Radios had picked up signals two weeks ago, but the governments of the world kept silent about the incoming transmissions. All they knew is that they said 'The System will be Initializing' and then gave a date and timestamp that changed depending upon where it was decrypted, but everyone agreed, the times matched up according to their own computers and the international dateline.
With two days remaining, an Intelligence Agent asked his boss if by 'System' they meant a game-like interface like seen in many LitRPGs, Isekais, and MMOs, he was laughed out of the room. He was then immediately fired and blacklisted. The former agent packed up his belongings and decided that maybe it was time to talk his friend Joriya into completing the project that he had been building, even while in a coma. He left his office and traveled to the remote town of Hillsborough, where the true bleeding edge of technology was being developed.
Hillsborough looked like one of a thousand of small towns across the United States, but what set it apart was that it was actually owned by a series of companies with an interconnected series of basements and sublevels. He was one of the owners of one of the more minor companies, with his partner, Joriya, in a coma, he had been placed in charge of the entire company.
He pulled into an underground parking zone, and at the terminal punched in the code for his company, and a hidden ramp lowered for him to continue. After another four minutes, he pulled into the nearly empty company parking lot. He exited his car and walked calmly into the main entrance for his robotics company. He checked his watch and blinked as he realized it was already nearly midnight, which explained why the parking lot was nearly empty.
"Hey, Becky," he greeted his overnight receptionist, who was playing a game on her phone as she sat at the reception desk. "Any messages from Joriya?"
"Yeah, he's angry that the Congress is refusing to discuss rights for a digital intellect. He said that he's almost tempted to 'unleash Skynet'... I didn't know what he meant, and I felt his silence since I asked what Skynet was is a bit derisive." She sighed and looked up from her phone. "So, what's Skynet?"
"Skynet is a fictional artificial intelligence that created the Terminators after taking over the government," he replied. "Anything else?"
"He said that he wants to ask about those sensation tests for the full sensation mapping... Honestly, I think he's going a bit... stir crazy... on the internet."
"Really? Why's that?"
"He's binge-watched all of DragonBall Kai, Z-Kai, and Super, then got into a flame war saying someone should have made a parody of 'Riding Dirty' called 'Old and Pervy' starring Master Roshi," she stated calmly, causing her boss to snort with laughter.
"Okay, now that is funny. There's going to be an emergency company meeting around eleven tomorrow. Something is going to be happening at noon, and I would like all staff and family here for when it does..."
"Alright, boss. I'll send out the notice. This meeting is paid, right?"
He laughed softly. "Yes, Becky, it is a paid meeting, since it is Mandatory."
He went to his office, which had a private suite attached for when he was staying at the company. "Well, this is home now," he murmured to himself as he sat down and launched the chat program to contact Joriya.
~Direct Chat with Joriya Alvinos~
You: Hey, so, I've been fired and blacklisted by my boss because I asked something he thought insane.
JA: Ah, so is this to do with the mysterious radio signal detected nearly two weeks ago?
You: You could say that. It contained a message that simply stated: 'The System will be Initializing' and a time-date stamp for noon tomorrow.
JA: Wait, you typed 'System'... Are you sure that was what the message translated as?
You: ... What do you know?
JA: ... Answer the question, please.
You: ... Yes. I've ordered a Mandatory Meeting for eleven in the morning tomorrow, an hour before the time listed. Now, what do you know?
JA: ... I... got bored... You should be glad that I upgraded our firewall...
You: ... What did you do this time!?
JA: ... I found a bunch of hidden government caches. One each from Germany, Russia, and the United States. These caches had alien tech and they hadn't managed to crack the encryption on the alien files...
You: ... Damn it, Joriya... What the hell have you found out?
JA: ... There is a System that is expanding its sphere of influence from the center of our Galaxy. It seems to be game-like from what I've unencrypted. Thankfully, I was able to write a program which is currently working to unencrypt, translate, and re-encrypting for our private servers. I made sure to copy the files and get out before I got detected though.
You: ... Joriya... You know there's such a thing as Overkill, right?
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
JA: ... No such thing *winky tongue-out emoji*... Anyways, I wasn't detected, and in about a week, our servers should have a full translation of multiple alien databases, which will really speed up our R&D division, especially now that you no longer need to worry about working for the government.
JA: Anyways... that System... it should offer me the chance to fix what I previously broke, hopefully at not too high of a cost. Apparently, everything functions off a universal points system, for the System.
You: The hell man? How long have you had this information?
JA: Oh, a year? Sadly, it seems that I don't have the proper connections to make a full interface with the alien data.
You: How much information do you have about this System?
JA: Not much, as it's something the aliens have had for centuries, they didn't keep much data on it. Nor did they do much testing of it, other than accepting its base uses... The alien ship that crashed down seems to have been designed for function over comfort, from the pictures that were part of the file sets I snagged.
JA: Oh, and while this underground series of connected companies would normally be something wise, I'm afraid that some of our more... introverted and agoraphobic researchers will decide that they want to become a Dungeon Core, as the System seems to like to offer races options based on the media, history, and religions of the populace of the newly assimilated race.
You: ... Shit... can you compile a brief for the meeting?
JA: Sure. Thanks for giving me something I can complete easily. Good night, and sleep well.
That night, the former agent slept better than he had slept in many years. Of course, when he woke up, he couldn't help but remember the incident that ended up with Joriya in a coma. He had been lax in his background checks and ended up hiring some fringe lunatics who despised technology and somehow managed to hide that fact during the hiring process and their work until the day when the incident happened, one of the rare days where all staff members were allowed to bring their family onto the facility through the public access buildings above.
He shook his head and muttered that he shouldn't remember that day. Joriya kept telling him it wasn't his fault. He slapped himself with a double facepalm and sighed before going to double check that Becky had indeed sent the emergency meeting email, smiling when he saw that Joriya had done an all-hands email as well.
To: All ARC Staff (Active Robotics Coordination Corporation Employees)
From: Joriya Alvinos
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 03:05:09 AM
Subject: Re: EMERGENCY STAFF MEETING
Hey All! Local Hillsborough Hospital Vegetable in Room 328 here (Unless someone's messed with me and moved my room around since I last had the droids check?). Anyways, today's meeting is extremely important, for all members of ARC Corp, and their families as well. Trust me, when I say that you will want your family here for the meeting. Sadly, unlike our Chief of Staff thought, 11:00 is too late for everyone. I need everybody here by 10:00 AM and will start the emergency slideshow at 10:15. Bring your family, as this is too important to keep secret, and after 11:00 it will be too late to keep it secret.
I know most of the new staff only know me through email contact, and often think that the body in Room 328 of the Hospital is a real coma patient, but not me. Let's just say that after tomorrow, I'll be able to show up to work physically again as well as digitally. You'll all know why with the slideshow starting at 10:15 AM!
Thanks, everyone and stay safe!
Joriya Alvinos
Lead Programmer and Robotics Coordinator.
He laughed as he took a quick shower and changed into a fresh, relaxed outfit. He sighed as he headed out of his office and to the main meeting hall, blinking as he saw a single robot at the podium. Along a wall, there is a huge buffet of food set up by the staff catering company, so Joriya was busy with more than just the slideshow.
"I'm sorry, everyone. The Presentation isn't as good as I had been planning, since I only had about six months to put this together, and couldn't get a voice actor for the script, so the script is being read by one of my TTS programs. The Presentation will also be going Live on YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and the Emergency Broadcast System because this is just such a massive issue. For those of you who are major agoraphobes, I'm sorry to have forced you out of your private offices, but you need to hear this as well. This presentation is also going out to the other companies here via the loudspeakers.
"The Governments of the world have known for many years about the existence of sapient life outside of our planet. What the Governments did not have, was a way to unencrypt and translate the data on the ships and the devices that came from them. About a year ago, I was hired to make a program to break that encryption and translate the data. About six months ago, I succeeded. As part of the deal for creating the program to unencrypt and translate the information, I demanded a Bill of Digital Rights, Bill of Rights for Digital Intelligences, and a Law for the Recognition of Digital Intelligences as Life forms, not slaves.
"Now, you'd think the Governments would decide that was a fair price, considering what they were asking for. Think again. They initially agreed to put forward the Bills but made sure to block or vote no on them. So I kept the translated data hostage and locked them out of the programs I created. No results for no pay.
"Anyways, that's neither here nor there. The translated data was fascinating. one of the ships was a research vessel. Sadly, their people didn't really have Creativity. It contained a lot of information, most of which I haven't finished translating, but it did contain a synopsis of the System. I have been polishing this presentation for about two or three months. Two weeks ago, the Governments detected a signal that when translated says 'The System will be Initializing' and today's date, scheduled for it to hit us at 11:00 AM EST. I hereby present 'The System and You', a slideshow regarding what the System might be, how it will interact with us, and some assumptions I have made off of the information that has been translated to date."