(Euclid's Room, Save Point - Step on the path of transcendence)
[https://i.imgur.com/shcc5rI.png]
[Decision]
1) I'll do the whole brain conversion and digitize myself.
2) Killing myself for power does not make sense.
[Choice - I'll do the whole brain conversion and digitize myself.]
[Pathos check ?? Succeeded]
A wave of fear comes over me as I consider the decision, but I push forward, not giving in to cowardice. There are always reasons not to put in effort. The path being insane is just an excuse. I won't hold back here. I should always be going forward and striving to reach greater heights.
I grip the core in my hand tightly and clench it. I can feel my heart brimming with determination, it is right to feel fear as well. Going against fear is exactly what this situation should be. No matter what the reasons are, it is my duty to go where others would not dare. If there are hardships, I want to keep challenging them forever.
[Gnosis check ?? Succeeded]
Even a little kid could point out to me that if I scan my brain and copy it to a computer, that the copy would not be me. Likewise, if I back up myself on the auxiliary core in my hand, reconstruct my brain into a core and then copy myself back, that would not be me. But I do not take advice on how to live my life from children. I want to experience what it is like to die, and yet keep moving forward.
[Externus check ?? Succeeded]
It does not matter what my parents or anybody else would think. They don't need to find out, and I won't tell them. This will be my secret. What matters most of all is power. Nobody is going to give it to me. I have to get it by myself.
I close my eyes, bring up the status window in my mind and find where the conversion options are. Next where the brain link option was, there was the Full Brain Conversion button. I find and then press on it.
A window shows up. The first thing to grab my attention there is a row of skulls. It is clearly a warning to emphasize that what I might be doing is dangerous. The disclaimer explains the following:
> The full brain conversion option is for those who want to replace their biological brain with the universal brain core.
> Compared to merely copying a scan of your mind to an already existing core, the resulting brain replacement will allow you to reuse your existing biological body and tightly integrate it with the new brain.
> The brain core used to initiate the process (activation core) will be used to store your scan during the process, after which it will be copied back into the core (result core).
> Besides replacing the brain, the process will modify the body so there aren't adverse effects during or after the process. It will maintain proper posture, heartbeat and breathing as well as other minor subconscious functionality the brain provides to the body.
> The entire process after it has been started should take around 5 minutes.
> Should it fail for any reason, to prevent absolute death the activation core's entity will be activated, otherwise the result core's entity will take over as intended while the activation core's entity will remain dormant as inactive data.
> Before starting the process, it is recommended to take out a watch and keep track of time. Subjectively, the entire process shouldn't involve any pain or discomfort. The only sign of it succeeding will be a sudden timelapse.
> It is recommended to do this process in a safe space like a locked bathroom or one's own room. If you try to do it while driving a car, it will likely result in a crash.
> If your body dies in the process of brain conversion, the conversion is likely to still succeed, but you will be trapped in a dead body, unable to move or otherwise control it.
> As the human brain is significantly larger than the brain core, the stem will be modified so as to allow fusing the result core with the skeleton to prevent it from rattling around in your skull as you move. See the accompanying diagram.
There were anatomical drawings showing the profile of a man with a regular brain next to the one with a core. It was shown from front, side and back. Compared to the human brain, the brain core leaves a lot of empty space inside the skull.
Briefly, I wonder as to why not just make a bigger brain core to fill the empty space, and then realize the reason. I think about baseball balls and compare them to those heavy balls used in throwing competitions. It is not really noticeable since the brain core is so small, but if it were the size of a brain, it would put a lot of pressure on the rest of the body due to its weight. The biological material the human brain is made of is not that heavy compared to the heavily compressed material of the brain core.
I can't help, but feel a bit regretful for leaving so much space empty, but I reason out that given the core's already huge capacity, it does not mean much if I am leaving a factor of 10-100 on the table. I should focus on mastering the computer that I have for now. When I am a quadrillion times smarter than now, I should be able to figure out what to do with unused space. I just need a place to live in. A tiny apartment is fine. I do not need to start out with a mansion.
I continue reading the disclaimer.
> Note that the brain conversion, much like ordinary uploading by itself, will not increase your intelligence, speed up your reflexes or improve your memory capacity by itself due to the high fidelity of the brain emulator. It will be your own responsibility to make use of the new digital editing tools available to you to make that happen. You will have to make use of your own programming skills to exploit the capabilities the core provides to you.
> In the process of self improvement, save often and backup saves across time. Every good programmer uses backups. It will be your own responsibility to deal with mental errors introduced by your own programming. There are guides provided to get you started on the company website.
[https://i.imgur.com/GK7Xp9T.png]
There was another line of skulls serving as line breaks. The next line of text was a question.
> Start the full brain conversion process? Yes/No.
I take out my mobile and take a look at the time. Come to think of it, the core itself has a watch as well. I do not need my mobile anymore, so I put it away.
With a mental command I confirm Yes.
> Have you made sure you are in a safe place? Are you sure you won't be interrupted during the process? Yes/No.
Hrmmm...ah! I realize that lunch should be in half an hour or so. I'd love to lock the door to my room, but I don't have the key for it. It is lost somewhere. Even the bathroom does not have a proper lock, so that is out as well.
I do not think anybody is going to come into my room right now, but the possibility is not zero. If that happens, my parents might think I've suffered a stroke and start to panic. I don’t want them to call the ambulance and unravel all my plans just like that. I should do this conversion during the night after I go to bed.
I realize that I am starting to sweat from nervousness. I rub my face with my sleeve, and abort the conversion process. Phew. I feel relieved, as embarrassing as it is. I'll continue this later, it is not that I am scared. I just want to play it safe. I spend some time in solitude, and then I decide that instead of trembling in my seat, I should leave it out of mind and get some work done.
Using the activation core, I normalize my mental state and then focus it on studying. It will never get old how fun and engrossing the core can make the most tedious of things.
Like that, the day passes, I finish my work and it is time for bed. I resume the process and get to the point where I was earlier.
> Have you made sure you are in a safe place? Are you sure you won't be interrupted during the process? Yes/No.
Yes.
[https://i.imgur.com/4vaVAF4.png]
> Final question: Have you thought about whether you want to do the process in depth? Do you wish to abandon the path of humanity? After you press Yes, the conversion process will start. Yes/No.
Currently I am resting in my bed, covered by a blanket. I position myself on so I am comfortably lying on my back. After that I take note of the time. 9:21pm.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
I give the mental command, Yes, and brace myself. Nothing really happens, but I see the clock has moved to 9:30pm all of a sudden. This gives me a jolt.
> Full brain conversion succeeded. Check your status.
I bring it up and instead of the diagram of the brain, I see it now shows the brain core.
What is really surprising is that I do not feel any different at all. I focus on my hands and legs. I try feeling my body around, but my sensations are completely the same. My eyesight is the same as well. I try pinching myself and it feels the same. In the end I conclude, if somebody did a full brain conversion on me in secret, I would not have noticed.
I spent half an hour playing with myself, but I am just wasting my time. I'll leave more in depth experimentation for tomorrow.
Using the mind control app, I quash my excitement and send myself into sleep. That night I dreamed the last Dream.
~~~
[https://i.imgur.com/GGDoeyG.png]
In the abyss, I saw the golden figures. Unmoving, to my vision they appeared to be deep in thought.
"Justice...we have the justice. We've had it all along..." They concluded in a lament, not speaking any words after that.
I felt myself spending a long time amongst them in silence. Then I finally noticed them stirring. They spoke out.
"Lord, oh Lord. We have justice, but it is a shackle. We no longer want it."
"We wish to return it to you...and take back our sin."
"We have grown and want to carry the burden of sin with our own power."
I felt the abyss itself stir, and from above the golden Lord manifested. From each of the figures as they desired it, he took back the Justice and gave them back their Sin.
"Lord, we shall no longer pray..." They intoned solemnly.
"Rather, just as we had exchanged our Justice with Sin, our Effort will take the place of Prayer."
"The attainment of Power will be our Salvation."
"And the Courage of traveling our path will be dedicated in Your honor."
[https://i.imgur.com/n6sdI3U.png]
Bearing witness to their determination, the Lord of Nightmares bequeathed unto them a gift, and without speaking a word, left.
Having made the exchange, and having received a gift, the golden figures turned their gaze forward and with steady footsteps continued walking their path.
As I watched this, I looked downwards at my feet and realized that I have my own path. The sensation of being alive came to me, and I put in the effort to move my body forward. Previously, I had only been carried by the flow of the dream, but now I had the freedom of making my own actions. Step by step, I continued moving along my path towards the great light that lay beyond.
As I continued moving, I felt my mind becoming tranquil. I became one with my path, and the millions and billions of steps needed to reach my goal went by in a blink. When I got closer to what appeared to be the surface of a sun, I felt a momentary fear, but then quickly realized I was not burning. Instead, my body was filled with warmth. And looking around, I could see that the dark abyss was now dyed in white.
~~~
(At school)
[https://i.imgur.com/fEpJVPD.png]
So far so good. No problems at all yet. At school, I've gone through a few classes already, but my impression of the effects of the brain conversion from last night is unchanged.
Right now, I am seated at my desk and it is literature class. The aged, female professor in front of me is talking about some irrelevant topic and just going through the script. Usually, I'd crank up the immersion, but I have more important things to worry about than the class. But I'm making sure to keep my eyes focused on her for the sake of the recording. Since I have access to the core, I've been doing some experimentation and it turns out it is possible to save my sensory stream into a file for later perusal.
Now that I have direct access to the core, I can do that without trouble.
Being able to open a book, and just take a screenshot of it that I can look at later is just such a basic ability, that I am amazed regular brains do not have them. Nature really missed out here. Since so much of school is rote memorization, once I figure out how to increase my mental processing speed to time stop levels I'll be able to peruse store materials at my lesure even during tests and Q&As. It is just another tool in my arsenal. With both this and emotion control, grades are not something I'll need to worry about.
I suppose that takes care of school, I thought while still in class. Forget that. Now that I've gone beyond the path of humanity, I should be pursuing power and seeking to convert the core’s processing capability into personal intelligence.
[Gnosis check ?? Succeeded]
I guess it is time I start playing games. Once I figure out how to crank up my processing speed, I'll be able to spend months and even years inside the game while taking only a single day in real life. This is important for the sake of developing my skills.
Briefly, I turn my attention to the subject of school. In front of me the professor is talking about some long dead writer, as if literature back then was something great and not made for consumption. School is like a scam to waste people's lives on studying the irrelevant. The only time this information would be useful is on quiz shows.
[https://i.imgur.com/GGWSfT6.png]
Once I make my mind go foom by a million times, just how long would it take me to properly learn all the school material? A minute? Probably less than a minute. I could probably fit a decade worth of intense studies in a minute. I remember I have a calculator on the core so I make use of it. Let's see. A 1,000,000 seconds is something like 0.03 years. So a minute would be almost two years. So 5 minutes would give me a decade worth of studying.
[Pathos check ?? Succeeded]
[https://i.imgur.com/R0XDH1p.png]
It would mean I'd be chained to a virtual desk for an entire subjective decade even if in the real world only 5 minutes would pass. But I have the ability to configure my emotions. So it would be really interesting to experience such an intense study session. And unlike a real world decade, I would not have other aspects of life to interfere with me, I could dedicate all the time to pure study.
*r-r-riiing*
While I was thinking, the school bell rang and the class was over. Along with the rest of the NPCs, I exit the classroom.
(Euclid's Room)
I open the door to my room, carelessly toss my backpack aside and plop myself on the bed. I am finally back, and it is good to be here.
I wanted to keep my mental state pure during the day to think about my moves, so right now I am exhausted from being chained to the desk for an entire day. Today was a good reminder how tedious school can be. Study this, study that! If anybody looked at my thought process during the last few days he'd think I am some upright, rule following person, but nothing could be further from the truth! I swear!
Fuck school. Today gave me some motivation as to what I should really be aiming for. Finding a way to make money. Once I have that I can stop going to school.
Pursuit of power is one thing, but that is just talk. If there is anything to this Singularity business, then it should give me the power to make money in short order.
[https://i.imgur.com/GZwgSfP.png]
Thanks to the core, I have a lot of cheating potential in online gaming. A lot of esports pay real money. While previously I wouldn't want to bet my future on my reflexes, since right now they are essentially limitless, I should find some nobs and bully them. If I could win even a few small scale tournaments for something like Dota, I would be set. I should also consider gambling.
Being a great gambler is like a dream of every wage slave at least once in their life. Imagine coming into a casino with 100$ in tow, sitting on a poker table and then cashing out with 10k later in the day. That would be exciting.
Sigh, I do not know whether that will be achievable for me, but I should take on the goal of simply getting good at gaming.
[https://i.imgur.com/dxr5Wrl.png]
Since I am thinking about poker, I realize that rather than grinding online, it might be better for me to try playing live. Since the world is covered by a thin, invisible fog of nanomachines, maybe I could take advantage of that to literally peek into other people's hands. If I could do that, it would allow me to steal with impunity. Sure, I could get good and play fairly, but I want more in life than being glued to my seat passing chips around.
Trying to practice in real life would be a waste of time since it is not a simulation I could speed up.
In the end it comes down to that - while the core is necessary for me to be able of any kind of mental improvement beyond the human baseline, the best place to do that would be in simulation rather than real life. Yesterday I said that games are a time suck for humans, but now that I've digitized myself they are a practical necessity for my self development. Isn't that great?
It is time to try out the core's gaming capabilities.
Filled with determination, I get off the bed, and sit myself at my battle station only to realize that I no longer need the keyboard, the mouse or the monitor. Grabbing the activation core from the orb holder, I lie myself back on the bed. Shutting my eyes, I link myself to it, browse to Rajnet's website and set Simulacrum to download.
Simulacrum is a game made by the same company that created the brain cores. It is kind of an RPG, except the program itself is like a DM for a tabletop RPG. And the DM itself is on the level of Skynet and has access to your senses for the sake of giving you full VR immersion. It has a lot of scenarios for different worlds and types of RPG games to choose from. That is the gist of it from what I've seen online.
The few exabytes that comprise the game data are nothing in this age, and I do not need to wait even a second for it to finish downloading. I run the installer, and it finishes in a flash as well.
Mentally, I bring up the desktop and see that the shortcut for Simulacrum is there now. Swallowing my saliva, I make sure that my posture is right, and after some mental prep give the mental command to run the program.
I feel my senses being redirected. I yield to the sensation and dive into the world that lies beyond.
—
Character Sheet
Name: Euclid
Rank: Inspired
Title: Aleator
Substrate: Universal Brain Core of the Transcendi - Rank 7 (low)
A novice on the path of transcendence. Is capable of external emotion control using the stock brain core tool, but not much else. Has some mid range skill at programming and good talent at it. Weak body and physical aptitude. Qualifies as a post-human, but just barely.
# Stats (Psy)
## Externus: Rank 2 ~ exp(N(log(2.4); 0.2))
Has a strong desire to leave the weak group he belongs to, as well as the urge to gain power.
## Gnosis: Rank 2 ~ exp(N(log(2.25); 0.2))
Is fascinated with the philosophical unknowns, as well as the self destructive aspects of the self improvement loop.
## Pathos: Rank 2 ~ exp(N(log(2.3); 0.2))
Holds the belief that effort is worth it for its own sake.