CHAPTER 1: THE GIGANTIC SOUL MODIFICATION MATRIX

On December 21, 2012, Jackson visited the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Rumors said it was the end of the world.

Few tourists were around. Only four or five people were there. The site administrator was missing. No one was managing the area.

Jackson was an ordinary college student from the United States. He had always been curious about the pyramid. The pyramid was large and impressive, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Jackson looked around. No one was paying attention to him. His curiosity grew. He decided to climb to the top for a better view.

He walked around the pyramid. After a while, he found it boring. It was just a square, pyramidal shape made of light yellow stone blocks.

Without hesitation, Jackson climbed over the fence and started his ascent. Halfway up, he was already out of breath.

The steps were steep. Each one was about half a person’s height. Jackson used both arms to pull himself up. His feet used the friction of the stones to climb.

In the vast universe, the solar system was a tiny speck. It was almost like a grain of dust.

But for the intelligent beings in the universe, Earth was a prison for souls. The descendants of the Third Galactic Empire had their souls trapped here.

Every 2,000 years, the Soul Monitoring Device would perform a cleansing. It would erase human creativity and reinforce their intelligence block.

Due to two unexpected events, human technology advanced quickly. The time between cleansings grew shorter. Soon, humans would face mass destruction. Earth’s civilization would reset.

Today, December 21, 2012, the Soul Monitoring Device’s value surpassed 100. This meant it was time to cleanse human souls on Earth.

Galba worked for the Galactic Intelligence Life Federation. He was also the warden of the Solar System Prison.

As per regulations, Galba led a fleet of five spacecraft. They left the Oort Cloud and headed toward the Sun.

There, they would use the Sun’s energy to activate the gigantic Soul Modification Matrix. This would begin the cleansing and modification of all human souls on Earth.

Soul cleansing meant erasing human creativity.

Soul modification meant adjusting human memories. But too many modifications could cause memory discrepancies, creating the Mandela Effect.

The previous warden, Korran, and his assistant Lamm had missed the scheduled activation time for the Soul Modification Matrix.

In 450 BCE, Korran’s delay caused an intellectual explosion on Earth. Philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle emerged. They advanced human civilization.

In 1600 CE, Lamm also delayed the process. This led to another intellectual surge. Scientists like Galileo, Newton, and Giordano Bruno sparked the age of experimental science.

Since then, human civilization advanced rapidly. The Soul Monitoring Device’s value increased. The time between cleansings grew shorter.

Soon, Earth would face mass destruction. Civilization would reset again.

Humans had already gone through five major resets since the Solar System Prison’s activation.

The five spacecraft activated their faster-than-light engines. They cut through space with five streaks of blue light.

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The ships entered the light barriers and disappeared from sight.

Soon, the ships reappeared near the Sun. They had crossed 1.8 light-years at incredible speed.

Inside the No. 1 spacecraft, Galba sat in the command chair. 3D holograms in front of him merged into light points. A voice formed:

"Warden, the five workspaces are in position. Please authorize the activation of the gigantic Soul Modification Matrix."

"Proceed," Galba said emotionlessly.

The 3D image dissolved into light points. Galba’s command was sent instantly to the other four spacecraft.

The five spacecraft emitted beams of blue, yellow, red, white, and black light. These beams converged at the center.

Where the beams met, a giant metal matrix appeared. It had a diameter of 10,000 kilometers. This was the gigantic Soul Modification Matrix.

The matrix had five rings. Each ring was 2,000 kilometers apart. The innermost ring had a diameter of 2,000 kilometers.

Once activated, the rings absorbed energy from the spacecraft’s beams. They began to rotate and accelerate.

After 15 minutes, the speed reached 100,000 revolutions per second. The rings nearly merged into one. A strong centripetal force began pulling energy from the Sun’s corona. This caused a loud roar.

Inside the No. 1 spacecraft, the 3D image reappeared:

"Warden, the gigantic Soul Modification Matrix is fully activated. It is absorbing solar energy. It will be fully charged in 5 minutes and ready to emit the soul shockwave."

Galba smiled at the green progress bar. "Very good. After this, I can rest. Damn Earthlings, why can’t they just stop developing? Don’t they know they are the sinners of the universe?"

At that moment, Jackson finally reached the top of the Great Pyramid. From there, he could see boats on the Nile River in the distance.

The pyramid had withstood thousands of years of wind and rain. It still stood tall, a true wonder of human architecture.

Legend said it was the tomb of an ancient pharaoh. The pharaoh’s soul could ascend to heaven through the pyramid’s structure and join the gods.

"Heh, soul ascending to heaven? With modern technology and the internet, no one has found any trace of the soul. What are the ancient pharaohs still fantasizing about?" Jackson sat on the pyramid’s platform, mocking.

"Ha, I must be the only person sitting on this pyramid at the so-called end of the world," Jackson thought proudly.

At the same time, at NASA’s Solar Research Center, Director James was reviewing last month’s research report in his office.

Bang! The door slammed open. James looked up angrily. The bearded researcher, Porter, stood in the doorway, holding a photo.

"James, we’ve discovered aliens! It’s true! This is a high-resolution photo from the Hubble Telescope. An enormous spherical spacecraft, tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter, is absorbing energy from the Sun!"

Porter slapped the photo onto James’ desk. He pointed to the enormous black shadow in the image and explained,

"This is the spaceship. It’s absorbing energy from the Sun’s corona."

"W-what... what is this?" James stammered. His voice trembled. The shadow in the photo was clearly the creation of intelligent life.