"Did I break your machine or something?" I asked, dropping into the small chair closest to the door.

Fike circled behind his desk, shaking his head before taking his own seat. After blowing out a sigh of confusion — or frustration, I couldn't be sure — he just kept his green eyes fixed on me.

I focused on details of the decor while waiting for him to speak. The handbills tacked haphazardly on the side wall were far more interesting than the synthwood paneling and faux filagree in the corners. Like miniature posters, the leaflets advertised his eMMA fights against other greats like Kris Slander and 'All-In' Octavia Reese.

On my first visit to this room, I must have been too distracted to notice these clear indicators that Fike never really left his fighting legacy behind.

"Alright, Jakob," he said at last. "I'm gonna cut right to it. The Order has a hierarchy that works kind of like character levels in a roleplaying game. When MiniMax first evaluates a novitiate like you, He determines starter quests to help you navigate the Construct."

I leaned my elbows on my knees. "'Navigate' meaning?"

"Meaning the entire point of the Order is to get people through the Construct — through life — as efficiently as possible. The universe was built for a reason, and thousands of years of religion and philosophy pretty much agree that our lives are some kind of test. Goes without saying that the details vary. So does the idea of what happens when you pass."

I nodded. "So, like the afterlife? Nirvana?"

"Pretty much. The Order's stance on it has always been that the details don't matter. A test is a test. If humanity is here to pass it, then we just want to help them pass."

"And that's why the Refuge designs are all over the road. You're like…'vendor agnostic'."

Fike twitched. "That's one way of putting it. The other way is that the Order is non-denominational. Mormon or Muslim, it's irrelevant to us. The Way is open to all, because we're just here to facilitate the process."

I leaned back and combed my fingers through my hair. "Look, I pretty much pieced all this together, Fike. What I'm waiting on is why you're looking at me like I dumped up my pants in front of your whole congregation."

Fike rattled his head as if shaking himself back to the moment. "Yeah, so the levels. Initiates usually start off slow, with quests designed to address small character flaws. They're tasked with awareness drills, empathy exercises, skitz like that."

I tilted my head, raising my eyebrows.

"What they don't get is quests that affect billions of people," he continued, throwing up his hands to punctuate the point. "MiniMax put you on an epic-level task, Jakob. It doesn't track."

"Billions?" I swallowed hard. "Okay…then why didn't MiniMax tell me about it?"

Fike folded his bulging arms and sucked his teeth. "It's 'cuz I cut your initiation short. The last step of the Covenant is booting up your Koan software for the first time, then you commune with MiniMax and get your starter quests. But when a noob is in the altar, I get a preview of their Covenant. I freaked because yours seemed like it might be a bug."

I chuckled. "And it was crazy enough to put you in this state? That's fraggin' great. So, we can assume MiniMax didn't give me this 'epic quest' because I'm just mind-blowingly outstanding?"

Fike shook his head. "I really don't know. The logic behind everything we do stems entirely from MiniMax. We're told what we need to be told."

I shot to my feet, spreading my arms. "Alright, then, boot me up! Sounds to me like this 'Koan' thing will fill in all the gaps for us."

Fike shrugged. "Yeah. We have to anyway, so let's see what we can see."

His eyes flashed blue as his neurocom paired with mine. I accepted the local MiFi request, and a new application booted in my NUI.

Fike sat back while I waited for the notifications and boot logs to clear.

A second later, an unexpected cheery voice almost did make me dump my pants.

> Hello, Jakob! I'm Koan. It's a pleasure to be embedded in your brain!

"Jeebs," I said, rubbing my temple, "that's a real kick in the bozacks."

Fike nodded. "That's Koan."

"Yeah, he mentioned that," I said. "And every one of you robes walks around with this guy in your head?"

Fike smirked — the first sign of normalcy since dragging me away from the MiniMax altar. "You're a 'robe' too, now. And yeah, Koan is our companion and bridge to MiniMax."

> Each member of the Order is provided a localized, edgecom'd instance of me that runs both within your neurocom, and in the Order's remote subnet. As an extension of MiniMax, I will adapt to provide the best user experience for you as a unique individual. How does that sound?

"Sounds…fine, Koan." I said.

"You don't need to speak to him out loud," Fike said, now with a full grin. "It's like any other neurocom app."

I scoffed. "None of my other apps sound like someone talking in my ear. Feels weird not talking back."

> Under normal circumstances, you would have been given end-user training. I see here that this is not a normal circumstance… Ah! How exciting! Look at what the Grand Construct asks of you!

Koan popped a notification to the corner of my field of vision:

Quest updated! Save the world. Progress: 0%

> Isn't this great, bud? We're going to have such a blast!

I fell back into the uncomfortable synthwood chair and belted a laugh.

"Yeah, this is stupid," I said, wiping away a tear. "Sorry, Fike, but I'm voting on 'bug'. There's no way this is real."

Fike leaned over his desk. "You see the 'save the world' part?"

I laughed again. "What, there's more than that?"

"Absolutely," he said. "Subquests. MiniMax breaks it down for you and makes adjustments based on the game state and your Akashic records. Just ask Koan. That's what he's there for."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Alright." I took a breath. "Koan, explain all this for me."

> Sure thing! 'Reality' is a concept that encompasses all that we can know and experience. It is different from the concept of 'life', as reality is not limited to a single entity's experiences. Unless you count nihilistic worldviews, which I don't! Hah! Anyway, the Grand Construct is the reality in which we exist, and it has been determined to be computational in nature, operating identically to human-built quantum computing hardware — a fact which, interestingly enough, supports the notion of Predictable Self-Similar Ideation…

"Whoa, freeze program!" I said.

> …uhm, Jakob? You can just ask me to stop.

"That's fine. I didn't mean explain all this—" I waved my arms, indicating the world in general "—Just tell me what this quest is about."

> Sure, Jakob. MiniMax has discovered a clear and present threat to the nature of the Grand Construct. Your quest is to eliminate that threat before it can decommission our objective reality.

"Why me? Why not someone like Fike who's been doing this for years?"

The Elder tilted his ear toward me as if hoping to eavesdrop on the voice in my neurocom. No doubt he was wondering the same thing.

> This quest is the Way for you, Jakob. It isn't the Way for anyone else. Perhaps you were chosen because of the elevated amount of avarice and self-indulgence that you've exhibited. Saving all of reality could certainly offset a lifetime of egotism.

My expression went as flat as a day-old lunch special from NiceSlice.

"What'd he say?" Fike asked.

I cleared my throat. "Just that it's my Way, not anyone else's."

Fike shrugged it off. It was probably the response he expected.

I worked my mouth to ask Koan a follow-up question, but a chime at Fike's office door cut me short.

"Come in," he called out.

The door slid open, admitting a pale-skinned female monk who walked with purpose. Long, yellow hair flowed down over her robe — as well as most of her face — and I waited for her to push the strands aside so she could see where she was going. Instead, she just leaned over Fike's desk and whispered something in his ear.

I cleared my throat. "'Comming him would be more subtle, ya know?"

The woman backed away and propped herself against the wall, arms folded. With her veil of hair partially caught up on her shoulder, I could finally see some of her face. Full lips, painted orange to match her robe, smirked in my direction.

"This is Sister Cassandra Serrurier," Fike said, smiling. "Top-shelf A.I. dev. One of our best."

I gave her a nod. "Sis." Then my eyes widened with realization. "Wait, Fike. Is she here to fix the bug?"

Cassandra tilted away from the wall and unfolded her arms. "Not as such, beau mec."

I couldn't help but nod again — this time at the French accent. Not something I heard often in the mega, but hearing her talk made me wish I did.

"Sister Cass says she's also been given a quest update," Fike continued. "Involving you."

My grin unfurled entirely on its own. "That right? I like the way MiniMax thinks."

Fike chuckled. Cassandra just shook her head, making long waves of yellow hair dance around her shoulders.

I wished she would push it aside so I could put a complete face to her voice.

"Fais gaffe, your heart rate. It is elevated!" Cassandra said, taking a half step toward me. In that room, it put her a few inches away from my knees. I had to look up to see she her smirk had become a grin. "Perhaps we should first go to the infirmary, Jakob?"

"Now, come on," I said, leaning back in my chair, "I bet you can't even see me through all that gorgeous hair. You def can't read my vitals."

Cassandra giggled once. "I see more than your vital signs." Fike cleared his throat and dropped his hands flat on his desk with a hollow thud. Just as the banter was getting good, too.

"Sister Cass is visually impaired," he said, "but she is extremely capable."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, tilting my head to try to see through to her eyes. "That why you're smiling, Fike? Because you're not stuck with me saving the world solo?"

"Well, yeah, you're a novitiate, Jakob. Don't take it the wrong way, but you're a noob."

I shot Fike a flat look, and Cassandra laughed. The previous giggling might have been an affectation, but she genuinely thought calling me a 'noob' was funny.

I preferred the giggling, fake or not.

"Well," I said, throwing my hands up, "now that everyone feels better, what am I supposed to do?"

Cassandra tilted her head. "You have asked Koan, no?"

"I have not asked, Koan. No."

She laughed again. "Tu es vraiment un noob, beau mec!"

Now, my flat look went to her. "Not helping. But I'm guessing from the context clues that I should ask the voice in my head."

Cassandra flattened her lips and nodded in a way that easily translated to 'no skitz, noob'.

"Got it," I said, looking toward the ceiling. "KOAN!"

The two monks glanced at each other, and Cassandra had to hold back another laugh.

I ignored their silent judgement as Koan populated my NUI with text subtitles of his cheery voice.

> Yes, Jakob? I can see that you're looking to begin your quest.

"Yup."

> That's great! MiniMax and I have determined the path toward completion with the highest probability of success. I've divided this journey into seventy-six sub-quests for your convenience.

I scoffed. "Seventy-six? Really?"

Cassandra and Fike waited and watched, occasionally pulling their eyes off of me to share an amused glance.

> Yes. Is that a lot? You are saving the world, after all.

I shrugged. No doubt Koan could read the gesture through my neural pathways.

> Uhm, Jakob? I see you're wondering about Sister Cassandra…

"What?" I said, snapping upright in my chair. "No! Koan…"

> About her visual impairment, Jakob. You're wondering why she keeps glancing at Elder Fike even though she is unable to see.

"Yeah, I am," I said, looking squarely at Cassandra, "but I don't need you feeding me personal details. If I want to know, I'll ask her myself."

I smirked, and the yellow-haired monk cocked her head, refolding her arms beneath her breasts.

Of course, I was curious, but I assumed she just had wetgear eyes like mine. Maybe not as expensive as mine, and maybe they didn't work all that great. But we lived in BioDyne's hub of cybernetics research and outpatient organ replacements. No one was really blind in Hope Megacity unless they were completely poor or managed to fuck up their neurocom.

Looking back toward the ceiling, I asked Koan to start laying out my next steps.

> Sure thing, Jakob!

"You don't have to use my name so much. I'm the only one who can hear you."

> Okay! Sure thing, bud!

I sighed as Koan's quest notification changed in my NUI.

Quest "Save the world." expanding… New quest found! Visit the Sanctum Simtorum in Edgerun. (Group quest.) Progress: 0%

Shooting Fike a puzzled look, I asked him what the hell a 'Sanctum Simtorum' was.

Naturally, he reminded me that Koan would answer all of these questions if I just asked. And of course, Cassandra held back more chuckles or giggles — or whatever was trying to break through her yellow curtain of hair.

"Let's just go," I said, standing to head for the door. "I'll do the Q-and-A on the road."

"You're forgetting something, Brother Jakob!" Fike called out, also standing.

I stopped in the doorway and looked back at him with my eyebrows raised.

"Robes," he added. "And some coded mala beads." He scratched the back of his thick neck. "You better hit the armory on your way out, too. Sister Cass has access."

I cocked my head. "Why the armory?"

Cassandra laid her hand on my bicep and smiled. "We are going to a Sanctum — in Edgerun, no?"

"In Edgerun, yes."

She leaned close to my ear and whispered, "It is not so good of a neighborhood, beau mec! But I will protect you."

Fike just stood over his desk like a muscly statue, grinning. I turned to Cassandra, hoping to meet her eyes, but finding only hair and a coy smile.

That was enough to make me smile back, but I disguised it as a dismissive scoff.

"We'll see," I said, leading the way out and into the nave. "I'm not as much a noob as you think."

"I know," Cassandra giggled, falling into step behind me. "A woman can tell such things."