Wind broke on the great wall of Scale village. Chimes rang on the upper floors of the various apartment complexes that housed the lone men who came to Scale for work. In Scale village it said that there is always something to do. Two millennia ago that was true. Since the advent of the android the people who moved here learned coding, engineering, and chemistry. Those who learned quickly found a master and apprenticed under them. Those who failed to learn were excommunicated from the village. Many formed guilds buying artificial wombs and becoming houses in Scale. They became the new bloods, but they never matched the great houses. He was not a member of the new bloods. His bloodline was ancient, and his houses history went back 5000 years since before the life trees were planted. His name was Johnson of House Farron.

Johnson sat on a park bench reading a copy of Coding For Dummies 3.0. Soon the great bell was going to toll ending the day. The copy was good it had plenty of good humor mixed in with ridicule. For a Farron at age 17 to read this book was embarrassing even so he needed it. It was almost as embarrassing as when his father hit him. As his father's 309th son that was far more attention than a slacker deserved. He could code like any Farron he grew up coding and using his qi to send orders to the many family androids. His cultivation in his family's cyber cultivation style was only stage 1 when it should be stage 5.

He turned a yellowed page. There were tablets made of metal and plastic that contained thousands of books like these, but his father wanted him to learn a lesson. How the old man found a solid copy of this old joke book was beyond him. This was the same edition his father had their natal androids read to them only physical. He wondered how his natal gynoid Gloria was doing. He hadn't seen the motherly droid since he was 8. "Doll play back my father's words for me I need inspiration." Johnson said.

He heard the tone of his father's voice along with some heavy breathing. "You used all your time to cultivate your pathways to stage 5!" Smack! "I can't believe how stupid one of my seed turned out. You are a nation with fantastic roads between stick huts. What use is a find road with nothing to go to?" Smack! He heard a wet smacking sound and a slam against a wall. "That's it I'm locking you out of everything every tablet and auto compiler. No android will answer to you until you can access their classes yourself. Get out of my sight tonight you will consume 10 high grade pills and reach the array stage, or I will excommunicate you from the clan." His father Ralph Farron said. To be fair maybe Johnson had overstepped at least doll was still with him.

Doll was a tall small breasted Gyno model android a gift from his father on his 12th birthday. Like all Gyno models she had shapely hips like a human woman, a slim stomach, and a face sculpted by an expert of house Merc. Her skin was a kind of TPE reparable thanks to billions of tiny machines in her body. Beneath her skin was a layer of artificial muscle that contracted and relaxed through qi. She was to be an assassination unit. She was a failure. Her frame was too small to house even the smallest ACU (Artificial Cultivation Unit). Without a proper fitted ACU, she was deemed a failure. She wouldn't be able to reach the next village before her reserves ran out. There was research going into developing a qi theft unit, but stolen qi often wrecked a body's pathways. The artificial pathways within an android couldn't hold up. They weren't like silicon skin their designs and placement were far too delicate. Mere nano machines couldn't make such repairs without a compiler stage cultivator to guide them. That was the official story.

Unofficially the houses Saxon, Merc, and Dag, not to be confused from its father house Dagon which rules over Bright village to the north near Blackroot village, fear a revolt of their android slaves. Johnson knew the fear was ludicrous as every Farron man knew. The adroids were programmed to love and care for their human masters. They derived pleasure from following commands to the letter. Turning a page, he took the offered cup from Doll. She smiled at him happily as he took a sip of Sap. It was warm and fresh from the life tree.

Turning his eyes to the center of the village towering over the vast array of apartments, commercial buildings, and vast factories filled with tireless androids stood their life tree. The only source of moisture in the world. Well one of them. Every life tree was a source of moisture in the vast desert.

Some used distilleries to remove water from the sap and drink the pure water. Then often the remaining material was sent to a pill making factory. They say that the wealth of the golden capitol is so great they can bath in pure water. They don't have a life tree. Instead they sit on an ancient underground lake. It is said the gods have blessed them and water rains from the heavens. Their walls remain unbroken by any number of would be great monster. Well that's what they say.

It was time now he could sense it like he could before the bell rang in the mornings. He often woke up just before the ringing began. Johnson closed his book and sat it to the side to stand up and watch the bell.

Even from a park bench, he could see the great bell on one of the low hanging branches of the life tree. Its bronze color contrasted to the ash white bark of the great tree. The great sap pump continued to pull sap from the tree as everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the bell.

"Even after 25 years hearing it the great bell still fills me with pride." A man said.

He was a dark-haired man with pale paper white skin. His hair was uneven, and he wore a nobleman's robe from the north. On his robe was a badge signifying his 6th stage body cultivation level. The badge was silver and well-polished. This man was Caleb Saxon of house Saxon the 280th son of the house.

"It seems my father has given me another chance to prove myself." Johnson said.

"Ah, that's what another chance at a father's respect looks like. I'm glad to have lost mine a long time ago." Caleb said.

"Will you be here long? Perhaps after I don't die from the pills tonight, we could go to a theater or one of the colosseums?" Johnson asked. He looked at Caleb in a way one looked at their child hero. Caleb had been the one to encourage him to continue his chosen path even if it would lead nowhere.

"I may well have the time if you survive. What was the punishment again? Your brother Phil blasted the punishment all over Recordkeeper. Ten pills dedicated to mental cultivation that can be deadly. What if you have a block? I don't recall him giving you any black pills to clear any out." Caleb said.

"I will survive so enough about my failure. Tell me about the capitol is it everything they say it is. Does water fall from the sky? Did you meet any of the royal family?" One loud ring silenced all other sound followed by a crack and a crash.

Caleb's eyes turned distant. "I met some royalty, but they weren't what you would expect. They are part of the reason I'm here. But don't tell anyone. I want to speak to my father. What do you think about marriage?"

"Its archaic foolishness we cast out when we obtained our freedom. Don't let a member of the cult hear you speak about such things." Johnson said. What did the royal family have to do with marriage? Was his friend marrying into the ruling family in the capitol? Why? There are true immortals who would fight for the chance to join the ruling family. He clasped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "No matter what foolishness you're chasing after you can count on me." They were just words, but they did the trick. He saw a glimmer of hope in his friend's eyes.

Gong! Crash!

Johnson watched the bronze bell free fall as the tower that once held it for 2000 years collapsed. Down the bell fell along with the droids in the tower. Fire quickly filled the tower the ancient wood making the perfect kindling. The image was shaking only for Johnson to realize he was the one shaking. He looked over at Caleb who looked on his expression impossible to read.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Caleb shook him out of his stupor. "Get home John before the chaos starts. The tower is fully manned by androids. Something must be wrong with their programming." Caleb said. Johnson wanted to argue and defend his house's experts but there was little time.

Johnson turned from the crowd and ran. There were many benefits to pathway cultivation one the quick transport of vital energy to be turned into qi. He used one of the only body techniques he knew Gallant Horse. It was as basic as basic as basic could be. He pumped qi into his ankles and used their springing properties to rush home at horse like speeds. As a cultivator not even to the first stage of body cultivating, this technique was expensive. To Johnson it was still expensive, but he recovered his qi as fast as he used it.

Doll kept up with his pace easily. She was a tireless machine with more martial techniques than any human. She remained under his control because he closed her system to him. He was the sole provider of her qi . His qi naturally fought any other's who tried to alter her programming. Her battery could store 100 times as much qi as Johnson had and Johnson kept it topped off.

He rushed down the house path. A path dedicated to the village houses and forbidden to those not of a house. It was the ancient human's equivalent to a freeway. Thanks to the house path he was able to return to the Farron compound quickly.

Johnson crossed the high gate and closed it behind him. Many of House Farron had already gathered in the grounds before the gate. Conversations were in motion and his father Ralph Farron lead his family in all matters.

He was a powerful man 4th stage body cultivation, 2nd grade pathway cultivation, and 10th grade mind cultivation. He would undoubtedly move on to the immortal stages and leave mere mortal mind cultivation behind. Though his mind would become immortal, but his body would continue to age. Even a stage 4 body cultivator eventually died of old age.

His father stood an easy 6ft tall even dwarfed by a few of his brothers, uncles, and sons he looked like the man in charge. Everyone went to him; he didn't go to them. Though he appeared to be in his early forties, Ralph Farron was over a century old. Ralph Farron was broad of shoulder and could send any unruly members of their house to their knees with a flare of qi. His eyes traveled over to Johnson and gave him a hard stare. They said everything and nothing. Johnson merely nodded and concluded he wouldn't get anything from his father. If he was to find out anything it would be after the fact.

He made his way into their house and pulled out 10 high grade blue pills from his father's pill case. They were made from the sap of the life tree and designed to force vast amounts of vital energy into the body for cultivation. Johnson would either come out of this brain dead or a great deal smarter. At least his thought partitioning would become far more effective. Or he would die.

Would his father notice if Johnson used some of the pills to increase his pathways? Could the old man really tell the difference between stage five and six? Advancement would help him with the rest of the pills.

The pills themselves weren't meant to be consumed one after the other. These were raw pills made with a single shaving of their life tree's heart wood. This was the type of pill noble women in the less civilized villages gave to their husband's bastard children. It was a painful death given as a generous gift. Most thought that all blue pills were the same when it came to cultivation. Bigger pills with more vital energy were considered a good thing. Like the rare well in the desert to the south and between villages. Water was a good thing though many died from falling through the ground and drowned in those very wells.

These were the biggest pills Johnson had ever held in his hand. Each were as thick as a man's thumb and would go down like a stone. There was lube in the meditation room just for large pills like these.

He yanked some and covered his first pill in the stuff. In his hand was a sticky mess that could blow his pathways and leave him crippled for the rest of his life.

On the other hand, they could shoot his mental cultivation from stage one program to stage five function. With such a leap he could put his knowledge of his family's techniques to use. With his pathways he would become a spammer.

Doll closed the door to the meditation chamber and stood near the door on guard for any would be intruders. Her battery was fully charged giving her the strength of a 4th stage body cultivator while her databanks gave her the techniques of a seasoned assassin. Any would be interrupters would be dealt with. Johnson let out a sad chuckle.

His image greeted him in the mirror. This was his training room and he enjoyed a full body mirror. But the image in front of him was unrecognizable. The left side of his face was one large bruise from where his father hit him. His doppelganger reached up and pulled at the greyed edges of his sideburns. There were more marks on his youthful face than the bruise. He had fallen from favor and his brothers shunned and beat him for it. His ribs and thighs were bruised from where they encouraged him to do better.

He refused to use Doll to defend his person from family. Besides their personal battle droids would have ripped her to shreds. Despite her abilities she was still his doll not a true weapon of the family.

Before his father stripped him of access, Johnson had enjoyed a force of 12 battle droids each well over 8ft tall with their own ACU built in along with primary and secondary arms. Life in the Farron house was a luxury that he hadn't truly appreciated. Much of his life he took for granted.

He enjoyed his protection units but they didn't even come close to his enjoyment of the sex bots he kept in his room. Some nights he would enjoy them all night and sleep late in the evening. Father never had cause to suspect he had focused his attention on pathway cultivation. The family mind cultivation style or cyber cultivation as many called it was boring. The paths were planned out, he had learned them since leaving his natal vat.

Pathways were the circulatory system of qi. Body cultivation was the powerplant turning vital energy into qi, while mind cultivation directed everything. The three styles were interconnected and to be considered truly in the immortal realm, ascended, or etc. was to surpass stage 10 with all three. Each of the stages had different names dependent on where you were.

"Hey Doll, do you still have your vagina implant." Johnson asked.

"Indeed master, but I'm a failure as an assassin droid. I'm afraid I will be insufficient to kill Caleb Saxon to redeem your place in the family." Doll said in a solemn tone.

"Doll, I wasn't talking about your vagina so you could use it to assassinate my oldest friend. If I'm to do this suicidal demand of my father I want a reward afterwards." Jonson said with a what swagger he had.

One thing great about the isolation room. A man can say what he needs to say without ridicule or losing face in front of his family. He planned on swallowing these 10 pills and leaving this room with his sanity intact.

"Oh, but I'm yours why would you need my vagina. Are you going to use it for something?" For a second, he thought Doll was fucking with him. He might act stiff when he's in public but here alone in his meditation chamber. Johnson Farron did what Johnson Farron wanted.

He sat himself down on the ground and swallowed the sour lube covered pill. It made an indention in his throat as it went down. The second it hit his stomach he started breathing deeply and flaring his qi. The vital energy hit his stomach with the suddenness of an explosion. It was well over ten thousand times greater than a mere training pill. This was something customized and experimental.

Johnson stopped thinking and focused. He became like the freeway's in ancient times. If the vital energy wanted to go somewhere then he would let it run itself ragged. He pulled the wave through his pathways feeling his body reach stage one by accident. The shear amount of vital energy was ridiculous if he was a single stage lower his pathways would rupture followed by organ failure.

As his body reached the 1st stage of body cultivation he began to sweat rapidly feeling the toxins and cells that lost information upon mitosis were driven out. What cells could be enhanced were while he moved the majority of vital energy towards his brain.

There was a reason no one used this path to reach higher stages. There was a good chance he would end up braindead by the end of this. If he had a shred of sanity left by the end, he would be lucky.

Before the energy could hit his brain, he turned the majority away and let only a little into his mind. That energy reached him, and his mind went fuzzy as he steered the flow of vital energy back for another round. All the while the pill continued to dissolve throwing out an overflowing stream of vital energy. His body ached as his muscles cramped and his pours stung. Johnson was sure if he opened his eyes, he would see brown sludge escaping his pours.

He kept them closed and focused on the energy. It was a burst dam an ancient thing that held water back when their world had plenty of the stuff. It was funny what the mind came up with to compare situations with. He remembered his natal droid reading that to him. Back when he was a few years old. She was the one who cared for him until he was ready to learn the ways of men. Well him and 10 of his brothers.

There was too much vital energy he needed to get rid of some or his pathways would fill up completely with the raw stuff before bursting. Never use the word stuff if you must fill in an object use a variable. Shit came to mind this vital energy was a dammed shit burst forth and he had to dump some, or the entire sewer system would explode. He poured it in his pathways reinforcing the damaged places and using up the energy as best he could. Another wave to his mind made him go fuzzy again and some of the flow left his control.

Just as every corner of his pathways filled to the brim the flow stopped and the pressure leveled. All the remaining vital energy was in his pathways. He stopped cycling and let out a breath. His mind was at the 2nd stage loop. The power to replicate a variable infinitely or until qi ran dry. At this stage if he knew a technique to throw a fireball, he could toss them until his qi ran dry. After using the technique one time. He wouldn't have to remain in the same spot either. If he fed the phenomenon enough qi it would keep firing in the same place.

This was its decision-making time. The energy was contained and ready to go somewhere but no pressure. He was close to stage six with his pathways but far from stage 2 with body cultivation and further from stage 3 with cyber cultivation. His mine was starting to become less fuzzy.

The world went black and white for a second revealing the room's true nature. The room was a closed circuit. There was no accessing the networks on the outside in this room. Black spider webs of qi stretched from the door holding world out of the room.

Johnson looked over at Doll. She wanted to be an assassin badly. Well it was what she was meant to do. AI wanted to fulfill their programming it was in their nature. Humans didn't have a set programming man of Scale especially didn't anymore. We had ascended beyond our biology and cast down the shackles of human beings. But that was debate for another time. Preferably between a cult compiler chaplain and a Meccanite. That was always fun. His head was dizzy.

He forced the vital energy into his pathways. This was his life and he wasn't living it for his father.