Adam had been trying to decipher the coding of the Dragon Universe he was under, or was he beside it in a pocket dimension? He wasn’t sure. Planar Travel had treated this location like going to a whole new Universe, so he knew he wasn’t in the Universe he’d found the Dragons. Adam imagined that if he were much larger this would look like a bubble display that he could interact with by clicking a mouse button if this were in a computer. At his current size, he had to focus on the next node and then he’d move almost instantly, and a new slew of code would be swirling around him. The interface he was interacting with was laid out in three dimensions and at any moment he could travel down, up, or at an angle to a new node of swirling code that had a line from his current node to it. He couldn’t jump between nodes that didn’t have a line linking them, though he could see them.
With his perfect memory, it wasn’t hard to backtrack and find a path to the node he could see that a node he was in didn’t connect with if the line was still there. Sometimes they weren’t. Much of the time he’d spent in this interface had been used trying to map out the various paths. With Perfect Memory, it was easy enough to do. He could even see the pattern in his mind, but then he’d go back to a node and the pattern had changed. As time went on the longer he was inside the more he realized that the code was not static. It moved and changed as the Universe changed.
Sure, some fundamental symbols never changed. Adam realized that they probably represented a fundamental law and he could infer their values but he still hadn’t cracked the code to get to the inner workings of those fundamental symbols. Adam had been following the current line of code and he believed he had found a pathway down to a creation layer when the entire area he was in flashed red and he was immediately translocated back to the very first node he entered this universe in.
That was the first time that had happened, which was strange. What was even stranger was when a notification popped into his vision while the same text scrolled around the node he was now standing in. Immediately pulses of energy started shooting off from the node he was in down the lines of energy between nodes in rapid succession. He watched as some of those pulses disappeared off into the distance. Adam couldn’t follow what all the pulses were doing so he opened his notification and read his new messages.
Welcome to The Multitude, A Heightened State of Existence is now Yours!
Universal
With very few exceptions, all previous classes, skills, and physical abilities have been reset to Level 1. Those that are not being reset have already been integrated into The Multitude through their Interface. At this time, any that wish to change their Class may do so.
Those with a Class incompatible with the System have had their Level reset to level 1. Class and Class abilities have been removed while all Racial Abilities have been retained.
Adam opened his Personal Information, looked at his level, and sighed. It was a “1”. Well, fuck. He quickly looked over the rest of his personal information and compared it to the last time he’d looked at it. All of his attributes were still sitting at 61.5 billion. More importantly, his Soul Core level was still at 193 and he had all of his Racial Abilities and Quintessence abilities he’d unlocked. His racial abilities were listed as being the same as his Soul Core level while the abilities he unlocked were all sitting at level 50.
Adam went over his Personal Information and also checked his memory and realized he still had all the knowledge of the skills he’d learned even though his skill levels were all set to 1. It would figure that somehow the Universe would conspire to make him earn his levels in the ‘real’ world. It was nice that he still had his attributes and his abilities, though he had earned those all in the real world so that made sense.
While he’d been in the SYSTEM Matrix the changes had been corrections that others were trying to make, or even adjustments Al was trying to make. That whatever was causing this couldn’t change his quintessence or his quintessence ability levels was a good sign that he was really in the real world, even if the Universe he was in felt like he was within a computer. Of course, his ability had brought him to this pocket universe. Could his ability have created this pocket Universe? Maybe the ability had translated the data into a format he could understand somehow?
As Adam thought about the changes he noted some text in the symbols and words circling him and closed his notification window to look over the information.
“Universal Level” = “Universal Density”
Universal Interface compatible with Multitude Interface.
1,145,300
The Chaos within him recognized that something had shifted temporally but as far as he could tell it hadn’t affected him. Adam was still thinking about the temporal shift when his mind returned to the lines of code he’d just read. When he’d first started he’d immediately figured out that the symbol that looked like a twisted figure eight on its side, or Mobius Strip, represented the word, or idea, for Universe. 1,145,300 universes were within range and being assessed. While he thought about that, one last line squeezed in and pulsed away
Multitude Injunction order
Immediately Adam felt the nanites in his body start to shut down through the interface he had installed. He activated Technomancy to figure out what was going on. Immediately the destruction of the nanites in his body halted though he noted that more than half had been destroyed in the time it had taken him to turn on his ability. This did not bode well for Earth. Adam considered everything and realized that his luck had probably come into play here. If he had not been reading the code he wouldn’t have seen the additional messages because they had not appeared in his normal notifications. He would have known about the nanites but not the reason and wasted time. Instead, he knew what was going on and needed to get back to Earth to figure out if Earth was in one of the Universes under assessment.
Adam closed down his interface and activated Planar Travel mode 2. He chose Thor’s new residence in Nu Draconis. A moment later he stood in the control room which housed Thor’s brain.
Through his interface, he checked the date and time, October 1st, 2051. It was October 1st already? He knew he’d been in the other universe for a couple of weeks but a little more than a month, how the hell had a month passed? The temporal shift. Something must have happened to the whole universe he was in. So while he might not be personally affected by temporal spells and such, if he was inside the Universe, he was along for the ride. That actually made sense because he couldn’t figure out what that would feel like for the universe to fast forward, or be fast-forwarded by an external force and be able to witness that from the inside. So whatever this Multitude was, they were powerful enough to at least affect the pocket dimensions that controlled Universes. Maybe he’d been inside when they loaded something like a batch file that did a whole bunch of updates simultaneously. But he only saw a few messages. Unless there were other control nodes. Of course, there had to be other control nodes with varying levels of access.
“Adam,” a monitor on the wall said?”
“Hello Thor, have there been any changes I should know about?” Adam asked.
“You could say that.”
“I wasn’t able to figure out exactly how to bring Adaline and Pandora out of the SYSTEM Matrix. While I was trying to figure it out I received a message where I was about something called ‘The Multitude’.
“We received the same messages,” Thor said.
“Did you receive a message about an assessment?”
“No, but there’s something you should know, Adaline and Pandora, are already out of the SYSTEM Matrix.
“What?”
“A little while after you left all the Holographic Universes were made real. Al still had the coordinates to the base and I was able to find them in Adaline’s cave North East of where Apolyn’s Abode was supposed to be on Primore, well a copy of Primore,” Thor said.
“So there are a hundred universes that were once holographic that have now become real?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, I checked on each. Additionally, something changed, and being in a Universal density that is too high or too low is now bad for you. This causes items and materials from higher-density universes to break down and for living creatures to take damage if the Universal Density where they are is too low.
“Isn’t that interesting,” Adam said as he remembered how he’d thought that if there was a consequence for going into a universe with a high Universal Density there should be a penalty for going into a Universe with too low a Universal Density.
“How do you feel, you had increased your Soul Core level?” Thor asked.
“My ability Adaptable seems to have me covered, and if it didn’t I’m sure that my Chaotic nature would make it possible. If Adaline and Pandora are back does that mean mom, dad, and the others are here as well?
“Yep, I have them all helping out on Trappist-1e. Earth’s a bit of a mess right now.”
“How?” Adam asked.
“After you left the Iranians, Russians and Chinese decided to invade various countries. Amanda handled the Chinese brilliantly and as soon as the countries around the Earth realized that Portals Inc had paid off the United States Debt…Adam, why am I not downloading this information to you?”
“Simple answer, I need to hear voices and communicate with someone. I’ve been looking at data for over a month. I’ll get the download after we’re done talking. By the way, are you having any issues with the nanotechnology?”
“Actually, yes it started a few moments ago. I’m losing contact with just about everything.”
“Trappist-1e, is it ecologically self-sufficient?” Adam asked.
“Yes, we were done with that before you left.”
“The underwater airlock in the Bermuda Triangle?”
“Without nanites, it will fail eventually but right now it’s fine. Also, the nanites within 50 feet of you have stabilized, though I am losing functionality throughout this base everywhere else.
“Did you ever put carbon exchangers or life support into this base?”
“There are no people here, so no. We were relying on nanotechnology to keep it habitable,” Thor said.
“Very well, I have a feeling this multitude is going to be something like the Syndicate or some other setups we’ve read about. I can tell you that I watched them change the code I was trying to decipher and create the rule that is making the nanotech fail. It looks like they tied it to a quintessence ability. My ability Technomancy seems to be able to stabilize the tech while it’s active but once I turn it off even the tech in my body starts to fail. Just the nanotech. The Implant that allows me to communicate with you seems to be working fine,” Adam said.
“That’s some good news at least,” Thor said.
“Another thing I noted, the command mentioned something about a stabilization field. My guess is that there is a technology that will allow nanites to work. Additionally, there is probably a Quintessence ability that helps with this. When I have time I’m going to have to try to figure out how to generate one of those stabilization fields.
“Can’t you ask Hal?” Thor asked.
“No, something came through and changed one of my abilities. It was replaced with Scrutinize which is something like Identity, but I can use it on people and Items. at range. Currently, it doesn’t give a lot of information but with my memory, just knowing what something is will be very helpful.
“Of course,” Thor said.
“How fast are you losing functionality to the nanites?” Adam asked.
“Very quickly. As we’ve been talking I’ve lost just over 90%.” Thor said.
“Okay, leave a copy of yourself to run the portals and accept commands from anyone with an implant. You’re also hardwired into the internet through a portal here correct?” Adam asked.
“Yes, through the base in Hawaii, into this location,” Thor said.
“Okay, hardwire yourself. Al is here as well?”
“I’m here,” Al said from the same speaker.
“Thor, create a quantum backup for both of you right here at my feet, one for each of you. I’m going to store both of you in my Shadow Vault.
Immediately a self-contained battery-powered device backpack with two hard drives installed started forming at Adam’s feet. “I’ve made it into a backpack so you can equip us and talk to us through the interface. I’ve also included sensors and a limited communications area so anyone in the vicinity can be contacted,” Thor said as he paused, then said,” backup is running, Al and I are both stored and ready to go.
Adam spoke to Thor through his interface.
Adam: “Thor, where’s Adaline and Pandora?”
Thor: Adaline and Pandora are both on Trappist-1e. Nanite coverage has been reduced by over 95%.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Adam opened a portal to Adaline’s location and stepped through, said, “Honey, I’m home,” and braced himself.
A moment later Adaline slammed into him and wrapped him in a hug. A young woman turned to look at him with wide eyes. She looked like her mother though she had lighter skin and long hair. As he looked her over he noted the dragon tattoos wrapping down her arms and around the back of her neck. Her hair seemed to be red, but it could just have easily been light brown with highlights of white running through it. As Adam watched Pandora’s hair rippled with color.
“Hello Pandora, I’m Adam, your father,” he said as he opened one of his arms to invite her into the hug with Adaline.
Pandora only hesitated for a moment before she came over and entered the hug. They stood that way for a few moments before Adam stepped back.
It’s so good to finally meet you,” Adam said.
Pandora, looked shyly at her father then looked at her mom, “Mom did you tell him about how I became so knowledgeable so quickly?”
“It was some form of memory transfer wasn’t it?” Adam asked.
“It was. Normally a mother would impart that information she wished unto her child and that would be it. Usually, how to hunt and survive. Mother’s gifting was a little bit more intense but she did hold some stuff back,” Pandora said as she looked at both of them, a flush coming to her skin as if she was embarrassed.
“What is it?” Adam asked as Adaline nodded her encouragement for her to continue.
“Well, I was attacked mentally and the, well it doesn’t matter, she’s dead now. Anyway, the bitch that tried to unlock my mind, unlocked all of mother’s memories up until the point she gifted them to me.
“She unlocked ‘All’ of the memories?” Adaline asked.
“Yes,” Pandora said sheepishly.
Adam might have extremely high attributes, but dealing with a daughter that had her mother’s memories of everything the two of you did together…yeah, that caused him to pause for a moment as he tried to think of what to say until only an, “Oh!” was heard.
Even Adaline was flabbergasted for a moment before she said, “Well dear, a lot has happened since then so why you don’t catch us up on what happened to you after we were separated?”
Pandora nodded then started to explain how she found herself in a desert of sorts and how she was rescued by two men and brought back to the city where she went to school until she joined the Adventurer’s Guild where she met her five friends: Callum the human male warrior. Asling, the female wood elf archer. Robert, the half-dark elf-half-human mage. Cedrick, male halfling rogue. Finally, there was Pythias, the half-celestial half-human male Cleric.
Pandora went on to explain how she’d found the Dungeon and then her mage orbs, which she pulled out and showed Adaline and Adam. Then she went on to tell them about Caspa and how she was part of her.
“The Chaos within you became intelligent, all on its own?” Adam asked.
“Yours didn’t?” Pandora asked back.
“No, though I have been thoroughly combined with every aspect of my chaotic nature,” Adam said. “It’s a long story.”
Adam, Adaline, and Pandora walked off to one of the side lounges and sat down to talk. The others in the room didn’t say anything for a moment before they turned back to the television as various thoughts ran through all of their minds.
After five minutes Cedrik, the halfling rogue, couldn’t take it anymore, “What do you think they’re talking about in there?” he asked the rest of the group in the living room while Adam, Adaline, and Pandora talked in an adjacent lounge.
“Right before they left the room I overheard Pandora tell her dad that she had all of her mom’s memories,” Asling said.
“Yeah, let’s talk about something else,” Robert, the mage, said.
There were nods around the room until Desirae asked, “How are the five of you finding the higher levels of technology?”
“I like the bathrooms, “Asling said.
“Yes, and the way your stoves automatically heat up is really nice too,” Callum said.
“It does seem like magic,” Robert said.
“All of you have been here for almost a month, have you been able to get to a dungeon, or was Thor still trying to teach you about the world?” Mr. Bennard asked.
“We’ve been stuck on this planet for the most part,” Callum said.
“Yes, your talking voice was able to explain that we are on one planet and the planet we need to help on is a different one. That required a little bit of knowledge on what a planet, star, and even solar system were. That first week was just learning the terminology all of you use. While we’ve been learning, Thor has been keeping track of the dungeons. Except for the occasional individual, not very many people have entered any of the dungeons on the other plant, unless by accident. Normally they come running out within five minutes.” Callum said.
“Thor also asked us to stay here and learn as much as we can while Pandora’s mom and dad, and all of you worked to get the world governments working together, or at least not fighting. That’s what Thor told us,” Robert said.
“We have been a bit busy,” Abi conceded.
“The wars have all stopped and we’ve even opened exploration of various moons to those countries that want to participate, though Thor issued an evacuation earlier today and everyone has been returned to Earth or Trappist-1e,” Amanda said.
“I find it so interesting that you move among the heavens with little or no effort,” Pythias said. “Aren’t you afraid of angering the Gods?”
“As far as I’ve been able to tell, and I do come from a world much like yours Pythias, The only god-like beings we’ve seen have been Adam and now Adaline. Some of us were like Gods inside the SYSTEM Matrix but all of our divinity points and levels were reset when the Universe became real.” Mr. Bennard said.
“Why did Thor recall everyone back from the exploratory areas?” Clarence asked Amanda.
“No ideas. Though, it probably has something to do with the fact that the nanites aren’t working,” Amanda said.
“Wait, what?” Clarence asked.
“Our ability to control nanites has been getting progressively worse for about the last hour,” Abi confirmed.
“What about our portals and our connection to Thor?” Desirae asked.
“Thor sent me a message before he went offline. Thor left a copy to run the portals for us but he stated that Adam has both Al and Thor with him,” Amanda said.
“We can use our interfaces to call portals but the nanites are offline,” Abi said.
“Also, remember, if you go to any of the facilities that are not on Trappist-1e, Earth or one of the planets that have an atmosphere that humans can breathe keep your portal open while you are there or have Thor open a portal to somewhere on Earth or Trappist-1e to keep breathable air coming in. Without nanites those locations will not support life for very long,” Amanda said.
“Is this that science stuff Thor has been teaching us about?” Asling asked.
“Not exactly, though we would use science to explain why the air becomes unbreathable,” Mrs. Bennard said.
“Okay, I guess the major question is, what does this all mean?” Callum asked as he looked around the room.
“That’s my cue,” Adam said, as he led Adaline and Pandora out of the lounge into the main room. “Hello again to those of you I know, and those of you I don’t. I am Adamantadine, formerly Johnathan Bennard. Over there,” he said pointing to Cindy and Robert Bennard, “Are my Mom and Dad. Beside me are Adaline and Pandora respectively. I would especially like to thank the five of you,” he said as he looked over Callum, Cedrik, Asling, Robert and Pythias for looking after Pandora.”
Adam paused for a moment as everyone moved around the room a made themselves comfortable as a backpack appeared on Adam and Thor and Al both appeared on the monitor on the wall.
“Now that we’re all here I believe the question was what does it all mean,” Adam said as he looked thoughtful. “First, Thor, please give me that download really quick.”
“What’s he doing?” Pandora asked as they watched Adam pause for a moment as his eyes started to move rapidly
“Thor and Adam were once of the same mind. Thor can send everything that he has seen and learned in a matter of moments. Adam is being brought up to speed on everything that has happened on Earth and Trappist-1e while he was away,” Abi said.
“Everything?” Pandora asked.
“Oh yeah, your dad’s mind is like a sponge. He remembers everything,” Abi affirmed.
“I do, “ Adam agreed,” In fact my comments to what has gone on since I went away. First question, would the six of you like the ability to call a portal to you? Without the nanites, there is no way for Thor to know where you are. While we’re all here Thor can put a communication device in your heads that will allow you to communicate with each other. Also, Thor, upgrade each so that if they agree, everyone here has a quantum connection to everyone else and yourself, in case we get separated across universal barriers again.”
“I’d like the ability to be able to communicate with you when I want to,” Pandora said.
“Very well,” Thor said from the monitor as nanites within Adam’s sphere of influence created and attached the communication device behind her left ear, in a few moments it was done. “All done.”
“I didn’t feel anything…
“That’s what she…” Clarence started to say. Realized whom he was talking about, looked over at Adam and shrugged sheepishly. As he closed his mouth and turned away.
“You weren’t supposed to. We’ll go over how to use the device in a few moments. Would the rest of your party like one as well?” Adam asked.
Callum, Pythias, Asling, Robert, and Cedrik all nodded. A few moments later Thor said, “All done.”
“I really didn’t feel anything,” Cedrik said as the other five nodded in agreement.
“Okay, now that that’s done and they’re all modified so we can communicate with each other across vast distances?” Adam asked questioningly.
“They are,” Thor said
“Let’s get back to the question at hand. The simple answer is, I don’t know. I suspect that all the changes that just recently happened, Universes being added to the Multiverse, Numbers of sentient beings coming into existence simultaneously, and changes to the Astral Plane may have altered something that must self-correct. Alternatively, those same changes drew the attention of something, someone, and they are about to make those changes known.”
“Karmic backlash?” Adaline asked.
“Perhaps, or something like it. This isn’t the SYSTEM Matrix after all, though I’m sure those of you that took the path of divinity in there are seeing some very similar things out here in the real world,” Adam said.
“What do we do?” Cindy and Robert Bennard asked simultaneously.
“Fortunately a lot of the abilities I have acquired since moving into the real world, I still have. One of those is the ability to conjure things from nothing. After reviewing everything you’ve done, I think we need to set up a network of food distribution using portals, at least until the shit hits the fan because I do believe it will. The reason we’ll distribute food this way is that I can’t be everywhere at once. This way people will be able to get food and water and essential supplies and go.
“Are you sure you want to leave access to Trappist-1e from Earth open?”
“I honestly believe it’s not going to matter. I could be wrong but with my luck and this itchy feeling that has been getting progressively worse that something is going to happen I think trying to help everyone prepare is as good as we can do,” Adam said.
“Will we be able to stay together?” Pandora asked.
“I don’t know. I also don’t know if making the communication devices even matters, they could all get removed. What I do know is that I want to give all of you, and humanity, the best chance to see our loved ones again.
Adam thought about the itching sensation. It had been getting progressively worse since he teleported in just a little while ago. He had been actively ignoring it to spend time with his daughter and wife. It kind of felt like the time he drank six cups of coffee in quick succession before he put on the adamantium ring. Of course, that had been in the SYSTEM Matrix but Al had assured him that the universe’s rules were based on what happened in the real world. He felt like he needed to do something, had to do something and the pressure to do something was ever-increasing. The only common denominator that he could find was the percentage of nanites Thor had lost access to.
“Okay everyone, I’m going to fill up the room with supplies, take what you need, I’ll make more if we need it. Adam activated Mold Chaos and created supplies that filled the room. He wasn’t worried about himself. Immediately the room was filled with MREs, water bottles, tarps, camping gear, grills utility knives cast iron skillet matches, flashlights, extra batteries, and a lot more items. It was everything anyone might need on a camping trip.
Adam watched as the halfling, Cedrik, rushed over and started putting things into an ability-based storage area. “Feel free to put some stuff into any storage devices you’re carrying, I don’t know if you’ll get to keep them though,” Adam said as he saw people hesitating to move, ”Come on everyone, grab everything you can carry. I have no idea when the crap is going to happen so start loading your storage areas, or take a backpack and grab a couple of things for yourself. “
Adam watched as they all started to move toward the pile then said, “I’ll be right back.”
Adam teleported to a point on Trappist-1e away from all the cities and used Mold Chaos and Technomancy to create a cube of nanites and have them drill down 100 feet and replace all the dirt above him. Once he was down there he created a small 50-foot cube which consisted of 50, ten-foot cubes filled with the same type of equipment that he’d filled the living room with for his family and friends. Once that was done he had Thor open fifty portals around the world to the neediest. He also had the nanites install surveillance and create a communication array that he linked back to where they were staying in each of the cubes filled with supplies. Without nanites, he’d have to go old school for keeping track of things. To refill the cubes with supplies he’d have Thor open a portal to the empty cube and replace the missing supplies. He wasn’t worried about people being greedy, that was the point. He wanted to make sure as many people as possible received the supplies they needed. Once he was done he teleported back into the living room.
“Where’d you go?” Pandora asked.
“I had to get things started. I created a place that is getting supplies out to the needy as we speak. The portals still work so we’re using them while we can.”
“Can we do anything for the Universes that were just created?” Al asked.
“I don’t see how,” Adam said, I don’t think we will have enough time.
Just then every creature in the Universe received a notification in a language they understood.
Assessment Complete
Unification Step 1 will commence in 86,400 units of time.
Unification is the process by which beings and materials are added to the Multitude.
Take this time to prepare
Adam noticed that the notification had started to count down at a rate of one unit per second. Adam looked around the living room at all the shocked faces,” Okay people 86,400 is exactly how many seconds are in one day so we have a day. For the next 4 hours, we are going to help as many people as we can. Thor, open portals to the moon and Mars. Get everyone back to Earth as close to their family and friends as you can. Use phones, monitors, etc. Commandeer the web, I know you can. Do it. Everyone else, help Thor as you can. Make sure everything is ready. After four hours, we’ll rest for twelve hours. For the last 8 hours, I’m going to have my nanites make sure each of you is in tip-top shape and we’ll just hang out, watch movies and help the world as we can through portals,” Adam said. Pausing for a moment he looked around the room and held eye contact before he said, “Let’s get to work!”
For the next four hours, Adam helped Thor get everyone off the planet back to Earth. They were able to reunite families across the globe. All requests by government officials on behalf of the government were ignored unless they were requests to help people get back to their families or to get supplies. As for the officials? He could have been petty but he still had Thor help reunite them with their families. With the loss of the nanite coverage something that probably would have taken minutes, took just over three hours. Even so, Adam was sure they missed some people
When they hit the four-hour mark Adam returned to the apartments, made sure everyone was there, and spent the next twelve hours with Adaline and Pandora. While he would have liked to spend some quality time with Adaline he knew that Pandora needed them. After struggling for so long and finally getting back together, only to be torn apart again, it had to be hard on her. Of course, he could be wrong and they’d all be together during the Unification but he didn’t see that happening. For what reason would an entity or entities be trying to unify multiple species, unless it was to produce something? One truth that seemed to be Universal, or Multi-Universal was that conflict bred growth and improvement. Adam had a feeling they weren’t going to get a whole bunch of PowerPoint presentations and multiple-choice tests.
None of them could sleep so Adam adjusted the bed, turned it into a huge couch bed and they watched movies and talked. While Adaline and Pandora talked, Adam shared that moment with them, being neither judgmental nor trying to interject himself into their moment, though he did participate when they asked. Additionally, Thor would open a portal by his hand off to the side of the bed every once and a while, and Adam would use Mold Chaos to fill the Repository of Supplies, which is what he decided to call the 50’ cube the portals were drawing supplies from, He wanted to make sure everyone from both worlds had access to supplies so they could prepare themselves.
In the last eight hours, Adam double-checked everyone for diseases, and for the humans adjusted their body age back to 35 or left it alone. For Pandora’s friends and Adaline, he’d just have to trust that their ages wouldn’t affect the Unification. If they were in the SYSTEM Matrix he would have performed some adjustments but since they weren’t he wasn’t going to take a chance if he could mess something up unless it was a life-or-death situation.
Adam noted that the governments, especially the Congress of the United States was screaming bloody murder and they’d even called for a virtual meeting where they were trying to pass sanctions against Portals Inc. Only 25 people were participating and they were claiming that this “So call Unification event” was being orchestrated by Portals Inc to ensure that everyone knew what their capabilities were.
Adam watched the proceedings through the interface and committed their names to memory as idiots, every one of them then ignored it. If he was wrong, they’d get gift baskets. If he was right, Darwinism for the win.
During the last 5 minutes, everyone made their way back into the living room. Pandora hugged Adam, Adaline and Adam’s mom and dad then went to stand by her friends.
Adam looked over to the group and then held Callum’s eyes in his as he said, “Again, I’d like to say thank you to Pandora’s friends for taking care of her. Hopefully, we’ll be able to stay together during this next step but if not I hope I’ve helped you a little bit.
“I Love You, Pandora,” Adaline said.
“I will love you always and forever, Pandora,” Adam said.
“I love you too Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa.”
Adam looked over to his parents and nodded. Lastly, he looked to Adaline and mouthed ‘I love you’ as the 86,400 units reached zero and darkness enveloped him.
A light came on and Adam stood frozen on a circular six-inch dais. He was only able to use his eyes. There was no floor and he could see creatures of all kinds standing on dais adjusted for their size, below and above him as far as he could see off into the distance with only darkness beyond. The other troublesome thing was that he was butt-ass naked and he had no access to any of his abilities, nor could he drop into his Mindspace. Adam saw no one near him that he knew. Adaline, Mom and Dad, Desirae, Clarence, Amanda, and Abi were nowhere to be seen. He tried to raise them over his communication device and received nothing. He didn’t see Pandora or any of her friends either.
A new notification appeared in his vision then the frozen people on their dais began disappearing. Just before he felt the world go dark as he was teleported elsewhere he was able to read the notifications.
Unification Step 1 Complete.
Unification Step 2 Sorting is now commencing