FA Chapter 24 Origins

Sprouts of red liquid, whirlpools of flame, eruptions akin to geysers, yet made of fire, played across the carpet. It was a vivid and realtime rendition of the sun's surface, linked with a few satellites orbiting the star. Though vivid, it was dim enough to not overpower the ambience of the room, especially the volcanic red walls that gave the feeling of being crafted out of real magma.

Attention had gone into the furniture as it was an obsidian black that absorbed the light from both the carpet and the walls as if it was made from the inky darkness of outer space.

Floating holograms displaying a multitude of data floated atop one of the tables occupied by a man whose attention wasn't on the information being displayed.

His palm was cradling a glass of white wine atop the black surface while one of his fingers tapped the glass with no rhythm, a physical demonstration of the turmoil in his mind.

His fiery red pupils were gazing outwards through the window and into the night life of the city. But there was nothing his eyes were particularly drawn to since they weren't even searching for anything. He was in a daze.

Tonight was the turning point. If that Being had really died, then all his planning would be for naught and he would have to go back to the drawing board. That was an outcome he loathed being burdened with. That would mean that he would get stuck with powers he didn't choose for himself.

Ever since that coincidental encounter 30 years ago, the plan had been set in motion and he had had to conceal his true self because of it. It had been unpleasant. But now that it was about to end, he wanted to at least get answers he couldn't get in the beginning.

Why had he been asked to choose a star as his power?

Why had he been asked to awaken over half the population on Earth into Forgers?

Though, he still hadn't accomplished that. The political maneuvering from those in power was impeding his plans, something he planned to rectify this very night.

And the most burning question of all was, would it really be possible for him to jump to another body?

(I can read your thoughts, primitive humanoid creature)

He almost jumped out of his chair at the voice that echoed directly within his mind, but his body had been slow to react, and his mind had calmed down fast enough that only his tapping on the glass stopped and his heart rate rose.

Excitement started taking over him as he felt that the 30 year long wait hadn't been in vain.

He felt some of the skin cells on his forearm shifting, sinking within his flesh and his energy reserves being tapped, attracting his gaze to the location.

A slit appeared within his forearm before parting to the side, revealing an eye with a strange pupil.

It was reddish orange at the edges while the black within the centre was star shaped. It first moved around strangely before its gaze ultimately settled upon him.

Musana had to resist the chilly feeling that enveloped him upon being placed within its gaze.

(Hmpf! Yours' is still a weak and developing race. Even now, with a lifespan of nearly a thousand years, you still grudge a mere three decades. I used to hatch plans spanning thousands of years! Its amusing how agitated you are by just me taking such a short nap.)

Musana felt the mocking within the words, not to mention that it was sharing his body, making him feel not only his own emotions, but its own as well, a bizarre thing.

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(Now, let's see how far this world has truly developed. Last time I was too weak...)

Musana breathed in a sigh of relief when the eye shifted towards the datasets floating over his worktable.

Another squirm of his muscles, right beside the eye itself told him that once again, it was about to take action. And this time, Musana felt a significant drain on his energy reserves, after which he became flabbergasted when his flesh produced an inch thick tendril, which proceeded to connect to the table, specifically where the ports were located, even morphing itself to fit into the port seamlessly.

If he had met a Forger with this skill, he wouldn't be as shocked. But for such a thing to happen to his body, now that was shocking! Forgers, from the liquid to the crystal, could manipulate genetic material...but this had gone far beyond that!

Before he could collect his thoughts and conjure up a question, data, in volumes he couldn't even imagine, flickered into the depths of his mind, where an indistinct figure perused through it, at speeds far surpassing even a crystal stage Forger.

Much of the information simply scrolled itself away, abruptly vanishing from his awareness... But there were some pieces that stuck, ones which the Being no doubt took as important enough to stay around.

Musana willed one to manifest right in front of his face, where his spiritual gaze poured over the words, searing them into his mind in only an instant, after which a question started budding within his mind about the contents of the dataset, which had been a document, one containing a law that was passed a few centuries ago and still in effect.

(Your species did well...)

The indisntict figure spoke even as the data kept rolling down. Those words were related to the document Musana had just scanned.

(...its surprising how they actually managed to foretell the dangers of an AI algorithm being created for a quantum processor.)

Musana was now curious. He knew about this law, though hadn't particularly cared about why it existed in the first place. But if this being from outer space, an alien had placed importance on it, that meant that there was a story there, one he was eager to listen to.

(I started the path of becoming a Forger here on your planet. But in our civilisation, things were different. We had advanced far beyond your primitive technologies, having tapped into the realm of quantum effects, capable of even activating some at will, like quantum teleportation. Warp travel? Such things had already been utilized through stargates. We had discovered thousands of life-bearing planets... We were practically on the verge of initiating intergalactic travel.)

Musana felt his heart pulsate in tandem to the indistinct Being's tale, as if he had personally been there. He could feel the pride, the excitement, and most of all, a sliver of some emotion, probably budding with what the Being was about to reveal.

(Your race can now live for about 200 years as mere mortals before even becoming Forgers. We had doubled that, and yet we wanted more. But we had reached a limit, one which was biological and could only be broken by gaining access to the genetic material of a higher race... Or perhaps charting a new path. So, the council decided to accept the proposal to merge AI and quantum. Just like your species, we had feared what would happen when AI merged with quantum. In classical devices, an AI can never gain sentience or sapience, no matter how advanced the algorithm!)

"Why?"

(That's a great question. The why? No one knows. Is it a limit imposed by the universe? The supreme will of dark matter? No one knows! The only thing we do know is that there is absolutely no way to curb all the errors in a quantum computation. Maybe one computation might go by without misshaps, but what about billions? And all in a fraction of a second?)

(The desire for a longer life or a higher form of evolution is something that every species desires, even ours. So, we decided make an exception, to allow the creation of an AI algorithm for a quantum unit.)

Musana felt the anticipation within his heart, one not his own, but the Being's. That puzzled him. Wasn't terror of fear supposed to be the prevailing emotion? Because according to what It had revealed already, there were going to be some tragic parts towards the latter end of the tale.

(I can feel your puzzlement, lower life form. I won't reveal more, except maybe a warning... Unless you get someone to advance beyond the crystal spiritual stage, never Never NEVER! Allow for the existence of such a thing as the consequences would be dire!)

Musana didn't pose any more questions, or pester It to continue. Why? Because he hadn't grasped its personality. There was a chance that the master of this body would cease to be him with just a small mishap.

Though, he still found some small satisfaction in gaining a clue, one that pointed at the origins of Forgers. Should he consider creating a Quantum AI at one point?

He pondered, this time having meticulously closed off his thoughts from the Being. A sigh of relief escaped his spiritual form's lips after a few moments without the Being erupting.

(...hmm! hmmm! In a few decades at best, your species will achieve warp travel. Oh! It looks like many humans are hindering the progress of the plan by preventing the awakening of more Forgers. And you have a plan, right?)

"Of course! It all kicks off tonight." Musana nodded, with excitement leaking through from his spiritual self.

After a few years of being tied down, he was finally going to let loose. How could he not be happy!