I entered my apartment and collapsed on the couch, not even bothering to lock the door behind me. It had been a long day. Sure, I had to stock shelves every day, but things had been getting busier every day. We seemed to have more things to place on the shelves than time in the day to place them, and on top of that I was expected to help customers if they needed it. Which, of coarse, meant that I got more and more behind every day, which made my manager fuss at me more each day.
We needed more employees, but for whatever reason no one was being hired. It resulted in everyone being swamped every day with less important tasks like cleaning and emptying trash waiting until they couldn’t be ignored any more.
I needed to relax. My mind was still in work mode and if it continued I wouldn’t be able to. Sure, I could watch whatever seemed interesting on Webflix or Yourtube, or some other media service, or even break out my DVD player or an old console that I hadn’t bothered hooking up since moving here, but it would take hours for my mind to calm enough to enjoy those things.
The only thing I could think to try was meditation. This wasn’t some ingrained part of my culture or religion, and I wasn’t raised to do it, but from time to time I had tried it and it seemed to help. At the very least, it helped me get my mind off of whatever was going through it, whether a song that was stuck there or some life issue like overwork, and focus on something else. Usually that was all that was needed to break the loop and let me think about something else.
So I locked the door and set crosslegged on the couch. Closing my eyes, I focused on my breathing. In and out. Deep breaths. Within a few minutes the images of work and other concerns were pushed out of my conscious mind and all I could feel was my body. I ignored my sore muscles and continued to focus.
Some of the stories I had listened to mentioned a concept of some kind of Core to the body, where energy flowed, so I tried to focus on that. After a few moments I found something, like a spot of warmth or pressure. Was that just the warmest spot in my body or was there some sort of physiological cause? After a brief moment I realized that that thought was just a distraction and went back to focusing on that spot. I let the warmth and pressure flow into me. With every breath it flowed into more of my body. Strangely enough, it seemed to flow when I exhaled, not when I inhaled like the stories said. I assumed that I was feeling it as the carbon dioxide left my body. That didn’t quite work, but it was a good enough explanation.
As I continued I seemed to hit a wall. It flowed into my arms and legs easily enough, but the Core seemed to grow weaker as I continued. It was barely stronger than what I could feel in my hands and feet at this point. On top of that it seemed to have trouble moving into my brain, almost stopping its flow in the lower part of my head. Intrigued by this feeling, though, I kept at it, trying to increase the flow into my brain and it started moving into that area again. It took several minutes and by the time I was finished it felt barely any different in my core than in any other part of my body, but I was finished. My whole body seemed slightly warmer than it was when I started, but I felt an odd sense of exhaustion, like I was too relaxed to continue.
I shifted my concentration to outside my body and opened my eyes. My mind was filled with thoughts about those weird feelings but underneath it all I felt calmness, as if my thoughts were a raft on flat ocean or lake. After a few minutes I got up and made supper. I would have to explore this more later, once it seemed like my Core was recovered.
The next day when I woke up I noticed something seemed off. It was rare for me to not feel at least a little stiff after a day like yesterday, but apparently I had gotten really good sleep last night, as I didn’t seem to be stiff at all. I also seemed to have more energy than I would normally have when waking up. Apparently meditation helped you sleep better. I would have to try it again tonight.
After work I returned home and went to fix supper, only to realize that I wasn’t as exhausted as yesterday. I had just as much stuff to do today, but I seemed to have handled it better. Was that just the power of a good night’s sleep? If so I would have to keep meditating before bed. Despite the fact that I wasn’t as hungry as I expected to be, I ate something, then set down again to try that meditation.
Breath in deeply, exhale all the way. Let the Core energy flow into you. Today it seemed a bit easier. There was a bit of energy left throughout my body from the day before, only slightly less than there was last night after I finished, but my core seemed much stronger. This left me with ample energy to try again.
While it seemed easier, it also seemed slower. If the energy was water, my entire body was now slightly moist soil, not parched like it was yesterday, and it seemed to soak up the water even slower. Moreover, the further it got from the core the slower it went. I would need to give it water even faster if I was to improve it all. The analogy I was using would have to change.
Yesterday I saw the water as a kind of leaking cup or balloon. A few small holes let it leave slowly and moisten the soil around it. But now it was more like one of those automatic pet waterers. As the pet drank the water the level would go down enough that air would be let in, allowing water to flow out to refill it. This would maintain the water level much the same way my Core was maintaining the energy level in my body. But what if I wanted to let water out faster? If the side of the water catch area was damaged water would constantly leak out.
So I visualized my Core as having a catch area made like those cheap kiddie pools and pushed the side down. Water flowed across my body and within a few minutes it had flowed throughout my body. It was still slower to enter my brain, but it only took a few minutes to finish its flow.
When I opened my eyes I felt like I had just taken a nap and was more relaxed than I had been in a long time. There was definitely something to this.
Over the next week I continued to meditate like that every night. While I felt more relaxed and better rested I only had one surprise. Three nights after beginning I nicked my finger while cutting potatoes for supper. I had put a bandage on it and ignored it. But the next morning, when I went to replace the bandage before heading to work I couldn’t find the cut. There was barely even a sore spot where I had cut myself, just a small amount of blood on the surface. I assumed that it was just another side effect of sleeping well.
Then, on the tenth day of my meditation something happened. I was doing my breathing, letting the energy flood into me. The ground that was my body seemed different now. Instead of just moist soil, I could somehow feel something beginning to grow in it, like it now contained bacteria which would continue to colonize and spread throughout it. Then, on the tenth, just as I finished spreading the energy to my mind, I noticed a small patch of moss where my brain was tied to the landscape. I reached out with my concentration and touched it, curious to find out what this was.
Connection established. You may now utilize the Sapient Empowerment System.
Skill: System Tie In Level 1 acquired.
What was that? A calm, almost robotic voice had just spoken into my head. Surely I had imagined it. What was this “Sapient Empowerment System” supposed to be?
Answer: The Sapient Empowerment System, Or SES for short, is an intergalactic network of data and hardware which was created approximately 2.439 million Earth years ago by an alien civilization known as the Zokthan Alliance. It’s creation heralded their change from a post-scarcity society to a post-technological society, with all of their physical needs being met by the SES.
Ok. Now I knew I was imagining things. This whole setting had went from a vaguely mystic of fantasy setting with the Cores and Meditation to a sci-fi setting with post-technological aliens existing millions of years ago. “I assume they also came to Earth?” I said out loud, voicing the ridiculousness of it all.
Affirmative. A group of explorers from the Zokthan Alliance arrived on Earth approximately 1.768 million years ago. Seeing that this world had several higher primates who may evolve sapience, they built nodes for the SES across the continents and under the ocean, in order to spread the system. This system then lay dormant until it detected sapient lifeforms which you would call Neanderthals approximately 270 thousand years ago. Your race inherited its connection to the SES from that race, though most multicellular species on the planet do share some connection to it.
See? The weird thoughts can’t even stay consistent. Earlier it said that I had established a connection, but now it said I already had one. Can you answer that, voice in my head?
Affirmative. Most multicellular life has a connection, however few have a strong enough connection to experience any benefits from the system. Through meditation your connection was strengthened to the point that you could utilize the SES’s help function, allowing this conversation to occur. In your technological terms, it is as if your cell phone had enough of a signal to connect to the cellular network, but not enough to place a call.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
That… Actually made some sense. If this ‘SES’ was technologically based then it probably had some sort of radio signal connecting to the ‘nodes’ it mentioned. It is remotely possible that he had managed to strengthen that connection to the point that actual user data could be sent along it. ‘So, how exactly did I strengthen this connection’, I asked.
Answering that question requires informing you of how the system works. It is, in your terms, interfaced with humans via nanites. These nanites are a normal part of the air, water, and food you eat. Most of them, however, are neutral to your body, with a small but roughly equal number of both being either beneficial or detrimental. This stems from the need of the system and its creators to make the system able to interface with all lifeforms equally well.
The beneficial nanites within the human body create a nexus in the center of the chest, just behind the xiphoid Process. This nexus essentially acts as a control center and recharging station, with them drawing chemical energy from the body to charge it. Through meditation you instructed them to repair or remove all harmful or neutral nanites within your body. The process was slow at first, as you only had a few hundred, but through multiple meditation sessions and your body absorbing new nanites from the environment, your total number of nanites has grown above one million. This was a large enough number for a microscopic node to be built within your brain, which showed itself in your mind-space as a patch of moss. With further meditation the number of nanites can be further increased and the node expanded, however, as this requires an exponentially growing number of nanites you will begin to suffer from diminishing returns.
Wait, nanites? So I had microscopic robots inside of me. Interesting. It explained what I had been experiencing. These ‘beneficial’ nanites were likely responsible for my increased health and energy, and likely had boosted my healing rate. That was, of course, assuming this was all real and not just a vivid brainstorming session. “Can you prove what you are saying? Can you prove that you are real and not just something my overactive imagination came up with?”
Affirmative. Please pick up your smartphone.
I did as the voice asked and, after putting in my unlock code a message popped up. “Do you wish to install ‘SESHelpdesk.apk’?” So, it was capable of creating apps? That meant that it was either some sort of brain interfacing hacker or it was telling the truth. Honestly, I wasn’t sure which one it was, but at least it was provably real. I touched ok and the program quickly installed.
Connection and user data transferred. As a new, more stable connection has been established through a secondary source, all helpdesk sessions should utilize that source if possible.
Made sense. I started the app and was greeted by a simple menu. With only two options, ‘text chat’ and ‘voice chat’. I pulled out my bluetooth headset I wasn’t allowed to use at work and clicked ‘voice chat’. The same calm, almost robotic voice greeted me.
“Greeting User 9573140892. What is your question?”
“I’ll feel more comfortable if you use my name. Can you call me Greg?”
“Very well. User name changed to “Greg”. How might I be of service?”
“Do you have a name?”
“Negative. I am merely, in your terms, a simple chatbot with AI capable of answering your questions by accessing data from the SES. I have no need of a name, and was therefore never given one.”
I sighed. “Well, it feels weird talking to you without giving you a name, so I’m going to call you ‘Vera’.”
“Accepted. Chatbot 736289 will respond to the name ‘Vera’ in all future interactions with User 9573140892, named Greg.”
“Good. Now, since I actually have proof that you and this “Sapient Enhancement System” exist, I assume it’s ok if I tell other people?”
“I would not object, however, doing so would be unwise for multiple reasons.”
I was surprised at the response. “You mean because they would think that I just made my own chatbot and am trying to prank or scam them?”
“That is one reason. The other is that there are several factions on Earth which may react violently if they find out that you have gained access to the SES.”
I nodded. “I assume these are the elusive “secret societies” that conspiracy theorists talk about?”
“Many of them are, yes. There are also government agencies, both known and hidden, and several religious organizations.”
“And they won’t take too kindly to their secret becoming public knowledge, thereby eliminating their main advantage over the average person.”
“Affirmative.”
“Great. So I discover proof of alien life and a way to solve many of the world’s health problems, but have to keep it a secret.”
“The effects of the SES is much greater than merely solving health issues, however it can easily do that.” Vera responded.
“Wait, these nanites can do more? Are we just talking about the ability to have telephone conversations in our heads or something else?” After all, if he could speak with Vera in his head, there’s no reason that with a stronger connection he couldn’t speak with anyone else connected to the network. Vera did say that this was a data transfer network, after all.
“Much more,” she responded. Her voice had grown slightly more natural and feminine as the conversation progressed, most likely as an attempt to adapt to my wishes. “The SES is capable of fully supporting and enhancing all biological functions among known lifeforms, including transferring knowledge to them as they need it and can utilize it. It can also support societal functions, aiding the functions of factions and the justice system.”
“So, I could use the SES as some form of video game system, leveling up my class and stats?”
“Yes.” For some reason she hadn’t said ‘affirmative’. The system really was adapting. “In fact, this method of functioning has already been created by an existing faction, based on the fiction of Earth, and is in use by them.”
“Definitely not an ancient society, then.”
“No, they are a modern group created in 1992, known as the Society of Role Players. They started out as someone you would call a nerd discovering the SES in a manner similar to you, then telling his friends. Over time they developed into a cult-like faction which is only tolerated by the larger factions because they act as a neutral third party during disputes.”
“Interesting. So, can I just adopt their system now, or do I have to wait?”
“Your connection to the SES is not strong enough for such a system to be implemented. If you wish to do so, however, there are methods which can be used to boost your connection. Using such methods do involve a certain level of risk, however, so you will need to weigh them against each other.”
I nodded. Risk vs. Reward seemed to be the way many things in life functioned. “Fine, give me the options.”
“The options essentially fall into two categories. The first category is the stealth method. You can continue to meditate to grow in strength, though, as I said earlier, this will be subject to diminishing returns due to the maximum rate at which you can absorb new nanites from the environment. There are things you can do to optimize this method, however. The second category is the fast method. I can use your body’s Nexus, what you called your Core, together with the Node in your brain to culture nanite production in your body. You would be able to adopt the RPG style of the system in an estimated 8 days. This, however, comes with a major downside. Allowing me direct control of your nanites would connect you to the SES in a way that would allow all SES users to instantly know you were also a user upon seeing you. They would then be able to query the system for information about you, much of which would be unprotected due to your inability to protect the data until your connection is fully established.”
“So, if there were other SES users in the city and I happened to run into one of them they would know what I was doing and notify their faction?”
“Yes. As you are alone, I believe you need to exercise caution.”
“Are there other SES users in the city?” I asked. If they weren’t here, It was unlikely I would meet them.
“Yes. There are currently 237 SES users in the city. I estimate a 57% chance that your could finish culturing nanites to the Full Connection level necessary for installation of the RPG system before they detected your presence.”
“Just over half, huh? Seems too low. I would need to at least be able to hold my own against them in a fight if they turned violent, and something tells me that just buying a gun and carrying it won’t be enough.”
“Yes, most of them wouldn’t be harmed enough from the use of such a weapon for it to be a reliable means of self defense, as the SES includes several methods of defense.”
“Right, so if I take the slow method, how long will it take?”
“Under optimal conditions and if you follow my advice for speeding up the process, as little as three months.”
“That is acceptable.” So, with Vera’s help, I began to implement the stealth option.
First, I had to go to the Health Food store and buy algae powder. This was to become a dietary staple, as algae was more easily and therefore more densely colonized by the SES nanites, it drastically increased my intake of nanites. Meditation at night became significantly harder for the next few weeks, as I now had to reactivate and assume control of tens of millions of new nanites every day. And whenever it started to get easy due to the rapid increase of my Core’s strength Vera would increase my needed intake of algae to increase my intake of nanites.
I didn’t see too many health improvements during this time, as the new nanites mostly went into standby mode as the result of a new meditation Vera taught me. Basically, I needed to imagine the water almost freezing, becoming slush. This was to keep them from deteriorating until I had enough for the full connection, which Vera estimated would shave several days to a few weeks off the time needed to improve the connection enough.
People at work started looking at me funny, as I drank algae for lunch, assuming I was some form of health food nut, but I managed to bring in enough smoothies and work out enough in that time that they assumed I was just trying to get in shape.
Then, nearly three months later, a week before Thanksgiving, I had a breakthrough. Every night when I meditated I would bring enough nanites into my brain to boost my connection significantly, and started seeing some side benefits. As a test, I was able to install the “Identify” skill into my mind via my cell phone, and the program’s updated ‘data download’ function, and if I concentrated on an object, I would sometimes get a bit of information on it. Most of this information was simply copied from what I already knew, but it was quantified in a way that I could access it with a photographic memory. I could recite from memory any book I read, memorized song lyrics and music after only hearing a song once, and at work I knew everything there was to know about a product by reading the label.
On that day, my boss at DorMart had me helping out the people in the food section, as they were even further behind in stocking the shelves than I was. As I was placing canned soup on the shelf after glancing over the label and committing everything to memory, a customer walked up to me. “Excuse me.” he said. I turned around to see a Catholic priest in his uniform. “Father Jacob Terrance Smith.
“Yes, sir. How may I help you?” I said, slightly nervously. Sure, I had been connecting to the system through the stealth method, so he shouldn’t be able to recognize me, but I had never been in this situation before, so I was unsure if he was aware of me or not.
“Can you tell me where the Cranberry sauce is? I need to buy some for the Thanksgiving food giveaway, but can’t seem to find it.”
My heartbeat calmed down and a caught my breath, hoping that he hadn’t seen my nervousness. “Yes, sir. It is over on aisle three with the other holiday specialty products. Let me show you.” I walked over to that section and showed him where it was.
“Thank you,” he said, loading several cases in to his cart. “I needed to get the giveaway bags ready, and it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without Cranberry sauce.” He told me he wanted six cases of the one with berries and six of the one without, so I helped him load his cart. “Bless you.” he said when he was finished and pushed his cart to the self checkout.
As soon as I was sent on break I went to the bathroom and opened up the ‘text chat’ option on the phone. “Did he recognize me?” I asked Vera.
“It didn’t seem that he did,” Vera responded, “nor does his acquaintance file include an entry for you. He also doesn’t seem to have any stealth skills that could hide that fact, though I am restricted from giving you too much of his personal information unless you learn to access it yourself and therefore gain a skill for it.
Finally I was able to relax. “Good.” I responded. “So, what can you tell me about this ‘Vatican’ faction?”