor¡¯s closet on the west wing.¡± Ryan stopped breathing for a second. ¡°The j-janitor¡¯s closet? What¡¯s going on in there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± said Mr. Clark. ¡°Something is interfering with the school¡¯s network, and I think I¡¯ve narrowed it down to the network stack we have racked above the ceiling tile in there. Anyway, no time to chat, I gotta get going. Don¡¯t forget to tell Derek to join me when you see him.¡± With that Mr. Clark rushed off down the hallway. Ryan turned and headed back towards his friend. *** ¡°Mission Report,¡± Xavier Chandra, the Director of the Incursion Specialists division of the Ministry of Integrity¡¯s Crisis Response department demanded as the three exhausted looking Travelers entered the debriefing room at their headquarters in the Ministry of Integrity. They had had bags under their eyes and their skin looked pallid. Tristan, cradling his brow in attempt to massage away his headache, was the first to speak. ¡°The node breach is secured. Locus repaired within 98% of its original form. There will be no more Incursions from that location.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like a ¡®Mission Success¡¯ kind of response,¡± Xavier challenged. ¡°What went wrong?¡± This time Mae spoke up. ¡°This one was different boss,¡± she said. ¡°There seemed to be an intelligence behind the anomalies. When we got inside there were millions of those little hands all over the walls and floors. They tried crawling up our skin and insinuating themselves into us. After I let out a chain lighting burst, they retreated and formed into what looked like a little child. He smiled and then sank into the Locus somehow. We were not able to detect him so we repaired it and the fissure closed¡­¡± ¡°¡­but it feels like this isn¡¯t over,¡± Sarah finished for her. Xavier looked thoughtful, rubbing the smooth dark skin over the top of his bald head. ¡°It is possible He is trying to wake up,¡± he said. The entire group looked suddenly much more alert. ¡°Whoa, Boss,¡± said Tristan. ¡°That¡¯s a little bit of a leap. More like, he¡¯s having a nightmare.¡± The burly man repeated his thoughts from when they were in the incursion space. ¡°That could be worse,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Ok, I hate to do this to you guys, but we need to stay on high alert. Get rest, as much as you can, but be ready for another call. If you¡¯re right, it will be sooner rather than later.¡± The trio sauntered out of the room to get some much-needed rack time. An older man with a ruddy complexion entered the room through the back door after the team had left. Dr. Heraldo Fuentes, the head of the Astral Incursion Research Division, was a contemporary of the famous Dr. Neuman, though they had parted ways when Dr. Fuentes decided to work directly under the Ministry of Integrity. He had a white goatee on his chin and crew cut on his head that practically glowed against the darker skin. When he spoke his accent carried the lilt that suggested his mother tongue was of Latin origin. ¡°I¡¯m not sure it was wise to mention him during your debriefing,¡± the man said. ¡°That information is highly restricted.¡± ¡°Doctor Fuentes, I was curious if you were listening in. If my A Team can¡¯t handle that level of information then they wouldn¡¯t be my A Team,¡± Xavier said. ¡°It¡¯s all speculation at this point. If there really was any brain activity that would be a different matter altogether.¡± ¡°Funny you should mention that¡± the older man said. ¡°You¡¯re kidding.¡± Xavier stated with a finality that suggested he better not be. ¡°It was just a brief spike,¡± the man said. ¡°But the timing was a little more than curious. Right around when the node was repaired, in fact.¡± Xavier just stared at him. ¡°Also, there was a power surge in District 7 moments later.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play coy with me doctor,¡± Xavier said coldly. ¡°Just cut to the chase.¡± ¡°Sorry Director, we scientists don¡¯t like to speak in absolutes. But I understand you need something actionable. Long story short, the prevailing theory is that whatever has caused the last couple of events has moved to the seventh district. We don¡¯t know its motivation or purpose, but we believe it is only a matter of time before an Incursion event occurs in that district.¡± ¡°A brief power surge that happened to coincide with one of our operations is a bit thin to act upon,¡± Xavier said. ¡°How can you rule it as anything other than a coincidence?¡± ¡°Well,¡± the doctor leaned forward conspiratorially. ¡°And this actually is quite confidential,¡± he whispered. ¡°But a person of interest was detected in that area just a few days ago.¡± The Director¡¯s head tilted and his eye rose. ¡°Tiresias?¡± he asked. ¡°No, someone else we have been tracking since the Crisis. But we have strong reason to believe if he was there, the other had some influence on events. Either way, our predictive models heavily imply that the next event is most likely to occur in that area.¡± ¡°How much time?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°By our calculations, based off the recorded pre-phenomena of the last two incursions and the frequency of the pulse we detected after the power surge, we are estimating approximately thirty-six hours until a tear forms.¡± The doctor adjusted his frameless glasses, a nervous gesture he indulged in more frequently around the Director than anywhere else. ¡°Understood, I¡¯ll get my team ready to deploy as soon as they¡¯ve recovered from their last mission.¡± ¡°A wise choice, sir,¡± the scientist said, bowing slightly. ¡°Anything they can do to ascertain the purpose of this entity will be greatly appreciated.¡± ¡°Of course, all the information from our mission logs is at your disposal,¡± the director said as a polite dismissal. After he left Xavier tapped a few times on his watch. The sound of Mae¡¯s voice came through his earpiece after only half a ring. ¡°Boss?¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t over, get your unit rested and ready to deploy in six hours,¡± he said. ¡°Sir, it will take longer than six hours to recover from a chemically induced projection,¡± she protested. Mae would never question authority in front of her team, but when it was just between the two of them, she wouldn¡¯t hesitate to stand up for them. It was what made her a great unit leader, but Xavier had to admit it rankled him slightly. ¡°You can continue to rest up en route,¡± he said. ¡°Analysis division says we have 36 hours until the next event.¡± ¡°Where we headed?¡± she asked. ¡°District Seven?!¡± Sarah complained a few minutes later after Mae had informed the two of their upcoming mission. ¡°What are we doing going out to some backwater province? We¡¯re a little high profile to suddenly show up there unannounced. Won¡¯t that cause a huge panic?¡± ¡°You know better than to question orders,¡± Mae chided. ¡°Chandra has a cover for us in the works anyway,¡± she added. ¡°Apparently we¡¯re going to be doing a little recruiting for the next generation of Travelers.¡± ¡°What, we¡¯re assessing students for potential at the local high school?¡± Tristan asked. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad cover, if you think about it. The other teams have gone out to several districts over the last couple of years to find potentials amongst the applicants to the Astral Academy. Our boss is no fool.¡± ¡°No, he isn¡¯t. Let¡¯s get rested up as best we can, we leave in six hours.¡± Mae left them to it and headed for the shower. As steam began to rise from the hot jet of water, she tapped a panel on her left shoulder in a specific series of patterns and the skintight suit became slack, loosening so she could strip it off her body. A large, jagged scar flared from her left shoulder down across her back, stopping near the right side of her belly. The wound had healed long ago, but now it felt raw like the day she¡¯d received it. She thought back to her time as a child, before everything in her life went sideways. ¡°Tommy,¡± she whispered. ¡°Why did you have to¡­¡± she trailed off, shaking her head before stepping into the steaming stream of water, letting herself get lost in the mist that filled up the tiled space. 11 - Fissure Forming Henry Clark often wondered how he¡¯d landed the position he had at the school as the administrator of all things IT. He had no real idea what he wanted to do with himself after high school aside from the vague notion that he liked computers. He had got into a mild argument with his father one day, in which his dad had claimed that in the guard they allowed you to drink at the age of eighteen. Henry had yelled something along the lines of ¡°you don¡¯t believe in alcohol, father!¡± at his dad and found himself at the recruiter¡¯s office the next day. He did his time in the service and then floated from one gig to the next until he¡¯d landed the job at District Seven¡¯s Elective High School. The previous administrator had a very lazy attitude towards the job and Henry threw himself at it, doing his best to improve and update the infrastructure of the whole school, running cables through the whole building and adding access points in strategic locations. He had network stacks in each wing on all three floors of the school providing each with multiple layers of redundancy. So, it wasn¡¯t like the switch above the janitor¡¯s closet on the east wing of the first floor was essential for the school¡¯s network to operate. In fact, most people wouldn¡¯t even notice there was an issue at all. But he was a bit of a perfectionist, and seeing the strange inconsistencies of the packets coming through that stack had his hackles on the rise. One of the perks of his job was that he had the veritable keys to the kingdom. Anywhere a device needed network connectivity he had access to, which just so happened to be everywhere. He was just about to slip his key into the door of the closet when Derek arrived with Ryan in tow. Both were heaving in lungfuls of air, so we were unable to speak for a few minutes. ¡°Holy cow, Ryan! I just meant it would be a good learning opportunity, not that he needed to sprint his way down here.¡± He shook his head at the two boys and turned back to the door, lining his key up with the lock. ¡°Wait, don¡¯t!¡± Ryan stifled himself from shouting. Being out of breath assisted with that. ¡°Don¡¯t what?¡± Henry asked as he turned the handle and began opening the door. Both the boys winced, as if expecting something to explode. ¡°Guys?¡± Henry gave them a quizzical expression. ¡°You¡­Okay?¡± ¡°What? Yeah, we¡¯re just messing around,¡± Derek said dismissively. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Mr. Clark shook his head, turning back to the closet. ¡°Not sure yet. Some packet loss. Other packets have messed up headers. Some getting routed to the wrong device.¡± He had been flipping the light switch up and down while he spoke, looking up and around, but no illumination came. In the end he pulled out his flashlight and handed it to Derek. ¡°You mind?¡± he asked. Derek clicked on the light and shone it up at the ceiling while Henry unfolded a step ladder he grabbed from the wall, climbed up, and started poking at the ceiling tile. A few white flakes fell on his shoulders before he got the tile up and out of the way. The roar of fans running at high speed filled the cramped room, bleeding out into the hallway. Ryan absently slipped his hand inside his pocket, tentatively reaching out to the orb. It didn¡¯t shock him this time, but was warm to the touch. He was watching the various flashing green lights of the switch as Henry hooked up a diagnostic tool to one of the ports. After a moment Mr. Clark apparently got the data he needed and slid the tile back into place, muffling the fans and sprinkling a little more of the white dust everywhere. He looked towards the broom hanging on a rack next to where the step ladder had been, obviously thinking about cleaning up, took a look back at the device in his hand, shrugged, and put the step ladder back in place. He saw the amused judgement on Derek¡¯s face and answered with a challenging ¡°what?¡± They both chuckled as he closed the door. ¡°Want to see the results?¡± he asked the two of them. Ryan looked at the time on his watch and shook his head sadly. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve got Biology next. Last time I missed a class it took me forever to catch up. Thanks though.¡± Derek gave him a fist bump, and they shared a look. Neither had any idea what they had been expecting, aside from the fact that they were expecting something. The lack of anything out of the ordinary left them both feeling a bit more let down than relieved. There were only two more periods to the day, both classes were a bit of a slog but also required Ryan to be directly involved in labs, so he didn¡¯t have much time to let his extracurricular concerns impede on his thoughts. Instead, his mind just let them stew in the background until the final bell rang and the students were set free to their own devices for the rest of the evening. He and Derek had planned to meet up outside the school Library, where the Astral Academy Study Group met up every other day. They had about fifteen minutes before the club would start and took the time to discuss the non-event from earlier. ¡°Look, I¡¯m actually a little more worried that we didn¡¯t see anything than if there had been some entity in there,¡± Derek said. ¡°I know, right? Somehow, despite seeing for myself, the ominous has only increased.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Derek continued. ¡°The data Mr. Clark collected seemed to indicate some kind of electro-magnetic interference damaged the switches. We swapped them out and they¡¯re running fine now.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Ryan took on a thoughtful expression. ¡°So, something definitely was there but isn¡¯t anymore. Either it¡¯s gone now, or it¡¯s intermittent and will come back.¡± ¡°I had another thought.¡± Derek said. ¡°What if it¡¯s still there, but the type of interference is no longer magnetic, but some other type of radiation that is invisible to the human eye. And what if we had some way to see those parts of the spectrum?¡± Ryan nodded as he understood what Derek was getting at. ¡°You want me to try and check with the PerSpectives? See if they detect anything?¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Derek said. ¡°We can try it now, if you want, or wait until after the meeting.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t the door be locked?¡± Ryan asked. ¡°You didn¡¯t notice? Mr. Clark totally forgot to lock it.¡± ¡°Forgot, huh?¡± Ryan threw up air quotes at the word. ¡°Either way, let¡¯s wait until after,¡± Ryan said. ¡°I¡¯m already late trying to get into the club, I don¡¯t want to show up late on the day I¡¯m trying to join late.¡± Derek rolled his eyes at Ryan¡¯s convoluted sentence, and they headed into the Library. Mr. Fritzinski, the teacher running the after-school program, turned out to be completely ok with Ryan joining. He was a bit of an enigmatic figure, with wild locks of hair jutting out in odd and contradictory directions, like he¡¯d stuck his tongue into an electrical socket and didn¡¯t bother to pat his hair back down afterward. Which sort of jived with his position as the AP Physics teacher. His mannerisms, gestures, and speech patterns all seemed to follow that theme, as being one who was recently¡ªor about to be¡ªstruck by lightning. He was funny, serious and above all intense. To Ryan¡¯s surprise, the group began with a guided meditation exercise. Derek had always been so vocally opposed to all things spiritual, so Ryan was thrown off by him being involved in a practice that was originally designed to help humans touch the divine. In his mind the group would be more focused on the technical aspects involved in the Astral Academy and knowledge necessary to pass the entrance exam. The meditation technique was new to him but was akin to the methods he¡¯d been practicing recently, so it didn¡¯t take him long to slip into the meditative mindset. There were no rules on posture for this meditation, the students just needed to be relaxed and try to focus on the teacher¡¯s words. There were chairs, couches, pillows and mats. Ryan sat in the lotus position on one of the latter, legs crossed and hands in his lap, one cupped under the other. The words of the instructor were forming an image in his mind. The lights were dimmed in the library as Mr. Fritzinski began leading the meditation. ¡°Calm your mind and focus on your breath,¡± he began. ¡°Your breath is the center of your being. Your breath is the source of life. Imagine the vital energy of the world entering in through your lungs as green vapor. Hold that breath and let the light flow through your body. At the same time imagine the negative energy within your body as a red light that you are collecting back into your lungs. As you exhale, release the negative and inhale the positive. Your thoughts may rise and fall, but they are not who you are. Let them come and go as they will, but do not attach yourself to them. You are your breath; your breath is your center.¡± The meditation went on in this vein, but in time Ryan was no longer listening to the man, for he had sensed something within himself while imagining the energy flow. A core in his abdomen. An orb of light that was spinning sideways. He felt like he could spin with it too, if he grabbed onto it. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The lights came back up to full brightness, jerking him from that state. He blinked wide eyed, forgetting where he was for a moment. Derek gave him a concerned look, but Ryan shook his head, indicating he was ok. They formed a circle of chairs and Mr. Fritzinski began the next activity, which was a sort of hybrid lecture and rapid fire quiz session. ¡°What is the purpose of the Ministry of Integrity?¡± he asked. ¡°Ms. Samson?¡± ¡°To maintain the boundary between our world and the Astral,¡± said the girl a few seats to Ryan¡¯s left. She spoke as if she¡¯d memorized the answer. ¡°It was founded in the year 2235 in response to the events of the Crisis.¡± ¡°And what were the events of the Crisis?¡± he asked, gesturing to another student. ¡°Mr. Todd?¡± ¡°The ah, the ah,¡± began the boy with a bit of a stutter before getting his sentence in order, at which point Ryan¡ªalong with the rest of the class¡ªwas treated to a deluge of words. ¡°The rapid degeneration of reality due to conflicting paradigms. The terrorist Tomas Tiresias broke the layer that kept the Astral world separated from the Real world, causing the two dimensions to overlap in a¡ªuh¡ªchaotic and devastating fashion. Even after the barrier was restored, through the efforts of the Ministry, Incursions continued to occur for years until the membrane was able to be healed.¡± ¡°Always a pleasure Todd,¡± the teacher nodded at the long-winded explanation and the class chuckled. ¡°So, what was the method they came up with to heal the rifts?¡± He asked the room. Another student took it upon themselves to answer. Ryan thought her name was Janice, but he didn¡¯t have any classes with her, so he wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°The first Astral Traveler teams were formed to go into the Astral and repair the damage from the other side,¡± she said. ¡°Now, in ideal circumstances, the Astral Travelers will be able to put themselves in the state necessary to project themselves into the Astral. Unfortunately, in their line of work, situations are rarely ideal. When time is of the essence, what are their options? Ms. Rice?¡± A girl across the circle from Ryan and Derek answered. ¡°There is the Chemical Q, that can be used to induce the state,¡± she said. ¡°Yes,¡± the instructor concurred. ¡°But it comes with heavy consequences. Once the Traveler returns to their physical form, they are unable to enter the state again without some serious rest and relaxation. There are other, less drastic methods, Mr. Hito?¡± This time a boy next to Ryan answered. ¡°Brainwave entrainment can induce the desired state,¡± he said. ¡°Though it won¡¯t work as quickly and is subject to interference if a nearby fissure is unstable.¡± ¡°Very good. Why is it important to practice meditation?¡± This time he looked directly at Ryan. ¡°Mr. Donovan?¡± ¡°Well,¡± suddenly very self-aware, Ryan could feel the blush rising up his neck and into his cheeks. He pulled knowledge from his recent reading assignments. ¡°The act of regularly tuning the mind to the meditative state will eventually make all states meditative,¡± he quoted from Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming. To his surprise, Mr. Fritzinski caught on to that fact. ¡°Ah, a reader of Gupta Rama, huh? Where has you friend been hiding, Mr. Petersen?¡± ¡°In a Library usually,¡± Derek muttered. ¡°This one just doesn¡¯t have enough books for his taste.¡± The group laughed, but it was a comfortable laugh that made Ryan feel welcome and among friends. A feeling he rarely, if ever, experienced in large groups. He smiled, and the rapid-fire questions continued. He learned a lot about the Astral Traveler program of the Ministry that he hadn¡¯t known and was glad he¡¯d accepted Derek¡¯s offer to join them. Ryan had never really set his sights on what he would do after High School, but maybe following Derek to the Astral Academy wasn¡¯t entirely out of the question. After the club wrapped up, Derek and Ryan headed to their lockers to grab their stuff, then headed to the Janitor¡¯s closet to try their experiment. Derek acted as lookout while Ryan extracted the PerSpectives from the bottom of his bag. He put them on and felt a sense of security as the familiar weight of them pressed against his head. The display initialized and a system message appeared.
Welcome Back Aitherios 30XP Earned for Lessons Learned Continue to Strive for Academic Excellence!
¡°Thanks, Helios. Spying on me from my backpack now?¡± Ryan joked. The system stuttered slightly, and the HUD Updated.
Helios System AI HP: 20/50
Ryan sighed and shook his head. ¡°Anyway,¡± he said, tentatively reaching for the handle to the closet door. Sure enough, it was still unlocked, and the door opened smoothly. Inside, it looked the same as it had earlier. ¡°Helios,¡± Ryan prompted. ¡°Can we do a spectral analysis?¡±
Engaging Spectral Analysis Anomaly detected. Analyzing¡­ WARNING! Proto-Astral Gate Detected Time until Rift forms 34:22:13
The timer drifted up under the task bar of his display, counting down and flashing red.
New Task: Close the Gate An Incursion Event is Immanent Objective: Repair the Locus before the Timer Runs Out This is an Event Quest and must be completed within the specified timeframe. Reward: One Gold Store Token Penalty for Failure: Astral Incursion
¡°Ok, so this isn¡¯t good,¡± Ryan said to Derek after reading the alarming system messages. ¡°It¡¯s actually exactly what I was afraid of. There¡¯s a fissure forming inside this closet. The PerSpectives say it will open in about 34 hours. Also,¡± Ryan lifted up the goggles and pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Apparently I have a new quest to fix it myself.¡± ¡°What?¡± Derek said. ¡°Wait, What? What?!¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know if those are rhetorical, or you need me to repeat anything I just said?¡± ¡°No, yeah, shut up,¡± Derek turned to start pacing. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°What am I going to do?¡± Ryan parroted incredulously. ¡°We need to tell the Ministry of Integrity, of course!¡± ¡°Think about it Ryan. How do we know about the fissure? Because you had a dream, and were able confirm it with the suspiciously recalled AR goggles that you won from an essay writing contest that you officially didn¡¯t win? You¡¯ll be taken away in an unmarked vehicle, never to be seen or heard from again!¡± ¡°You¡¯re being a little paranoid, Derek,¡± Ryan admonished. ¡°Am I? Ryan? Have you ever seen one of those vehicles before?¡± Ryan thought about the vehicle he¡¯d seen the other day, and about the mysterious stranger, and about the orb that was starting to feel like it was burning a hole in his pants pocket. ¡°Ok,¡± he admitted reluctantly. ¡°You might have a point. But what are we gonna do then?¡± ¡°This is going to sound crazy, but I think you should try to fix it,¡± Derek said. ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t know the first thing about how to do that,¡± Ryan said. ¡°Don¡¯t you though? What do you think that headset has been training you for all this time? The reading assignments. The lucid dreaming. The astral projection?¡± Ryan didn¡¯t have anything to say to that, so Derek continued. ¡°I think you should take Lisa up on her offer, learn what you can about that densifying stuff and give it a shot. We¡¯ve got almost three days, so if it doesn¡¯t work tonight, we¡¯ll have all day tomorrow to figure out how to inform the Ministry anonymously.¡± Ryan sighed. ¡°This is kind of a big deal, man,¡± he said. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll try, but if I couldn¡¯t make it more than a few feet from my body last night, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m supposed to project several blocks to get all the way over here.¡± Derek reluctantly acceded the point with a nod. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got a date with Lisa tonight anyway, so see how that goes, and we can talk after.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a date,¡± Ryan blushed, momentarily forgetting the somewhat dire circumstances. ¡°Sure, bud,¡± Derek said. ¡°She never invited me over before.¡± As they turned to head back down the hall, Jeremy Witkins quickly ducked into a nearby classroom. He had been leaving the showers after practice when he heard their voices and couldn¡¯t fight the urge to do a little snooping. He opened an app on his phone called Scribble Tattle, which he¡¯d synced with his Smart Paper. The paper he¡¯d given Ryan earlier had a transcription mode enabled which would record everything it heard and transmit it to his app. He didn¡¯t understand most of what they were on about, but when he read what Derek said about the goggles his heart went up in his throat. How had that cheating little imposter gotten his hands on the grand prize. Jeremy had won that contest; everyone saw the email. Besides, the Sifting Corporation had issued a recall on the goggles. Something wasn¡¯t right with this, he thought, and was determined to get to the bottom of it.