This time around, Thea managed to keep a moderately clear head as she looked up at the imposing black metal cube. She was, of course, still enthralled by its sheer perfection, but at least she was able to control herself from mindlessly walking towards its imacculate exterior walls like some kind of a zombie.
“... keys…” she muttered to no one in particular. Realising she was losing it once again, she shook her head violently to clear the intrusive thoughts away.
“Keys. Thomas! I need the keys to this thing, stat! I have to see how this thing works!” She called out to the arcade’s manager with a deep-rooted need in her voice.
A weighty chuckle was the answer, which caused her to spin around exasperatedly, “What’s so funny?! You know how much I love this kind of stuff! This is new-gen stuff, Thomas! NEW-GEN! Do you have any idea how insane that is?!”
“Hey, Hey! Calm down there, Thea! I’m not laughing at you and I most certainly am not going to tell you what you can and cannot do, I’ve learned my lesson over the years… but listen!
"I do not have any keys. This thing was brought in here last night, by some people. I got some very clear instructions on what to do with it, but maintenance or poking around in its internals is not on that list. As much as I value you, both as a not-employee employee and a friend, I don’t exactly want to run afoul of people that can easily procure and throw down new-gen tech, I’m guessing you’re correct on that as you know your stuff, in a mid-world undercity like this.” Thomas de-escalated.
At first, Thea wanted to react by calling him a liar. After all, what kind of arcade owner simply accepted a random piece of technology into their arcade without maintenance rights or at least a cursory inspection? This could be a bomb for all they knew!
But after the initial scepticism, she quickly realised that what he was saying held more merit than her own assumptions. If somebody had truly intended to do harm to the arcade, they could have simply blown up the front windows at night and smashed the place. There was absolutely no need for new-gen tech, especially not of this size, just to deal with some rundown undercity arcade from the golden-age of a mid-world planet.
“So… what exactly are the instructions? Can you share…? Like what do we do with this thing now?” she probed Thomas after a moment of silent contemplation.
With a slight frown on his face, Thomas broke the news, “I… can’t tell you. I’m sorry, Thea. I was specifically instructed to keep the procedures a secret. The only thing I can tell you is that all will be made clear when the arcade opens. That’s when the cube should activate.”
With a groan of frustration, Thea stomped towards the front desk and grabbed the keyring from the counter. “Guess I’ll go check those machines, damnit. You just know how to grind my gears, Thomas!”
Shaking his head in amusement, Thomas stole another glance at the black cube as well. Under his breath, inaudible to anyone but himself, he muttered “I really hope this will be alright…”
----------------------------------------
While off-worlders would likely describe the arcade as a rundown establishment, it was far from it. Thomas had spent countless hours making sure that the arcade kept a moderate level of maintenance despite the exorbitant costs, both on its exterior and interior, to preserve much of the golden-age feeling it once possessed during the times of his great-grandfather.
As Thea got to work on one of the machines marked for maintenance by Thomas, she could not help but appreciate all the work he truly put into this place.
The entire arcade was lit by golden ceiling lights, which were modelled after miniature suns using a fairly ancient, yet sophisticated method of 3D holographic projection. This lent the entire main area of the arcade an air of majesty, especially coupled with the crimson coloured carpet that covered the entire floor. It often reminded Thea of the decor found in throne rooms of fantasy novels she liked to read on her old datapad.
The walkways between the machines were wide. Probably wider than they needed to be, but that was part of the overall appeal of the golden-age style of architecture. Wide, open spaces, to show the wealth and abundance of the population.
Nowadays this space was mostly dead-weight for her and Thomas, as it simply meant more distance to cover for maintenance and cleaning, as well as increased costs for heating a larger area that nobody was going to care about.
Some of the machines were as simple as open-booth gaming consoles that featured a neural-link interface and a place to stand and/or sit. Others were extremely intricate, taking up many square metres of space, similar to the black cube in the centre of the arcade. While none were even close to being as imposing or large as the cube, some came fairly close.
The largest game featured in the arcade to date was a zero-gravity VR arena. It was around 15 metres long and wide, with a height of around 6 metres. Players would be strapped into a harness to make sure they wouldn’t simply crash into the walls, ceiling or floor, but outside of that security feature, the players were greeted with an amount of freedom of movement unlike any other experience available, outside of going to space itself.
Having her mind drift to that arena, Thea snarled.
While an impressive piece of technology in itself, it was an absolute pain to maintain. Not only would the zero-gravity emitters break down constantly and require repairs that she never had the proper components for, but the amount of gunk that accumulated during every match, be it sweat, spittle or blood of the participants continuously eroded the few still-working parts of the arena, without fail. Oftentimes she’d end up having to strong-arm the participants into cleaning up their own mess, at the very least, in order to make sure the arena could still be used a couple months down the line. It breaking down completely was but a matter of time.
The machine Thea was currently working on, was one of the open-booth ones. The software update had fried one of the old capacitors, as it had drawn too much power at once. This was an easy fix for her, of course. She quickly jury-rigged a new capacitor from leftover scraps and replaced the old one. Despite not being a perfect solution, this was the best she could do. Thomas and her had no way to get access to any genuine replacement parts.
Not here.
Not in the undercity.
Over the years she had gotten exceedingly good at jury-rigging solutions, however. So good, in fact, that oftentimes her jury-rigged solutions ended up outperforming the, arguably ancient, genuine articles still inside the machines.
She was, after all, a zealot when it came to technology. She wasn’t quite sure where her obsession for technology came from, but the exact reason did not matter much to her to begin with. What she did know was that it pretty much always existed.
Ever since she had been found by Old Man James shortly after her fourth birthday, she had hounded him continuously for information on all types of technology, at every opportunity.
To the old man’s credit, he had met her obsession head on and provided an education that could easily rival the best of what the undercity had to offer. Thea even dared to say that it might beat the best of what Lumiosia as a whole had to offer too, but she had no way of actually confirming that theory.
She had managed to accumulate an absolutely massive trove of tech manuals, theories and books about all types of technology ranging from old-world technology to even some rare instances of technical descriptions for new-gen tech. Those new-gen tech descriptions were her absolute favourite to read. While none of her new-gen tech descriptions were complete, she still loved them dearly. She often pulled them up before falling asleep, reading them over and over again, marvelling at the ingenuity and engineering that was required to even attempt to create such pieces of technology.
----------------------------------------
As she was working on the next set of machines, she invariably found herself glancing at the matte-black cube in the centre of the arcade, over and over again. Something about it kept calling to her in a way that nothing had ever done before. It was… irritating.
Clicking her tongue in exasperation, Thea finished up the repairs on the machines in front of her, before dejectedly strolling towards the front desk.
“All done. Mostly had to replace some capacitors, but two machines are goners. Sorry, Thomas. I tried my best, but they are simply missing pieces that I cannot replace without genuine parts…” she finished with a deep sigh and another glance at the cube.
“Thanks a lot, Thea. Don’t mind the two goners. If it wasn’t for you, probably half the arcade would have stopped working years ago. You’re doing the Emperor’s work, never forget that. Your hands are quite literally magic when it comes to technology, I swear!” Thomas retorted.
“Also, stop looking at that damned cube already. Just wait like… 20 more minutes and we’ll open up the arcade. The cube will still be here by then. Go and take a break in the employee room, you could use some time away from that accursed thing.” he finally offered.
“Ahh.. ye… that sounds like a good idea. Catch ya in a bit then, Thomas.” Thea dejectedly stated as her gaze was still affixed to the cube. It took her a couple of seconds to break free from its allure and finally move towards the backrooms of the arcade, towards the employee room.
----------------------------------------
Exactly 18 minutes later, Thea walked back towards the front desk. After having cleared her mind away from the enthralling presence of the new-gen tech, she felt refreshed and raring to go. Whatever this cube was, she would find out in just a couple more minutes…
“Ah. Don’t you look a lot more like yourself now, ha! I see the break really did the job. Good, good. Don’t forget, today is reset-day, after all. Can’t have you drop all those high scores and comp matches just because you’re distracted. You’ve become quite the attraction for my little arcade here, after all!” Thomas teasingly added.
He was not wrong, of course. Over the past years and especially the recent months, Thea had become a popular sight at the arcade. Not only did her technological skills marvel the average undercity arcade-goer, but her unparalleled skill in essentially every single game in the arcade had earned her high praises from all sorts of patrons.
Particularly well regarded were her skills in the fighting game called ‘Ashes of Centuries’.
It was an extremely popular game across the galaxy and was one of the first to feature quantum-entanglement netcode, to fully eliminate any latency between players, regardless of distance. It also was one of the few remaining games in the galaxy that continued to support controllers as an input method, allowing her to use her treasured possession for competitive matches, despite most players having switched over to the neural-link long ago.
Her favourite character and the one she was inarguably the best at, was called ‘Freya’. She was a fierce warrior woman wielding a single war-axe, styled after the old folklores of Terra’s shieldmaidens and valkyries. Thea had taken an immediate liking to her, after trying out the full roster of characters, due to her exceptionally balanced stats, with a focus on precise attack timings and rapid-fire combo moves.
Nowadays, some of her competitive matches featuring Freya were a real crowd-drawer for the arcade. Whenever she got challenged by a fairly decently ranked player from the galactic-net, and especially if they were from an inner or core world, dozens of undercity denizens would flock to watch her matches on the holo screens of the arcade.
While this had greatly pleased Thomas, as the owner of the arcade and benefactor of additional patrons, Thea had paid little mind to the development as a whole.
Of course, she was grateful for the positive remarks and for people to highly regard her technical skills at the game, but she did not care much for fame as a whole. All she ultimately wanted was to challenge herself, nothing else truly mattered in her eyes.
Deeply sunk into thought, Thea suddenly realised the passing of time. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked around.
Thomas had already disappeared from behind the front desk and moved towards the front door of the arcade, ready to let the eagerly waiting patrons inside.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“.. you coming, or what?” he teased with a grin on his face. “Time to let these folk inside and activate that cube.”
With building anticipation, she rushed to his side. A wide, somewhat savage, grin appeared on her face, marred by barely restrained excitement to finally figure out what the mysterious cube was doing here.
----------------------------------------
Only a few minutes passed before all the waiting patrons had entered the arcade.
The reaction to the cube, which was impossible to miss as the towering monolith that it was, was unanimous: Shock, awe and silence.
Where the monthly resets were usually the loudest of the days of each month, due to the budding excitement of potential high scores, prizes and drawings, today, there was nothing but shocked awe.
The people that entered the arcade had simply come to a standstill a couple steps into the arcade, their eyes fixated on the impeccable outer shell of the cube. Thomas and Thea had to work hard to coax the patrons further inside, so that those waiting outside could enter the arcade.
Once everyone was inside, Thomas and Thea moved in front of the giant matte-black cube, facing the crowd of awed and enthralled spectators.
“So.. firstly… Hello everyone. I’m Thomas, but I guess you all know that… Ehhh… This is Thea.” he awkwardly started and gestured towards her, “..but I guess you also knew about that already.”
Thea inwardly facepalmed at his sheer inability to speak in front of crowds. How Thomas had become a successful businessman would always remain a mystery to her…
“Regardless. Our lovely little arcade got a new attraction, as you can all clearly see. I am not at liberty to discuss where it came from, who made it or what exactly it is about. Thea here has informed me that it’s apparently new-gen tech, so that’s fairly exciting…”
At the mention of new-gen tech, a collective gasp of disbelief went through the crowd, followed by a renewed sense of shock and awe at the metal cube.
“Ehh… yes. Let me just… open this file here…” Thomas continued as he awkwardly fumbled with his datapad. He cleared his throat before continuing.
“This was given to me and only to be revealed when the arcade opened, so here goes nothing…” he mumbled before he activated a script on his datapad.
Suddenly, the side of the cube facing the crowd lit up in a silvery-hue, projecting the face of a middle-aged woman. She had long, flowing black hair, green eyes and her skin could only be described as impeccable. Many citizens of Lumiosia would likely do unspeakable things to obtain even a fraction of the projected women’s splendour and apparent poise.
Not the least of which, was due to her obvious standing and commandeering demeanour.
The sleek, grey-coloured coat around her shoulders was adorned with insignias of the United Human Federation’s military, unmistakably identifying her as a Major-rank official of the UHF.
“Greetings, Citizens of Lumiosia.
"Inside of the cube you will find a challenge. One unlike anything you have ever experienced or are likely to ever experience again.
"The challenge comes in the form of a deep-dive simulation. Many of you will likely not know what this means, but fret not. There is a tutorial included, once you are inside.
"While I will not disclose information about what awaits you inside of the challenge itself, I will however disclose what happens to those that pass the challenge ahead.
"If any one of you manages to reach the Top 500 on the leaderboards, you will receive an opportunity unlike anything else you will ever be able to expect on Lumiosia, or any mid-world, for that matter.
"Additionally, the entirety of the local district will be rewarded in imperial credits, should anyone be able to achieve the previously stated goal. As such, strive to invite others that you might believe can match the challenge. Let them test themselves on the challenge and you might end up being rewarded, even if you, yourself are not capable of reaching for those heights.
"Make no mistake, however.
"This is not a gift - It is a challenge.
"The creators of this challenge do not expect anyone to reach the Top 500 on any mid-world, much less for the cubes placed in the few remaining golden-age arcades of the undercities.
"Lastly, if nothing else, do try to enjoy yourselves.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so regardless of the outcome, try to savour the experience to the last.
"May the Emperor’s light guide all of you and may humanity continue to prosper among the stars.”
As the silvery hue of the projection subsided, with the Major giving a UHF-typical salute by slamming her fist against her chest, the cube finally opened.
The giant metal wall that had been facing the crowd, Thomas and Thea, simply vanished in front of their eyes, without a sound or even a ripple of air.
For the first time, they could lay their eyes upon the insides of the cube.
The space inside the cube was sleek, neat and bright. Every single inch of the inside looked as it had been meticulously cleaned just seconds before.
Likewise, a golden glow seemed to emit from all surfaces, lending the entire structure a sense of regal appeal, without overpowering any of the other aspects presented.
There were a total of 13 crystal-like cylinders lined up at the walls of the cube. They were roughly 3 metres in diameter and towered all the way up to the inner ceiling of the cube.
While they weren’t exactly see-through, one could still make out the fact that none of the cylinders were occupied, for they lacked any sort of bleed-through shadows.
Aside from the cylinders, every other surface inside the cube was perfectly angular.
The entire internal structure seemed as if it had been cut by a hyper-precise laser, for there were no seams, no bolts or anything of the sort visible, which might have been able to indicate that the cube was not just a singular piece of solid metal, before it was transformed into its current state.
The last and most shocking feature that became apparent to the crowd, Thomas and Thea, was that the air emanating from the cube was fresh.
Not in the sense that somebody had opened a window, for there was nothing fresh about the undercity’s air.
Rather, it was fresh in the sense that it came with a feeling of energy.
It was a chilly, but not quite cold, - warm, but not uncomfortably so, - kind of air. One that filled the lungs to the utmost without forcing its way in, as if this kind of air had always been intended to exist inside of everyone’s bodies from the day they were born.
Basking in the golden-hued glow and the fresh air wafting from the cube, everyone simply stood still. This truly was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for them and each and every single person present knew it. Nobody dared to break the silence and tranquillity, as if in fear of shattering this perfectly crafted illusion.
----------------------------------------
Minutes passed, until Thea finally managed to get a hold of her rampant thoughts. Too many things had been revealed all at once for her to properly function.
Not only was this cube new-gen tech, it even came with a full-dive simulation! This was utterly ludicrous to appear in a mid-world, much less the undercity of one.
But what was most shocking, was the appearance of the UHF Major herself.
It was well-known amongst mid-worlders that the UHF did not recruit from their planets.
There was, frankly, no interactions between the UHF and the mid-worlds at all, in recent times. Ever since the war at the borders had escalated and the UHF had been forced to move the majority of its military personnel towards more directly impactful worlds, mid-worlds had been mostly left to fend for themselves.
It had been multiple decades since the UHF had even acknowledged the existence of the mid-worlds, much less actively sent a message out to any given mid-world.
The message contained in the cube however, pointed towards not only this being a UHF-sanctioned operation, but moreso, this being something that was happening across many mid-worlds and even some of their undercities!
The implications of this fact were manifold and simply too much for Thea to even begin to puzzle out on her own.
What she was most interested in now, however, was the challenge before her.
The UHF had issued her a challenge and she was certain to meet the call. While it was not clear what the rewards for the successful completion would be, she had no doubt that it would be something phenomenal. It came from the UHF itself, after all.
Ripping herself from her frozen state, she was the first to approach the interior of the cube.
She let her hands roam freely across the silky smooth metal surfaces, the crystal-like cylinders and everything her eyes could see. This was like a dream-come-true for her tech aficionado heart and soul. She swore she’d absorb every inch of this marvellous structure’s design into her very core, never to let go of it again.
----------------------------------------
“Hey.. Ehh.. Can you stop doing that now? You’ve been at it for like half an hour.” came a sudden voice next to Thea, startling her into a jump.
“Wha…! What?! What’s happening? Why did you stop me?” she flusteredly responded.
“Thea, you’ve been caressing the inside of the cube for like thirty minutes. People have started being worried about you. Seriously, you look like an absolute lunatic at the moment! I know you’re into this whole new-gen tech and all, but please… Calm yourself at least a bit. The cube isn’t going anywhere, it’ll be here for a while.” Thomas chided with a stern look on his face.
Taking a look around, Thea finally snapped from her previous mindset. She saw that roughly half a dozen patrons had concerned looks on their faces, glancing in her direction. The rest of the patrons had dispersed throughout the Cube's interior, apprehensively staring at the cylinders and taking in the new-tech environment.
Some smaller groups were in heated discussions about who of them should try their hands first, but it seemed that none of the cylinders were in use so far.
“Ahh… You’re probably correct. My bad, Thomas. I got a tiny bit too excited. Won’t happen again.” she meekly conceded. “Sooo… about that challenge… how do we start?!” she immediately changed the topic with excitement brimming in her voice.
“Haaa… I swear you’re gonna be the death of me someday… Follow me.” Thomas sighed heavily and led her towards one of the crystal cylinders.
“In order to engage the full-dive simulation, you’ll need to enter one of these crystals. There’s some datapads hidden inside the walls next to each of the crystals, that allow you to open them. Here, I’ll show you” he explained as he reached for the slightly-hidden datapad near the cylinder. With not a modicum of sound, the cylinder rotated and left a roughly 3 metre tall opening in front of them.
The inside of the cylinder was, much to Thea’s chagrin, empty and devoid of any discernible features.
No cables were present. No seams to inspect. Not even a whiff of technology could be found at first glance.
“Soo… what. I just walk in there and it.. Magics me away? How does this thing work?” she probed with a confused look on her face.
“... ye. I mean… that’s what it says here? You just ... kind of enter, have someone close the cylinder and there should be a datapad on the inside, which will allow you to start the simulation or open the cylinder. Doesn’t say much more than that tho, I fear…” Thomas muttered as he slowly read through the instructional document on his datapad again.
“Well, close me in, Bossman!” Thea cheerfully replied, having already stepped inside the cylinder as Thomas was double-checking his document.
“Wha.. When did you…? You mean like, right now..? You don’t want to let someone else try first or something? Shouldn’t you gather some information on the challenge first…?!” he asked, exasperation apparent in his voice.
“Huh..? Why would I do that? This is the first time I’m ever going to be THE FIRST of anything, Thomas! Well.. at least in our little undercity, I guess. But still! I can’t give someone else the honours, I NEED to be first!” Thea insisted with a fervour in her eyes, that allowed no arguments.
With a heavy sigh, Thomas instructed the datapad to close the cylinder, shutting his friend inside the cylinder. “Good luck. Show ‘em that we’re not just gutter trash, Thea!” he cheered, before the cylinder closed completely.
Inside the cylinder, all sound had abruptly stopped when the cylinder had closed. The silence was deafening, to the point that Thea was able to hear her own heartbeat and even the blood rush through her veins as her pulse accelerated ever so slightly.
She also saw the datapad that Thomas had mentioned. It was a simple thing with two big buttons. One simply said “Start”, the other one said “Abort & Open”.
Taking a couple of deep, steadying breaths, Thea focused her mind on the challenge ahead.
She was going to crush this thing, no matter what it was. As Thomas had said, she had to prove to the galaxy that even mid-worlders were not the waste-of-space they were made out to be by the core and inner worlds!
As she pressed the “Start” button, another thought suddenly hit her like a grav-train crashing into a rockcrete wall.
‘Absolutely go for the high score. Don’t be happy with mediocrity. Get the #1 spot.’
It was the promise she made to Old Man James the same morning.
Had his weird behaviour been due to the appearance of the cube?
He WAS ex-UHF, after all.
It wasn’t the most outlandish thought to imagine he might have known something about this… but if he did, why wouldn’t he tell her beforehand…?
It was impossible for her to figure out now, as she was stuck inside the cylinder, but she swore she’d get to the bottom of his weird behaviour once she got done with this challenge, one way or another.
With a rising sense of unease at the sudden questions that had surfaced in her mind, she tried to calm herself with the breathing techniques that Old Man James had taught her.
While they normally did the trick, they failed to keep the intrusive thoughts at bay.
Maybe there was a hint somewhere in the promise he had urged her to make…?
If that was the case, then the Top 1 spot on the leaderboards must reward some incredibly worthwhile reward, for Old Man James to specifically call it out like that, unless…-
Before she could continue this train of thought however, everything turned dark.