“We rapidly found out that having no currency was a disadvantage rather than a step forward. Humans are, for a lack of a better word, greedy. Even if it was a poor substitute, computes solved that. There was a proposal of using energy instead of computational power back in the 30s when…”
-Fatima Belkadi, 2167, Autobiography of the Paragon of Mental Health
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The thing about space stations is that there’s no up and down in the traditional sense. Sure, artificial gravity locks you in one direction, but there are two types of artificial gravity. Momentum-based and field-based. Momentum is the oldest type of artificial gravity, simply working by spinning around so the tangential speed of the rotation points down like a normal acting like gravity. Field-based… is more complex.
So I was completely thrown out of my game when I took a step into a corridor that had a slight incline, only for gravity to shift at a 30-degree angle.
“Fuuu-“ I waddled like a duck, trying to recover my equilibrium. “Oh my… that’s fucking lethal. If it weren’t for my heightened reflex, I would have gone headfirst to the ground. Shouldn’t be there any warning signs or something?”
I tilted my head to the side to see a yellow sign. [Warning: Gravitational Direction Change Ahead]
“Ah.” I groaned, feeling embarrassed.
I dusted my clothes, even if they were perfectly clean because these corridors were as impeccable as a clean room, and continued my way into the axis of the Terra Nova Enclave. From the windows, I could as the rings around the central axis rotated at great speeds. Well, great considering the size of the structure. It couldn’t be greater than 5 rpm for sure.
The axis of the space station acted like a mall of sorts. “Shops” were glorified vending machines staffed by automatons, whilst the actual real human shops were small enclaves where people sold whatever they had, whether services or handcrafted products. Even if the layout was similar to a 20th-century American mall, the workings were more like a medieval Arab bazaar.
The interface’s guide told me that the girls were on an upper level, and at first, I had no idea how to make my way up, but after following the path’s arrow, I was led to some sort of elevator. It was clear to me that it wasn’t a real elevator as it was an open tube and had no buttons whatsoever, but as soon as I put a foot down, I realized what it was.
“Huh, neat.” My foot suddenly felt lighter and I moved the rest of my body inside, now facing myself with weightlessness. “How can they localize the gravity fields with such exactitude that they can exclude these tubes? Is the cover working to protect it against the field, or the field does only affect a plane instead of a space? But how does it affect 2 dimensions instead of 3?”
This wasn’t my field of study, and whilst I had some vague ideas, I couldn’t answer them with confidence. My ramblings came to a rapid end because, with a single push of my toes, I was propelled into the third floor. Carefully, I grabbed the frame of the open tube on that level, and again, very carefully set my foot down. I felt gravity push down on me with savage force.
“Oof.” I almost coughed. “Why can’t they just have elevators?”
I had transitioned from weighing a few units of newtons to probably nearing a thousand, considering my new body weight. I had been hit too much, metaphorically speaking, in school to confuse mass with weight by now. I ignored my dissatisfaction with the gravity changes and followed the arrow, which led me to a robot-managed coffee shop. I was noticed before I could speak for myself, yet they didn’t say anything.
Mérida and Makoto looked at me with confusion as we were the only clients in the coffee shops. The long auburn-haired girl looked at me with undisguised disgust, whilst the short ebony-haired girl with a hint of fear.
“Hello, girls.” I saluted them and sat at their table which made them cringe and cowl.
“Uhm…” It was Makoto who spoke. “Sorry mister, but I am obliged to tell you we are students.”
I blinked thrice before I noticed what she meant with that.
“Hahaha!” I laughed and slapped the table. “Of course, how could I be so blind!”
Through the corner of my eye, I could see Mérida slide toward Makoto and whisper in her ear with mild disgust. How couldn’t I have realized? They thought I was a human! I mean, I was! But they thought I was a random dude. After all, I had gained a whole head of height, plus becoming wider with all the muscle, and also my hair had become a bit longer.
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“I am a bit offended that you didn’t recognize me…” I said with a faux pout as I dried my fake tears.
Mérida’s eyes widened in realization. “Holy-fucking-shit! Lorem?”
“The one and only.” I stretched my arms open to encompass the whole table.
“You… you look different,” Makoto added, still leaning away a bit on her chair.
“Duh, Captain Obvious,” Mérida interjected. “Tell me, how it feels?”
“It feels great. There are no other words to describe it.” I told. “My eyes feel more open, the sounds crispier, and energy overflows my body.”
“You don’t pull your punches, huh.” Mérida pouted enviously.
“Oh, don’t be like that. You will get your evolution soon. The process has barely started, and Influentials have priority.”
“’Barely’ started, eh.” She made air quotes with her fingers. “You were out for two days, mister swole man.”
“Two days?” I jumped in my seat.
“We tried contacting you, but you didn’t respond,” Makoto added.
“I guess I was comatose all that time.” Hmm… I should learn how evolution actually works. “I can’t remember anything I basically went to sleep and the moment I woke up I was already evolved.”
As I was talking, Mérida stood up and circled around me, shamelessly prodding my arms.
“How is it that you look better than most humans we have seen?” The tall girl, who I doubted was taller than me no more, said as she toyed with my hair.
“I would be lying if I said if I knew.” I shrugged. “Doctor Hermann, the man supervising my evolution, told me that the body evolves according to your actual self, your future human self, and your desired self.”
“It seems you had a lot of desires~” I thought Mérida was simply joking until I saw where her eyes were set. Oh, shit.
“Out!” I pushed Mérida away. That woman couldn’t be serious for a single moment. I just hoped she wouldn’t linger on it. “Anyways, I think the real reason is the type of evolution.”
“Type of evolution?” Makoto asked, unbeknownst to Mérida’s shenanigans. “Biological, you mean?”
“Nah, the tier,” I explained. “I only read it recently, but Influentials and above are directly evolved in one of the superior tiers.”
“Wait, what?” The shy Makoto slapped the table with sheer, cold brutality and stood up from her seat. “The superior tiers? Those that start at 100.000 computes?”
“And those are the cheap ones, easily accessible,” I added. “No, what I got was better, if I read those documents right. More like, one million computes price tag.”
“One million?” Makoto slapped the table again.
“Lorem, relax. You are going to kill Makoto with those numbers.” Mérida said jokingly, though she dashed to Makoto and put a hand on her shoulder to make her sit down. “But a million, huh? If that’s what an Influential gets, I cannot even imagine how Paragon evolutions might be.”
“Very expensive, for starters.” I sighed.
I decided to not tell the girls about my Influential salary, considering how they reacted to my gifted evolution. But how expensive? If they are less than a hundred million computes, I can afford it in a decade. Maybe less once I start with my Tycoon.
“Anyways, enough talking about me. How about you two?”
“You two what?” Mérida frowned at me with her arms crossed.
“Your evolutions, of course.” I clarified. “Have you finally chosen one?”
Mérida and Makoto shared a look before the former sighed. “We decided a long while ago, haven’t I told you how it’s bad luck to tell one’s evolution choice?”
“Bah, superstitions.” I groaned. “Come on, just enlighten me.”
“No.” Mérida intensified her frown and steeled her posture.
“Makoto?” I asked the ebony-haired girl for her opinion.
“My lips are sealed.” She responded with her eyes closed.
I sighed. I guess that’s my problem, not theirs. It’s not like I paid much attention to their choices, I have been too occupied as of late, even after submitting my paper. I can only speculate about what they have decided, and even then, I’m not really sure.
“Alright, alright!” I raised my hands in defeat. “I will not press the issue any longer.
“Thanks,” Makoto replied heartfeltly; Mérida, on the other hand, puffed.
“Well, how about if you put me up to date? Maybe some info about the station?” I said to defuse the tension.
“The shops are all so charming!” Makoto exclaimed excitedly. “All the shopkeepers make their own products and they are so strange and alien, almost...”
“Otherworldly?” I mused with a chuckle.
“Indeed,” Makoto responded weakly with a blush. “The clothes stores are the best but there are some really good cooks. But they are so expensive… even more so than the clothes…”
“Hmm…” That gave me an idea. “How about if I invite you to make up for the wait?”
“You really shouldn’t!” Makoto protested with her hands on her chest, though her enthusiasm betrayed her words. “You don’t know how expensive the meals can get!”
Just in case I checked my wallet. I still hadn’t been paid my Influential salary, but I still had a handful of money saved up. Unlike them, I really didn’t use my monthly allowance, and I still had some remains of the research budget. The UHN allowed me a few funds to carry out my research as they deemed it valuable, but even after 3 years, I only used around 69% of it. For no apparent reason or hidden agenda.
“I think we’ll be fine,” I answered looking over my 102.420 computes, enough for a common human to buy one of the lower-tier evolutions. Not better than the one I supposedly had as an Influential, but still better than the default one.
It would only take 10 decades of savings for a person – without factoring in the income from their Tycoon – to get a better evolution. If you lucked out on your Tycoon, that may be only a year.
“Shh…” Mérida put a finger on Makoto’s lips. “The man is paying. Do not convince him otherwise.” From her reaction, I smelled foul play. Maybe she wanted me to run dry, but in a few weeks, I will have ten times my current savings from doing nothing.
“Alright, select the restaurant. Your choice.” I extended my arms and the girls didn’t even take 34 milliseconds – I counted, holy shit my reaction time – to start hushing together and elaborating plans to turn me broke. Not that it mattered.