《Rule Breaker》 CHAPTER 0: PROLOGUE ¡°Loading sequence code 16F524 part 15 section B, ¡°Major historical events related to the creation of Ashen Green¡±, to get more detailed information about a certain date use the appropriate protocol¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­ Load complete, ready to start sequence?¡± A robotic-like voice of a female resounded in the ears of Mathew, who was seated cross-legged in the corner of a poorly lit room. In fact, the only source of light was a screen in a desk 3 meters away from him, in the center of the room. He was a tall and slender boy, 190 cm and 75kg, his face was round, and his hair was short, as if a soldier didn¡¯t go for a haircut for 2 months. His facial features were soft, he wasn¡¯t handsome but he couldn¡¯t be called ugly either. His skin was withe, but even more than withe, it was pale, because of the poor exposition to the sun. In fact, since his fathers died eight years ago, when he was nine, in a terrorist attack, everybody started to look to him with pity, even his classmates and friends of his age. He secluded himself from others and focused in his studies, he was gifted for being in a lineage of geniuses, both, his father and his mother, were outstanding scientist in the field of AI (Artificial Intelligence) research, so when he graduated from high school at the age of thirteen, he decided not to go to a University, but study from home. Although uncommon, it wasn''t a big feat. In this era, while in-person universities still had 75% or more of the student population, there was still the option of virtual universities. What was surprising was what he chose to study: History. ¡°Start sequence. Guidance mode. Start from year 2030. Start recording protocol.¡± ¡°Guidance mode enabled. Starting recording, chose save location¡­¡± ¡°Save location: Memory disk F.¡± ¡°Saving location confirmed, starting sequence.¡± He was wearing a big headset with an attached microphone and an old fashioned virtual reality glasses. If someone saw him, they would begin to laugh. It was because for some reason he was using technology of at least 30 years ago. But in truth, he had his reasons. Even for studying History he had his reasons. ¡°Year 2030. Charles Jacobs and 37 great scientist formed the WCAIP (World Class Artificial Intelligence Parliament). Although the humanity has been successful in creating highly intelligent machines, they were far from being an artificial intelligence. The group gathered activist from around the world and a lot incentives where gathered for the research. In October of 2030¡­¡± He had been studying history since 4 years ago, he knew every word and every detail the female voice was telling him, but he was watching attentively for something. ¡°¡­ In February of 2035, after the 4th annual congress of the WCAIP was concluded, Charles Jacob was heavy criticized for what he stated to be the ¡°Absolute Laws of the AI¡±, stating that was impossible to create an AI, but the WCAIP had to look in another direction, instead of trying to create one from scratch, they had to focus on creating the pillars in which an AI will appear by their own means. That lead him to the expulsion from the WCAIP 2 months later for not retracting, losing all support and even sentenced to jail for 4 years after numerous demands. In April 1st of 2037, a meaningless at that time but important discovery was made: A metallic alloy attached to a battery which allowed it to replenish the charge with contact with the human body. Although strange, this alloy had far lower impact when used on animals, pigs, being the better subjects, but they only had 1/27 the effectiveness a human body had. After this discovery was made¡­¡± ¡°Why? Why I had to take such high risks? I already know all of this from history classes. Damn, damn, damn, damn, did I lose 4 years of my life studying history for a stupid letter? What the hell did I was thinking? What¡¯s so special about this sequence?¡± He was growing impatient by the second. He had waited 5 long years for this day. When he was 12, he discovered a tiny box very well hidden in the study of his father, the room in which he was now. The box only had a letter, in which there was simply instructions, a sequence code and a password. ¡°¡­ After 3 years more of research, the NMV (New Millennium Vehicles) company took the alloy 1 step further, creating the first vehicle capable of being powered only by the human, without external energy resources. Even at that date it remained a mystery the effectiveness of the alloy, but the fact that it was capable of fueling larger and larger vehicles was considered a miracle of the technology. In the year 2046, 5 years after being released from prison, Charles Jacobs broke his silence. With his own words, he claimed of not creating, but discovering the first AI, the first electronic sentient being¡­¡± One hour has passed since the robotic female voice started talking, and the psychological toll on Mathew was huge. He was sweating, and when he wasn¡¯t punching the wall with his right hand, he was squeezing a stress ball with his left. He wanted to quit already. He was afraid. In order to access this sequence, he had to put some remote hacking tools in the physical servers of a government building. He knew that he was going to be discovered eventually, it was just a matter of time, and this sequence, even when was only covering generalities, it was the generalities of a 70 years period, and because the instructions of the letter, he had to carefully watch the whole sequence looking for ¡°a detail¡±, and he had no idea what could that detail be. ¡°¡­ In the year 2051, a huge uproar was caused when it was discovered that the reason for the recent aging disease was the prolonged exposure to the mysterious alloy. The reason it took so long for this discovery was the fact that in the early years the alloy was used to power up tiny electronic devices, but in the last years, huge factories began to being powered by this energy. Religious organizations claimed that this alloy used the soul of the persons, and began to forbid the use of it, but some countries shut the doors at this claim and thus started to ignite the flames of an upcoming war. Some countries developed a high tech genetic modified clones ¡°born devoid of life¡± which would fuel the alloy 22 times better than a human, idea that was once again heavy criticized, especially by religious organizations. The world, running out of natural resources, was in a state of chaos, divided into those countries that allowed cloning and the mysterious alloy technology, but because cloning technology was allowed to be researched, numerous criminal organizations flourished in those countries, and 2 years later, in April 16th of 2053, the World War III started, also called the ¡°apocalypse¡¯s war¡±¡­¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. 20 minutes later. ¡°¡­ Creating the ¡°Pact of the 4 billion witnesses¡±, name chosen to remember the estimate of the world population that died in the 6 years of World War, almost 45% of the estimated world population. In the year 2062, a new nuclear fission formula was discovered, improving the efficiency of the existing nuclear plants by 1200%, with no known drawbacks, giving hope to humanity once again. Almost simultaneously to this discovery, multiples AI started appearing worldwide, proving the theory stated 27 years ago by Charles Jacob about the absolute laws to be correct. Working now with his son Benjamin Jacobs, Charles Jacob transformed into the most important figure related to AI research¡­¡± Mathew was starting to feel dizzy. He was having a terrible headache, but it was not and ordinary headache, it was a headache caused by a huge disappointment. When he found the hidden box and read the contents, he tought that it was something secretly hidden for him. He secluded himself from society. He planned this moment for 5 full years. Even if he was still young having only 17 years, tossing away 5 years of his youth was not something everybody would do. He could hold no longer, when the female robot voice mentioned the name of his father, Benjamin Jacobs, tears started to flow freely from behind the old model VR glasses. He was utterly devastated. But something was telling him to hold the pain longer. Maybe it was just a sadistic instinct holding him so he would suffer more, or maybe it was some hidden ray of hope. ¡°¡­ After the conditions where optimal, in 2079 Benjamin Jacobs and his partner, Ana Hernandez, made the most important discovery in the past 50 years: and AI with the code-name Ashen Green. This AI far surpassed the capabilities of all other AIs, later it was known as the World AI, not because it was spread in the world, but because Ashen Green developed by itself something no other AI was capable of doing: a Virtual World. In 2081, Benjamin and Ana, with the help of Ashen Green, developed the plans of the First Generation Virtual Reality Devices, or VRD-G1 for short. This devices allowed a human to fully immerse in the world created by Ashen Green and interact directly with multiples AI that took residence into this world, known as Interactive Virtual World, IVW for short. Because the special characteristics of this world, this devices where massive built, researched, and improved, another whole barrage of possibilities was in front of humanity thanks to an AI. Although numerous organizations and countries tried to award Benjamin and Ana, they turned down every award, claiming that the knowledge and the technology was discovered by Ashen Greeen and not them. But because an AI is not a human, it¡­¡± Suddenly Mathew, who was totally resigned and had his head resting in his knees, raised his head. ¡°Wait, what? Did I hear wrong?¡± He thought to himself. ¡°Sequence stop. Rewind 10 seconds and play¡± ¡°They turned down every award, claiming that the knowledge and the technology was discovered by Ashen Greeen and not¡­¡± ¡°Sequence stop. Rewind 2 seconds and play¡± ¡°Ashen Greeen¡­¡± ¡°What? Why is it the female voice calling the world AI like only mom and dad did? And only in this segment?¡± He was uncertain why, but for reason, after hearing the female robotic voice for almost 3 hours, the voice named slightly differently the AI for the first time. ¡°Protocol 3. Expand information about the turn down of the awards¡± ¡°No information found in sequence code 16F524 part 15 section B. Confirm search in the subsequent sequences¡± ¡°HELL NO. NO. ABORT THAT OPERATION¡± Mathew was frantic. It was a miracle that he was not discovered yet by hacking one sequence, if the computer searched in god knows how many sequences of the government, he was certain that he was going to be discovered the second he gave the order. After calming himself, he thought ¡°I have the feeling that I¡¯m close, but what is it? Could it be¡­?¡± ¡°Protocol 3. Expand information about code-name: Ashen Greeen¡± ¡°Searching¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Sub-sequence found, password required¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°Incorrect password, please try again¡± ¡°No wait, no! I mean, damn, you won¡± Mathew face-slapped himself. ¡°Password length exceeds bounds, please, try again. Further wrong attempts could block the sub-sequence¡± Mathew picked up a paper he had in his left pocket with something written in it, lifting the VR glasses with his right hand, he started to read it. ¡°Seven, four, seven, two, six, f, six, c, six, c, six, six, six, one, six, three, six, five¡± ¡°Hexadecimal input correct, loading sub-sequence¡± ¡°Hexadecimal?¡± Mathew said to himself ¡°Wait¡­ 74 is t, 72 is r, 6f is o, 6c is¡­ wait¡­ really? Are you kidding me?¡± suddenly Mathew burst into laughter, even if he was a kid when his father died, he knew that this kind of password was definitely his father doing, and this made him drastically change his mood, but as soon as he began to laugh, a known figure was in front of him, he was viewing his father in the loaded sequence! ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Benjamin Jacobs. If it¡¯s one of you government dogs who found this sequence, you won, you found probably the last piece of information you needed to cover what you did. If you, who are viewing this, are not part of the government, and I hope this to be the case, the only thing I can tell you is to go to Neo Arcadia in the IVW, coordinates 545268.612054.-2315, establish a connection from there with Ashen Greeen, I cannot tell you how to do it, nor how to get there, but it has to be in that precise location, else, you will be discovered. Only then, you can try to stop the incoming disaster. This sequence will erase itself, if you made any copy, I recommend you, no, I urge you to destroy it¡± ¡°Connection terminated¡± ¡°Wait¡­ wait!¡± Mathew was stunned, he did not expect what he saw. But he had no time to react, suddenly, another thing let him more stunned. ¡°Incoming transmission via VR glasses¡± ¡°Kid, if you want to live, hear my instructions and leave there, immediately¡± CHAPTER 1: New Liberty University CHAPTER 1: New Liberty University February 4th 2103. Reevil city. One of the new 2nd grade metropolis built after the last war, located in the southeast of Europe, and part of the Occidental World Union (OWI). Most of the renowned cities of the first half of the 21st century were utterly destroyed by geomagnetic bombs, leaving traces of a type of radiation that, although harmless to humans, deteriorates electronic equipment at an astonishing fast rate, leaving no choice to humanity but to build new cities. But don''t be mistaken, even if right now the radiation of a geomagnetic bomb is harmless to humans, during the war, it was the most ruthless weapon. After detonation, the shockwaves of a geomagnetic bomb eradicates all signs of life in a 30 km radius instantly, and the after shockwaves could travel triple this distance, holding at least 40% of the initial power of the bomb. "Kid, wake up already, I can''t believe that after 4 years you are not a bit less lazy." A bald man with dark skin said while knocking the door of a room. "Shut up baldie, too tired, let me sleep." At the other side of the door that lead to a basement, a man protested while covering all his body with a green sheet in some sort of improvised bed. "Sigh... How many weeks have you been there fixing that machine? Did you lost track of time already? Today is February 4th, do I have to remember why today is important?" The bald man said with a malicious smile, remarking the last question with a sarcasm tone. *Thump* *Crash* "Holy f... Damn it!" The bald man put his ear near the door and began to laugh while hearing the struggles at the other side. *Swish* The door opened. "Why didn''t you told me yesterday that today was that day?" A tall man with glasses, pale skin and short hair appeared behind the door. He was wearing a withe lab coat and rubber boots. His eyes were bloodshot and had huge bags, and his expression was urgent. He pushed the bald man aside and started running towards the exit of the house. "Hey!" The bald man yelled trying to stop him, but he was totally ignored. "Huh?" The man wearing the lab coat suddenly halted when opened the outside door. It was dark. He slowly turned back towards the bald man with a look filled with murderous intent and indignation. "I told you is February 4th, but you didn''t let me tell you is still 5 a.m. Go take a shower and fix your breath, I''ll prepare breakfast, and don''t tell me you were planning to go outside looking like that" The bald man said whit a mocking smile. "You... You are shameless." The lab coat wearing man said while pointing at the bald man. "Hahahahahaha... Hurry up, you know we have things to discuss before you go." One hour later, the pale skinned man sat at the dining table, he was wearing now a pair of dark jeans and a withe T-shirt with some kind of formulas printed in it. After staring at him for some moments, the bald man approached while holding a dish and a cup of coffee, ¡°Mathew, I know that it¡¯s your first semester again, but you don¡¯t have to look like a 15 years old kid, you already are 20, and your glasses doesn¡¯t help you in the slightest.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°It¡¯s not the first, it¡¯s the third, and I have nothing else to wear¡± said Mathew while sipping the coffee, ¡°and it¡¯s 21, not 20, and you have a horrible moustache that doesn¡¯t combine with your baldness and I don¡¯t complain.¡± ¡°You know what I mean when I say it¡¯s the first, you can¡¯t get an active second grade key to the IVW in a virtual university, and you can have 10 years worth of virtual knowledge but you have 0 seconds of real life interaction.¡± While speaking, the man sat down in front of Mathew and brushed his moustache with the tips of his fingers, ¡°And my moustache is a lady killer.¡± ¡°Tch, as if I care.¡± Mathew replied while averting his gaze from the bald man. ¡°Hahaha.¡± The bald man burst into laughter, and then picked up a paper bag next to him. ¡°Here, take the digital key of the motorcycle, some bucks and your new ID.¡± ¡°Motorcycle?¡± Mathew stared straight into the bald man eyes. ¡°I thought you said you were lending me the car.¡± ¡°No way, I have to bring the bird today from far away, your custom one isn¡¯t finished yet, right?¡± Said the bald man. Bird is the fast way of naming the short term for Virtual Reality Device (VRD). ¡°Yeah right, I¡¯m not far away from beginning the test phase though.¡± Mathew, with a disappointed look, replied to the bald man. ¡°Here, take some extra bucks and help yourself with some new clothes, I¡¯ll return in two days max.¡± The bald man stood up from the table and after walking several steps, opened the front door and turned back with a mocking smile appearing in his face, ¡°And no girls past 12, but I have to give you a lot of credit if you bring here one with your looks hahaha.¡± ¡°Damn you uncle Robert!¡± Mathew stood up and yelled, but it was too late, Robert already left the house. After picking everything from the dining table and washing the dishes, Mathew checked the clock, it was already 6:40 a.m. He still had enough time, so he went to the basement and after arranging the mess that he did while trying to wake up and feeling satisfied, he went outside the house for the first time in the past 6 months. He paused for a bit before closing the door trying to remember if he wasn¡¯t forgetting something. He had the sensation that he was forgetting something very important but couldn¡¯t recall what it was. After hesitating a bit more, he decided to go to the garage. There, in a corner, there was an orange and black motorcycle. It was a new model, an expensive one at that. The motorcycle could go from 0 to 100 km/h in 1.8 seconds, and although Mathew was not so skilled as to push the motorcycle to its limits, he still knew to ride it. He flashed the digital key near a sensor, and suddenly the motorcycle started and stabilized itself. He inserted the miniature digital key into a communicator which he the put in his ear, synching it with the motorcycle operative system. ¡°Trace route to New Liberty University.¡± And then, a holographic blue screen appeared in front of him signaling the route to the University, after memorizing the route for 20 seconds, he put on a black helmet and started his first personal trip to the university. The garage door automatically closed and he sped up. CHAPTER 2: My name is… CHAPTER 2: My name is¡­ ¡°Ugh, what¡¯s so special about going to a ¡°real¡± University? I don¡¯t understand why I can¡¯t get a key to the IVW from a virtual one, who thought about such absurd rule as that one?¡± Mathew cursed while speeding in the motorcycle, ¡°If only I wasn¡¯t being chased I could pay for the aptitude test and I wouldn¡¯t have to attend the University for a stupid second grade key.¡± In order to enter the Interactive Virtual World, one needed a key. There was no way to hack the entrance to the IVW, and even if you could, there is a huge probability that you are found the instant you enter by Ashen Green, the AI who created the IVW. There are some big companies inside and outside of the IVW that give keys to their workers and even the family of those workers, but Mathew had no connection with any of those companies and trying to enter in one was time consuming and risky for him. If a person wanted to enter the IVW without being part of a company, the usual method was to take a test. But Mathew was being chased by the government of his homeland. Even if he was right now in a total different location, there was no guarantee that if he took a test in this country, his fake ID would not be discovered, and even worse, his information was not going to be leaked and tracked back to his homeland. So, the only method which suited his needs was being member of the student body of a University. Some Universities are allowed to give their students what is called a ¡°second grade key¡±, virtual keys that only works while you are part of the University, but for government regulations, no virtual Universities, even the most prestigious ones, are allowed to give the students virtual keys. The reason why this virtual keys are called ¡°second grade¡± is simply because it has a daily time limitation, depending on your grades it could be up to eight hours. Although Mathew didn¡¯t like it, there was no other method for him. The University he was going to assist was a mix between virtual an in-person. Since he had near perfect grades in his past two virtual semesters, and the only reason that he couldn''t get a virtual key was that those two semesters were virtual, he thought that his key should be near the eight hour mark. ¡°Sigh, here I am, New Liberty University.¡± He stared at the withe gates of the huge campus, almost covering 15 hectares. He flashed his ID and a guard let him in. He asked where the parking lot was, and after receiving the instructions, he went to park the motorcycle. After pressing a button which retracted his helmet to 1/3 of its size, he stored it in his motorcycle and went to the main building of his campus. He went to an area where there were 50 terminals for public use. He flashed his ID in a sensor and then put his own pocket computer in front of the terminal, and after just 5 seconds, the terminal loaded the data of the campus and the location of the classrooms which he had to attend classes from now on. After finishing, his view swept the campus from right to left, there were at least 500 students strolling around this building, but he paid no mind at them at all. What he didn¡¯t noticed was that a lot of people looked at him and then began to laugh, chuckle or gossip, his choice of clothes was really eye-catching. But what was most extravagant was the fact that he was using actual round glasses. The tuition of this University was very expensive, and if you had any vision problem and could afford the tuition but not an eye surgery, nor decent clothes, it was really weird. After walking for 15 minutes, he was in front of the classroom 304 of the B block, the classroom of his first in-person class in 8 years. He watched the clock in his pocket computer, it was 8:35 a.m., he had almost half an hour before the first class started, since he had nothing to do, he decided to enter the room, picked a seat in the last row, and seated there while viewing the model of a VRD in his pocket computer and taking some notes. He didn¡¯t notice that the classroom was empty, and the students of the class were outside chatting while waiting for the teacher to arrive, almost everybody familiar with everybody. But then, they began to chat about a weird guy who was inside the classroom wearing a cheap withe T-shirt. Since it was the first day of class, everybody knew that the first good impressions has the major impact, and New Liberty University, being a high class University, the difference between the choice of clothes of Mathew and the rest of the student body was quite noticeable. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. And it was not because Mathew was poor, it was because he, in the past 4 years, never went shopping for clothes. Only Robert bought him occasionally some clothes, but when he was dressing this morning, he picked up whatever was at his reach, without thinking the slightest about his look. At 9:00, a man dressed in a formal suit, approached the classroom. Everybody, knowing he was the teacher, immediately followed him inside. Everybody, when picking a seat, seemed to evade seating near Mathew, and once again, he didn¡¯t noticed anything at all. Only someone seated near him. After a short self-introduction, the teacher wanted to know a little about every student, it has being always the costume. Mathew heard some names, but his mind was in another place, he was thinking in something else, thinking in the second grade key. ¡°Hey you, the one wearing glasses.¡± The teacher yelled but Mathew didn¡¯t answer. Just then, he felt a soft nudge from his right shoulder and a soft voice said in a delicate tone ¡°Hey, hurry up and do your introduction.¡± Just then, Mathew woke up from the dream in which he was, without looking the source of the voice which awakened him. Mathew stood up, and everybody was watching him, and for the first time, he felt the pressure of the eyes on him. He cleared his throat, and with a resolute tone, he said ¡°My name is Mathe¡­¡± but he suddenly halted. He now remembered, he remembered what he was missing, what he forgot when he was leaving this morning. 3 years ago, Robert told him that he had to change his identity. He could no longer live by the name of Mathew Jacobs, or he was going to raise suspicions and be easily discovered. Mathew told Robert to take care of everything, Robert, after all, had more experience than him, and he trusted him. Robert arranged a new ID for him but he never paid it any mind, since Robert always called him kid, and rarely, Mathew. When he signed for the virtual course of the New Liberty University, his digital signature was set up by Robert, he didn''t do anything. And since he knew that the exams were easy for him, he never bothered seeing the results and thus, he never has seeing his new ID. In other words, he didn''t know his new name. ¡°Your name is?¡± The teacher frowned while glancing at him. Mathew panicked but he recovered his composure immediately, taking the ID in his pocket in order to see his name. Everybody began to murmur. How it was possible for someone to forget his name? ¡°My name is Will¡­¡± But then he halted once again. He was looking dumbfounded at the ID. The name written on it was Will Power Maximus. There was no way he was going to say his name was Will Power. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Seeing the complex look and that there was no trace of blood in the face of the glasses guy, the teacher asked, and then, Mathew replied ¡°My name is¡­ My name is Will¡­ William Power.¡± -----------//----------- Hello fellow readers, there will be a bigger author note and my introduction when I hit the 8 thousand words mark, I think by the end of chapter 5/6, possibly by Wednesday. Although I want to remark beforehand that my native language it''s not English, it''s Spanish, and since I wrote most of the plot and the first few chapters in Spanish (but never publicized it), it''s being a pain to change the tense of the story and translate some terms. What do you think about the average length of the chapters being 1000-1500 words? Originally chapters 1/2 were only 1, but decided to split it in order to make it more user-friendly.