> Wednesday, September 4, 1901

>

> The absolute splendor of it! Never have I seen so much wonder in all my days.

> The way the Electric Tower shines its glory into the night sky as if tell the almighty himself to turn his eyes and stare in wonder!

> There were other spectacular sights, oh but how lights grab the imagination and take you away with them!

> On that note... I met a man who was selling capsules, that, when shaken, would light up a brilliant blue, blazing like starlight. So swore he that, if ingested, would give you give you vigor.

> I bought 3 for $10, a high price indeed for technological snake oil, I was, however, unable to quell my curiosity.

>

> Upon arriving back to mine room, I deconstructed the device, and a device indeed it is and discovered a spectacular light source. I discovered it is a type of diode that emits light. Small though it is, the light it emits is powerful. I want to replicate this light and... let the light grab at my imagination for once...

'It's getting closer!!' I yelled to no one in particular, the rumbling underfoot knocking me off balance. Suddenly the ground under my feet gave way and I fell.

THUNK!

"Oooooow dammit!" I grabbed my head rubbing the spot where my head hit the lid of the DeepSleep 2k Edition Sleep Pod. The gentle rumbling was the vibration that was supposed to, "Gently massage your muscles, warming you up to prepare you for the day!".

"Hrmph.... my ass."

I keep disabling the feature but with all the automated updates it just keeps re-enabling, which is fine for most people, but it always gives me the same nightmare, being chased by something massive, something hungry, something that shakes the ground and... "SHIT!"

I realized I'm going to be late! I preordered the Interlude Crown, a new type of VR, promising full immersion, as well as integration with the real world, last November, the year 1999. Man, 2000 is shaping up to be the best year for electronics ever!

I looked over to the wall, which, detecting my eye movements, showed me a display of my calendar, current time, time to appointment... "SHIT!!?" I had 17 minutes to get to my appointment and hadn't shown, eaten, or...

Hurrying out of my house, I raised my hand and almost immediately a CAB [Computer Automated Buggy - such an outdated term for the modern-day automated vehicles] pulled up beside me. Hurrying in I told it where I wanted to go, "Interlude Technologies Lab!" and it hurried away from my port of the under-road, merging into traffic and bulleting off, a bit slow for my liking at a measly 118 KPH. "Can't you go any faster..." I mumbled, knowing it was going to go as fast as possible to accommodate other automated traffic that bustled along in the under-road, far safer than archaic manual vehicles, whose drivers could, and oftentimes WERE, distracted, clumsy, or just too old to be driving.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the Interlude Tech building, a massive building who's first 15 floors were dedicated to spectacular electronic facades showcasing ads for their FIRE device, Full Immersion Reality Device. The remaining... who knows how many floors, were obscured by the many trees that covered most buildings built after the great Amazon rain forest rotted away in 1964, killing countless species of flora and fauna, as well as displacing the humans who lived there, now unable to sustain themselves as even much of the river species had died out. The Amazon was now, nearly 40 years later, relatively healthy, though nowhere near what it once was.

Still looking up, I was suddenly aware of the technology I was seeing. I realized I wasn't really looking at the building, rather seeing it from the perspective of cameras mounted around at just above street level, high enough that only the tallest of the population could pull the prank that... yeah... has been pulled quite a few times before, of a giant's hands reaching down and grabbing at you... it's scary... I'll admit the first time I saw that 14 years ago when I was only 7 years old, I pissed myself. Of course, back then they were around the head level to give a more accurate view. Now, with help of technology, that view is still accurate, the lower view being automatically generated based on current light and atmospheric conditions, and the doors leading into the buildings under road being the same as above made it indistinguishable from the main street.

As soon as I walked into the building I was greeted by name by a lady that looked like a supermodel. "Hello Edward, I'm Dr. Cassie Weiss, I'm going to be installing your implant today. Do you have any questions, while we while we walk?" She asked as she immediately started walking down the main hall.

"Uh... yeah." I wasn't sure where to start, so I went with the obvious question, "Weiss? You made... uh... you..." Okay. I admit it; I'm a tech fan. Tesla, Weiss, Ford, Gates, Wozniak, and the current day programmer known only as Milliard.

"Yes..." she said with a smile, "I helped invent some of Weiss Corp's more recent tech, along with other members of my family and many, many, more brilliant minds who don't share our surname. Any other questions?" The way she said it was so kind but there was something that made me feel like she was uncomfortable with the attention.

"N... no? Uh... does it hurt?" I asked the only question I wanted to know, even though it wouldn't matter either way as I would still get the implant.

"Of course it hurts, it's surgery. But it is completely safe." At that she raised both her hands, tapped gently on her left temple, lighting up a bar that was the access to the Interlude FIRE implant under her skin, that wrapped around her skull.

"That is so cool! How long have you had it? Does it hurt after it's in? What's it like!?" I asked in rapid succession, somehow shocked that anyone had one yet.... aaaaand instantly feeling like an idiot because of course someone had to test them.

"Well, this will be announced in a press conference later this week, my family has been using various models of the Interlude FIRE implant for a few decades now. You'll get more information when you watch the conference. Do keep this between us? You're my first and only patient today and I feel like that makes us friends, I hope I can trust you, Edward."

"Oh... yeah, of course, Dr. Cass... Dr. Weiss, sorry!" I had just been dropped a bombshell. Decades of using the Interlude FIRE? The implant was supposed to slow down time, work simpatico with almost every piece of tech currently on the market, give a HUD to your real-world interactions. "How long?"

She turned and stopped, smiling at me, "How long?"

I nodded, wondering just how long she had her implant, "How long have you... uh... and how long have you spent in dilated... have you spent any... wow..." I didn't know what to say.

"Edward," She said, still smiling at me, "I am, physically, seventeen years old. Mentally, having received an implant when I was three, I am, intellectually, emotionally, and, yes, even spiritually, I'm... far... wiser." she gave me a coy smile, letting out a giggle when my jaw dropped.

I don't know how long she let me stand there, lost in my thoughts about the implications of.... it all. Based on the information of time dilation that the public had been given, namely the dilation you would be allowed to go to at different ages, as well as the amount of time you were allowed to spend in Interlude, she had to be... at least 300 years old!

I realized at some point she started walking an I had just followed her. The math running around in my head, different multiples of time dilation at different ages... holy shit...

The oldest a human body can currently get is 200, and that's only in rare cases. If someone born today were to get an implant and live for at least 200 years, mentally they would be thousands of years old, whatever that would mean?

I heard something. A question I think. It sounded distant like someone was talking to me through a tunnel. "Edward are you alright?" Cassie's hand waving in front of my face. "Did I break your brain? Edward?"

"You're hundreds of years old?" The words just came out, hollow from the awesome realization and the implications. Of course, children that got the implant today would still be behind adults who also got the implant today, but by the age of six they would, or should, be in, or done with, university-level courses, being in their twenties mentally, quickly outraging adults without implants.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"That," she replied to my question about her age, "is not a question you should ask a lady. But yes, I'm in the multiples of hundreds of years. In here please." She waved her hand indicating a room to the side.

I looked in, there was a robotic surgery device [RSD], a sphere with a nearly clear, fleshy looking ribbon, suspended in liquid, and another with a thin, black, almost metallic looking ribbon, in what looked like the same liquid.

I sat down, the RSD almost instantly smeared a sticky goo on and around my left temple and continued around my head, I definitely understood why I had to get the sides and back of my head shaved the day before to prep for this surgery. Having had surgery before I knew it was a local anesthetic that could affect even into the subcutaneous.

"Please lean back and don't move, we'll be done in a few moments." Cassie looked over from where she had been looking at the two spheres.

I did as she asked, and as soon as my head hit the headrest, a warm band wrapped around my head and the headrest fell back. My head felt light though, as the band was supporting its weight.

The RSD glowed slightly, sterilizing itself, and reached into the tank with fleshy ribbon.

"AAAH!" I yelled out, shocked but, thankfully, unable to move my head as a second arm of the RSD that I hadn't noticed made me feel a strong pressure, starting on the left side of my head and quickly traveling around the backside, and then to the right side of my head.

"You're alright." Cassie comforted me softly, smiling and nodding slightly, "The gel numbs so you're feeling the pressure from aware nerves away from the damage we had to cause to make space for the implant."

I glanced over to the RSD and noticed that both the fleshy and metal bands were gone.

I looked back to Cassie to ask if the surgery was done but before I could start, she tilted her head and flashed her eyebrows. "Not too bad?" She asked and then offered me a mirror so I could see what it looked like.

"Incredible! It's really in?" I couldn't believe it, there was nothing. No seam, no bulge, nothing.

"It's really in, and it's active if you'd like to try it out? I'd really prefer you leave here understanding how it works... and I see you've signed up to have your body work 10 hours a day while you're in Interlude?" Cassie asked, her eyebrows raised, waiting for my answer.

"I figure it's best not to be wasteful. I did my research, I get that I won't be able to log out of Interlude if my body is in an unsafe situation? And that I can't, or won't feel the fatigue from any manual labor I... my body... might do?" I asked, not really knowing if what I read on pamphlets before signing my body up for jobs that machines, for whatever reason, had more difficult times with. Personally, I think there are some jobs machines, or the AI within machines, just don't like performing.

"It really is honorable that you'd offer your body, but you should know that, while the Interlude FIRE will prevent you from feeling the effects of fatigue... or injury..." she said under her breath"... your body still needs sleep to recover.

You'll be working 8 hours a day but you can set your own times if you have things you want to do in the real world during your daily 6-hour downtime, and the system will automatically set a job that fits your schedule. And you need to remember you're a volunteer, if you ever want to quit, just think about quitting and you'll be prompted to see if you're sure. You can take on freelance jobs, or set tasks yourself. Did you get all that?" she asked and looked at me expectantly.

I thought about it for a second and... and Cassie repeated everything she said. I thought about it again, about to answer her and... she started to repeat herself again. I was about to ask her to stop and she froze, in the middle of a syllable.

I realized I must be using a feature of the FIRE and willed it to end. Cassie was still looking at me expectantly and I looked around.

"Don't worry, that question was a trigger, and it will only force [Repeat] once. You'll have to will it if you want to repeat anything from now on. You can focus on any event from now on for a perfect recall of the said event. It's a very useful [Skill]. Are you getting [Prompts] yet? Are any of the words I'm saying popping up in your vision?"

I nodded, "Yeah I've got repeat, skill, and prompts. What are they?"

"Prompts will usually only pop up once, perhaps more depending on context. They're saved in your [FIRE Glossary] and some can be used in [FIRE Apps], like [MAP] for a [HUD] overlay both in FIRE and out, [Quests] will work for certain games, though for most games, conversation is the best way to get quests out of [NPCs]. On that note, if you plan to play any games, ['The Interlude Chronicles'] is an amazing 25x dilation [MMORPG] that I personally enjoy. Here," she said as she swiped her hand towards me, causing a green happy face with a faint black border to come flying at my face, which made me jerk back a little, "... oh sorry! I just sent you a [Friend Request]. You spam me, I'll block you, but if you end up in [TIC], send me a message and, if I'm not busy, I'll show you around."

"Cool..." I went back to being awkward and regretted my next words before they came out, "... it's a date."

"Edward." She said, completely deadpan, "I'm your doctor. I'm offering to show you a game because it will help you adjust to the FIRE. It is NOT a date."

I could feel the blood rush out of my face as horror replaced the sheepish look I had just a moment before, "I... I nope... er... I know... that... I'm so sorry I didn't mean..." I was babbling, grasping at words like they were the lifeline, the last thing saving my ego from the most massive hit...

And then she laughed. If my head wasn't still strapped down I would have run out of the room. "Edward. I'm sorry, but... well... here," she said as she looked at something I couldn't see, grabbed the air, and pushed the invisible object toward me.

A sphere floated my way with a picture... of me... of my face, the most horrified look I've ever seen anyone makes was plastered on my face. "Oh..." I said, suddenly getting why she laughed, I laughed a bit too, mine was part from the humor and part from the humiliation.

When we both stopped laughing, Cassie shook her head and said, "I'll buy you lunch in TIC but I'm very happy with my girlfriend. I really do want to make sure you adjust well with the FIRE. You're one of the first few consumers to receive the implants, and the only person I'm overseeing with their surgery. And..." she trailed off as she thought better of what she was going to say.

"OK!" she said, lightly clapping her hands together, which seemed to prompt binding on my head to loosen and fall away, "Time to get you home. This will be your first [Task]! Think about the setting, 'go home', as a 'task', and then enter the [FIRE Hub]. You can explore around there anywhere from -30x to 60x dilation. And remember..."

I interrupted her, "Wait... negative dilation?"

"Did no one tell you about that? It's a horrible waste of time but, yes, you can essentially make time move faster. It's your life, but.... seriously, don't do it. Alright, Edward, think about entering the Hub, and remember to check out The Interlude Chronicles at some point!"

I thought about the Hub and suddenly I was somewhere else. There was a white void all around, except for one large wall with a directory and descriptions.

The first thing that caught my eye was a swirling vortex icon with the name World Merger circling the icon. Besides the icon was the description;

World Merge - Choose two to four fiction or non-fiction worlds to merge together into one world. Using the latest in AI technology, these worlds can either be a dream come true, or a nightmare waiting to happen. Choose world mechanics to show available options.

Options

Single Player

Multiplayer

Massive Multiplayer

RPG

Horror

Adventure

Roguelike

Crafting

Linear

Open World

Puzzle

Music

Dilation Amount = X

Color Blend

Mood

Weapons

The list of options seemed endless, and maybe they were. Each option linked to more options and many of those options linked to even more. I looked at another icon, 'World Creation' which offered what looked like the same options but allowed for far greater customization, even allowing a fresh world to be made, creating your own terrain, creatures, NPCs, quests, foliage, and everything else you would expect in the real world.

I found the icon for 'The Interlude Chronicles', showing a rough stick circling a tent, and tapped the icon.