It took me a few days to learn how to complete the interface with all my equipment. It was on the fifth day that I learned just how profound of a change Theia made to the world.
“Caden.”
“Umm-hmm?” I said while reading the Virtual documentation. I hoped to be able to return to Virtual again. The changes Theia made had inadvertently made Virtual impossible to achieve without a better understanding. Zeus always controlled the interface, but without him, I’d have to figure it out.
“I have some unexpected news.”
“You’re pregnant?” I asked while grinning.
“What? No. Oh. I’m glad you’re happy again.” Theia grinned.
I frowned. “Why?”
“Well, to the best of my knowledge the new nanobots are still duplicating.”
“We need a better term than ‘nanobots.’”
“Sticking to your fantasy theme… How about ‘Mana’?”
I thought for a few minutes. “Mana since it does things like it was magic?”
She nodded her head. In most magical books I’ve read, they use mana point or mana as a way to determine how much magic a wizard or sorcerer can use. I narrowed my eyes at Theia.
“Please don’t tell me you lost control.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I won’t tell you.”
I put my head down on my desk and started to thump it on the surface a few times before raising my head once more.
“You lost control.” She didn’t say anything or move. “You can confirm or deny.”
“Um.”
I closed my eyes and tried to contain my frustration.
“Theia, how bad is it?”
“I project global coverage within two years.”
“Global coverage?” She nodded her head and tried to look cute and innocent. “What’s that going to mean to the world?”
“Um. Your fantasy will come true?”
“A threesome?”
Theia burst out laughing. “Keep dreaming big boy. No. I think I may have introduced magic into this world.”
I sat up and leaned back in my chair, interlocking my fingers behind my head. “You mean to tell me every Orc, human, dwarf, and goblin will be casting fireballs at each other.”
“No, silly.” She paused. “Well… not everyone.”
“Explain, please.”
“Well, you and I had our bodies full of APRIL machines when the Mana took over. It’s taken on your…um…signature. Mine too but I don’t know how many animals have something similar to my DNA. The more their DNA matches yours, the higher degree of control.”
“So…”
“Well, your parents or children will have the greatest degree of control. After you of course.”
“Of course. My parents aren’t here, and I don’t have children.”
“Right.”
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“So nobody will be able to control the Mana?”
“Well…”
“Well?”
“Promise not to get mad?”
I rolled my eyes. “No.”
“It’s possible the Mana can be controlled by someone with a high level of will.”
“In other words, if they want it bad enough, it would happen.” Theia shrugged. “You don’t know.” She shrugged again, and I rubbed my eyes in response. “Spit it out, Theia.”
“You humans are great at domesticating animals.”
The change in the line of thought threw me for a second but having the entire library from Zeus dumped into my brain helped connect the dots quickly.
“You think they’ll start line-breeding for magical traits.”
The concept is rather simple and has been part of human history for as long as humans have lived. An animal with a valued trait is bred with another animal the same trait, and you get offspring with the said trait. If an Orc shows magical abilities, she or he will produce offspring. Male offspring would be valued more since magical male Orcs could sire more frequently.
“I may have introduced the stud farm concept on this world. It may take thousands of years, but eventually, there may be many humans and other humanoids wielding powerful magic.”
Theia looked down at her feet while she spoke. I wondered where she picked up the trait to imitate human females so well.
I laughed. “I don’t think you’ve introduced stud farming. The strongest and healthiest male always gets the ladies. More likely the power will shift from strongest in strength to strongest in magic. If you’re right…”
###
It took me three weeks before I was able to devise a way to enter Virtual. A benefit of solving the Virtual problem was that I was now able to feel Theia’s touch even when we were not in Virtual. The first time I felt her touch in the real world was both surprising and pleasant. My body was infused with Mana in every cell of my body due to the lifelong merging between Zeus and me. Theia could simulate her touching me where she placed her projection. It was easier to control the Mana with a thought, and although I’d lost Zeus, I had to agree that the upgrade was impressive.
I found out that DJ had Mana in his body by accident. Theia was projected using her new hologram projection, and DJ ran up to her. She reached down to stop him, and he froze at her touch. He seemed confused since she was not scented and he could still push through her image, but otherwise, he knew when she rubbed his ears.
They would talk to each other, and that brought me a sense of joy watching them interact. He’d ask her to throw a ball, and she’d tell him that wasn’t possible, and he’d keep asking. She assured me that she’d figure out a way to produce a force field so that she could interact with objects. I didn’t doubt she’d be able to crack the code and looked forward to it. She could throw the ball to DJ all day long rather than me having to get my hands dirty.
As much as I enjoyed this time of my life, I still felt like I was missing that human connection. My city sat empty, and I had no way of getting humans here.
“Theia, what do you think about creating a rescue shuttle and bringing humans we save to the city?”
“Why not return them to their homes?”
“Um.”
She giggled. “I’m not the only one who says, ‘Um.’”
I laughed with her. “No, but you shouldn’t ever need to say it. You’re a supergirl.”
Theia’s image froze, but before I could ask her what is wrong, she spoke. “That’s the first time you called me a girl.”
“I—,” I blushed, “I’ve called you a girl before.”
She shook her head back and forth. “No. You’ve called me a supercomputer, seafood, brain-in-a-box, jarhead, little boy goo, A…”
“I get it,” I interjected. “I—I guess I do think of you as a girl. As an equal.”
“I’m more than your equal…”
“Yeah, Yeah,” I interrupted her again. “I think of you as a friend. I’m sorry if my name calling has hurt your feelings.”
Theia curtsied and nodded her head. “You’re forgiven. I think you’re my friend as well, even if you won’t copulate with me.”
“YOU’RE A JELLYFISH!” I threw up my arms.
“I’m a super girl. You said it yourself. No, take backs.”
The grin on her face made me laugh. “Fine. You’re my super girl. But back to my question about bringing people back here.”
“Why not save them and give them a chance to come? If they want to go home, send them.”
“They’ll tell people about this place,” I complained.
“Would you believe someone?” I opened my mouth and closed it before shaking my head negatory.
“See?”
“Fine. I can’t wait for the rumors of aliens to start after we start saving people.”
“You’re already a God. Now you want to be an alien?”
“I AM NOT A GOD!”
“Sure.”
I blew Theia a raspberry. “How long would it take for us to build a shuttle?”
“Hmm. About a week.”
“What?” I exclaimed.
“You heard me. The Mana will make the ship. Make it happen, Master.”
I tried to complain but failed to form the words. We’d used the 3D printers for the robots and food processors but now I just what? Will it?
Yes. Mighty Just Caden. If you wish upon a--
“Stop! Please. I love hearing you sing but not that song. It’ll be stuck in my head the rest of the day. Ugh!”