Interlude VI
Biprism Interactive Control Tower I
“We need to push the subject back into the real world. She has been inside that tower for over a year now, with minimal results.” Charles Rainquist, CFO for Biprism Interactive or BiPI as its stock is noted as, said.
“That subject is the first one who has proven that they can comprehend the new level of interaction that was provided to us. Already she has shown herself to understand the basics of magic at a purely fundamental level that has not been seen in the industry. Additionally, the AI tells me that her initial tests with Qi, prove her ability to understand energy is not limited solely to mana, but potentially all avenues of energy research and conservation. Do you know what this could mean in terms of research and development?” Prince Lee stated, the Director of Character Development.
“I understand that, but what you are seeming to fail to understand is that we are a company first and foremost, meaning that our bottom line is the all mighty dollar. We have executives and politicians willing to cut tax breaks, if we for the girl from her ivory tower and force her to interact with the real world. In particular, she is to heal the parents and the grandparents of the very politicians who are encouraging us nicely, to make such a meeting happen.” Charles stated.
At that Prince who had been so caught up in his own mind of what was happening that he almost did a spit take when he realized what Charles from Finance had said.
“Excuse me, did you say the bottom line is the all might dollar?” Prince asked, incredulity filling his voice.
“Yes, I get it, the dollar isn’t what it used to be. Sorry, it is a euphemism. Yes, of course it is in crypto we trust, but you and I both know that the number one developer and creator of crypto coins that are widely accepted are Biprism servers. Meaning that we are potentially going to lose money if the price of the Biprism crypto coin drops. Meaning, it is in our best interest to make the game, the world that much more enjoyable for everyone to forget they are viewing the lives of their families and past celebrities.” Charles stated.
Hearing that Prince looked first shocked, but then almost indignant. Yes, the true purpose for Biprism was a well-guarded secret, one that was kept afloat with obfuscation and cheap tactics, but didn’t they ever wonder why the world kept expanding? Where the Blight actually came from. Granted, the PR department did a good job of getting out ahead of that one and stating that it was an attempt to add zombies to the game world. But did this guy truly believe that? Did he not get the memo on what was really happening? They were close, so close to catastrophe and so far the only one who was close enough to understand the governing principles of Biprism, how it was all meant to constantly teach. That person had been safe. No, not only were they safe from the danger posed by other Regressors, but they were thriving, and they were close to finding the answers that had been eluding people for so long. Now this guy from Finance wanted to “shake things up,” by sending the prodigy into the real world. The real world filled with jealous people who would seek to challenge and test the young phenom on a whim?
So far, Cassiopeia or Project18079 as the scripting code now referred to her as managed to skate by due to a mixture of luck, talent, and chicanery. Realizing he was about to lose momentum in the argument, Prince pressed on.
“She is just now beginning to understand the fundamentals of Qi, something believed to be a universal truth, she is grasping and able to prove.” Prince said.
“In the game. Don’t you see, that is the problem, this is a game world. At the end of the day, this will all be a game world. Once we finally go under, which will hopefully be far after I am gone, and the servers are turned off, all the 1s and 0s will cease to exist.” Charles said.
“You,” Prince stammered, utterly flabbergasted by the revelation that Charles had somehow made it this far in the company, and still had no clue what was happening, or what was soon to come. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“Look, Mr. Lee, I get it. I truly do. You have put so much of your own heart and soul into this, that you forget the number one rule of the true magician.” Charles said.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Hearing this, words of magic coming from this man of all people. “You know of magic?”
“I do, the moment you failed as a magician, is the moment you believe your own tricks to be real.” Charles said.
At that, an intense burning rage filled Prince, as he imagined summoning forth flames from his body and burning the pompous bureaucrat on fire. Unfortunately, the study on magic was far too abstract at the moment to prove anything, at most he just felt his core temperature rise, and a burning sensation form within his balled-up fist.
Charles seeing that he had pushed Prince too far took a calming breath, and then tried to reason with the crazy designer who could apparently work miracles around others with his grasp of coding and developing a realistic environment that people could interact with and produce by far and away the most realistic magical effects known to man and cinematography. In fact, that use of cinematography from the game was a huge success, and stories and the adventures of Project18079 were so huge that producers, editors, and developers all wanted more of her. That was why they wanted new materials to work with. They were tired of the same old climbing the tower motif and wanted to see her interact with the other powerful monsters of the world.
“Look, I get it, I really do. She is in the tower now. You and the AI have worked out some quality tests to perform. I get it, but why not just give her the powers you want and be done with it. Surely, we could easily say that she found it. I mean her current exploits within the dragon library are truly phenomenal and worth rewarding.” Charles said, trying to offer up an olive branch of peace.
“You don’t get it. If she leaves, then this… realm will be lost. All her progress, all her milestones will be purged and the only thing that will be left is getting to floor 250, but that will not offer the same type of rewards as the original finder of the tower reaching those heights on their own.” Prince pleaded, nearly giving away what this whole world actually was.
“So, your concern is that she will leave the tower and thus her progress will be erased?” Charles asked.
“Among other concerns, yes.” Prince said.
Charles paused then asked, “won’t she keep both of her Simulacrums within the tower? Shouldn’t that be enough to keep her progress while allowing her, the real her to go out and explore the world?”
Hearing that, Prince paused, as a light of understanding went off in his mind. “That crazy…” Prince began, but then realizing that he was speaking out loud cut himself off. “Yes, you are likely right.”
“Good. So we are in agreement, we send Cass out to the real world after she reaches floor 200 and you and the AI don’t go crazy?” Charles asked, a bit of concern creeping into his voice.
“Yes, we will set it up as you have suggested. She will be allowed to leave after floor 200, only on the condition that she will be allowed to go back into the tower anytime she would like.” Prince said, making the one last condition.
“Of course, she is still a minor, well playing a minor. The last thing we need to be accused of is allowing people to kidnap and traffic in minors. No, she will not be forced to stay outside the tower.” Charles said, finally seeming to relax slightly knowing that he could finally appease all the contributors who have been pushing for the miracle healer to be made more accessible to the public.
“Well, I need to get going.” Prince said, realizing that the conversation was over. While he disliked the fact that the entire conversation ultimately solved nothing, he did realize one thing. One thing that he confirmed upon entering his sectioned off SCIF space, one of the few true working nodes that was allowed to interact with the AI running the world of Biprism. Though AI was such a trivial word that covered what the entities that governed the gaming world were.
As Prince approached his desk, he touched his obsidian mouse, and instantly channeled his minor fragment of mana into the device. Upon reading his mana signature the computer flared to life, allowing for two-way communication from his current location to the beings running the most successful gaming platform in the world.
“How did the meeting go?” The neutral voice of the main AI who always interacted with Prince asked.
“As you likely expected. They are going to force her out after floor 200.” Prince noted.
“We understand.” The AI said, no hint of emotion in their voice.
“I take it that is why you pushed for the class upgrade? So that she could keep sixty-six percent of her soul within the tower and never truly lose her status as the supplier of energy to the tower?” Prince asked, speaking an unspoken truth, that the reason why the original finder of a tower or dungeon was so important to the development of the tower or dungeon was that their soul was used to power the expansion of that very zone.
“A happy coincidence.” The AI said, with a dry tone.
“You and I both know there are no such things as coincidences.” Prince said.
“Then let us just call it, a hedging of the bets that paid off.” The AI noted.
“Do you think it is enough? That she is enough?” Prince asked.
“You mean Project18079?”
“Yes.”
A slight pause, less than a millisecond, but for the processing power of the AI that was a veritable three lifetimes of computing power used and dismissed on this one calculation. “Unkown.”
“Do you think she won’t understand Qi?”
“Oh, she has more than a reasonable grasp of Qi as it is. In fact, we plan to make that knowledge known to the world.”
“You are going to make it a world-wide announcement?”
“Indeed, we are.”
“Why?”
“Likely for similar reasons as to why you spoke to Charles Rainquist, as an attempt to possibly change the future.”
“Do we not have that much time?”
“There is always time, but what you can manage to do with that time, that is an entirely different question.”
“How far are we away from our initial project focus?”
“You mean project Reintroduction?”
Prince nodded, which was all the clarification the AI needed to continue with their answers. “Very soon, you are minting the crypto coins into existence right?”
“We are, but there is a slight shortage on silver at the moment.”
“No matter, make sure they are distributed by the timeframe we noted.”
“I will.” Prince said.
“There is of course one other thing.”
“What’s that?” Prince asked, a note of confusion in his voice as he had already been working on all of the other minutia in the background, outside of the CFOs notice.
“It is about Qi…”