This is going to be fun.

I continue to do combat training in virtual reality everyday as I also download it into ECHO

Days turn to years

Years to decades

Decades to centuries.

The book said I would go mad.

But I haven't at all.

It may because I'm genetically optimized.

Or my environment.

I mean my life has always been very 'stressful' I was pressured to learn 18 years of content in a single year, which was my first year of life on this earth.

I never went to school.

I never went through puberty.

I spawned in as an adult

Then was told how to live my life.

But in this space surrounded by the abyss.

I finally feel like I'm free.

After around 300 years I start to hear murmurings.

"Is this the other versions of myself?"

It did say I would need form an agreement with my other selves.

I must also remember that right as I'm breaking out, I must send my visualization technique to the period before my birth.

That way I'll exist outside my death and birth.

[ECHO]: Creating Hivemind...

[ECHO]: 207 threads detected! Connect?

Only 207 versions of myself?

What is this?

I thought there were suppose to be infinite versions of myself.

I guess across this multiverse, only 207 of me have formed ECHO or a true existence.

So in other words only 208 of us have read "Paradox".

I guess it was pure dumb luck stumbling across those ruins.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Connect

[ECHO]: Connecting...

Immediately it feels like a fog shrouded over my mind is lifted.

Everything slows down...

But my mind speeds up.

[ECHO]: Hivemind established.

Wait!!!

It would seem my other selves are less in sync then I expected.

Most of them are trying to break out this instant!

Is that even possible?

But I still have a few hundred years left until I have virtual reality in ECHO.

Can't you guys just wait! Here! Start downloading it as well... all of us need it anyways.

Get the most bang for your buck.

So I spend a few years talking with myself.

Since we are all connected via ECHO, it was childs play to be able to have virtual reality make a virtual world and bodies for each Paradox.

So 205 that agreed all met in person in virtual reality and formed a counsel.

There were a few that went solo. I myself preferred to be part of the counsel.

Keep in mind we are still in the universe restart.

But the plan is... once all of us have virtual reality. We will be able to have meetings anywhere at anytime in virtual reality.

A sort of secret meeting between the Hivemind.

Since all of us are Zero #119, to avoid confusion we call each other by our universe's origin identifier.

Since none of us have stepped out of step 3 yet.

My origin universe is H02

That is also the identifier that was in the synopsis of "Paradox"

I modified it to H03.

Currently I am in the process of crossing over.

So I am named H02.

All of the others have made a board in vr detailing what their origin was and where they are going. This is to prevent us from overwriting each other and fusing.

So there will only be a single 'Paradox' in each universe.

The method left in "Paradox" is already out of date since we didn't have infinite versions of ourself.

But due to VR we are more connected.

But we still need to be able to exist outside of our existence.

So after about 5 thousand years everybody has VR installed in ECHO.

So now, we can enter VR without even using the chamber; do so at any time.

There is one problem though.

This problem is regarding step 4.

All of us are stuck on step 3.

None of us have been able to go insane.

Which is needed to crossover for the first time.

You need to have a psychotic break to disconnect from reality.

Although they were disconnected due to basically being in a form of the abyss.

We start a brainstorming session to figure out how we can go mad.

D04 Brings up a good point about nanites.

You see, nanites are small machines in our blood that help in a variety of ways.

There are different classes to nanites.

The ones I was given don't self replicate.

This means that if I don't come back to the facility to refill... the amount in our blood will drop to unsafe levels, causing brain damage and eventually death.

So I leave the meeting and decide to try out the theoretical method.

I activate my nanites and generate a ball of fire in my hand.

I simply don't have good enough control to burn all my nanites in such a short time frame.

I have to go from 100% fuel to 0% within 3 minutes.

A few years later, my control has improved to a godly level.

In VR we are trained to manipulate the nanites in combat.

But never to this level.

I no longer create a ball of fire in my hand...

I create a ball of plasma.

I then throw it against the door of my cell.

Leaving a huge hole in the wall.

There is nothing outside, but the abyss.

I begin to feel a little lightheaded.

The feeling is similar to hypoxia.

After a few more plasma balls...

I begin to hear cracking in my head.

I've run out of nanites...

Still... I am not insane?

Just what do I have to do to lose my sanity?

Zero didn't know it at the time. But genes that make him likely to have mental illness don't exist within his genome.

It is impossible for him to easily become insane.

D04 had an interesting idea with the nanites... but it didn't work for me.

I decide I need a different method.