Infinitium

Adam helped Alerna off the counter and reabsorbed the blanket and pillow he’d created. The SYSTEM still didn’t like nanites but as long as something was in his Area of Influence he could still use them normally. Also, Sense Chaos seemed to have a ping to it as information was sent back to him at no faster than the speed of light. Adam paused. That meant that it would be 26.4 nonillion years before all the information within 15.5 tredecillion miles of him. Sense Chaos was still limited by the speed of light unless he was within Chaos. Now if he created nanites within his Area of Influence and they were all quantumly linked…and if he could somehow combine Sense Chaos with his nanites which were quantumly linked he could once again know what was going on everywhere instantaneously within his Area of Influence. Adam laughed.

“What is so amusing? Alerna asked indignantly.

“Oh, sorry. That laugh was about a thought I just had,” Adam explained.

Alerna looked like she was going to continue on the point and then took a deep breath before she said, “Thank you for catching me before I fell off my walkway. It’s a little cramped behind the counter and could have hurt me.”

“You’re quite welcome. If you don’t mind me asking, what about looking at me overwhelmed you?” Adam asked.

“One of my class perks is the ability to gauge the power level of anyone who walks into my SYSTEM Shop. Your signature was so powerful that it created a pressure that overwhelmed me. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone with such a power level, ever. It’s the highest I’ve ever seen, and I include the Administrators in that Statement. Probably not their Supervisors but definitely the Administrators.”

“Why not the Supervisors?” Adam asked.

“A little-known fact about SYSTEM Supervisors, most are individuals that have Ascended,” Alerna whispered.

“I keep hearing this term Ascend. If I’m being honest, I do not know what that means,” Adam said thoughtfully.

Alerna laughed, “Welcome to the club. Because of my perk, all I can say is that their power level is brighter than any Legendary Class I’ve ever met. You shone brighter than anyone I’ve ever seen before.”

“So, there’s another leveling system above Tiers 1 – 5?”

“Most likely though, except for a couple of SYSTEM Supervisors I ran into I’ve never seen another Ascendent being. When people Ascend they are normally never seen again. I’ve only ever seen someone after they ascend if they work for The System.

“Are they spirits or solidified souls in some way?” Adam asked.

“No, The Supervisors are just as alive as you or I. Besides, I’ve seen souls and spirits and watched them enter the cycle of reincarnation, Ascension and Death are two totally different processes.”

Adam pondered what she’d told him for a moment and then created 5 Adamantium bars on the counter with his nanites as he said, “Please give me the market price for these five bars and then transfer the full amount to yourself. Consider that a bonus tip for the information you just provided, it was very enlightening.”

“Sir, that’s easily 500,000 credits, probably more,” Alerna said disbelievingly.

“To me it’s nothing. No literally, those bars didn’t exist a moment ago so to me they are nothing I’m going out of my way to give you. To you though, those credits will help you increase your skills and level, yes?”

“Of course,” Alerna agreed.

“Then, there you have it. Thank you for the information please accept this gift as a small token of my appreciation for the help you’ve provided me today. Now for the thing I came here for,” Adam said as he picked up a tablet off the counter, activated Technomancy, and linked to the tablet. In a moment he had the information he wanted, paid the one million credits for the information, and set the tablet back down.

“Is that everything…” Alerna asked leadingly.

“Adam, I prefer the name Adam though I guess you could call me what the name tag identifies me as that you can see.”

“Very well, Adam. Is there anything else I can help you with?” She asked as the five Adamantium bars disappeared.

“No, and thank you again,” Adam said as he turned and walked to the exit. He placed his hand on the node and willed himself to exit the SYSTEM Shop. Adam appeared next to the SYSTEM Shop Node in New York City where people were standing around either waiting to use the node or talking with each other. It seemed that the end of Stage 3 had made some people who had been hiding courageous. Before anyone could react he teleported 250 miles straight up into low orbit. It was time to try out his idea on a small scale.

This next part was going to be fun. He always liked trying new things. Before he’d broken out of the SYSTEM his Chaos Attribute had been limited which would have made it impossible for him to try to do what he was about to. Well, not impossible but he would have had to do it in stages. Now that his attributes were back to the levels he’d earned over the many years, his Chaos attribute was incredibly high.

While Adam couldn’t create enough nanites to cover his entire Area of Influence, though he could try. No, what he could do was test an idea he had on a much smaller scale, say the Solar System. He ran the numbers in his head. Distance to the edge of the Solar System. That was approximately 9.3 trillion miles which meant the area of the sphere that comprised the solar system was approximately 2.71E+26 cubic miles. If he created a nanite that was quantumly linked to him every 186,000 miles evenly distributed in a cubic pattern he’d need to create 42,204,301,076 microscopic satellites to make sure he had coverage everywhere within one light second of each other. Adam did so and then directed the nanites through his quantum link with them with Technomancy. One thing that had changed. He wasn’t automatically connected to machines anymore. Only when he activated Technomancy did he have access to the machines that he’d linked to himself.

He connected to the microscopic satellites just fine but they didn’t receive any data from the ping he was putting out. It was weird. He could tell that the “ping” he released with Sense Chaos entered this reality at every point within his Area of Influence but once released the energy had to follow the rules imposed by The SYSTEM to return the information back to him. Adam thought about the problem and had a solution in a moment. He upgraded the satellite design and sent out a new batch of satellites.

Of course, his natural regeneration of chaos would take years to recover that much chaos so Adam activated Chaos Conversion and converted Mana into Chaos which was replaced a moment later. Once his chaos and mana pools were full again he looked at the Solar System with Sense Chaos.

It Worked!

The information that Sense Chaos was sending back to him was picked up by the microscopic satellites and he knew everything that was going on within 9.3 trillion miles of the Sun. Information farther out than that would still come in but it would be slower. Also, if he wasn’t here to receive it, it wouldn’t matter.

With a thought, he passed those current scans over to Ray. The nanites would disappear but the microscopic satellites should give Ray full coverage of the solar system when he left. The information would allow Ray to create a current model of the solar SYSTEM including all comets, asteroids, and objects in the Oort cloud.

Now that Ray could send out satellites, set up a sensor net, and had access to multiple sources of raw materials, Adam was ready to go. It was time to go see what the Xeli Corporation was all about. That had been the information he’d purchased for 1 million credits. The Public Teleporter coordinators for Xeli Corporation’s primary headquarters. Adam quickly teleported back to the Park in New York City and morphed his clothes into a dark gray ArmantI business suit with a power tie on it that had a picture of him in his dragon form. He quite liked how it turned out and added the ensemble as one of his default clothing sets.

With a thought, he teleported across dimensions and Sectors to the heart of The SYSTEM. It required an incredible 500 million mana to do so, which his mana regeneration replaced the moment he appeared.

Adam stepped forward out of a small room with nine other boxes and followed the arrows on the floor toward a door. The arrows on the floor were in constant movement and a soft voice could be heard repeating.

“Welcome to the Xeli Corporation Primary Headquarters, Please follow the walking arrows along the floor to the exit. Visitors must check in with Reception before proceeding. Thank you and have a nice day.”

Adam stepped out of the alcove as his Sense Chaos took everything in within 186,300 miles that first second and out to 1,863,000 miles by the time he stepped through the exit into the reception room. He also activated Technomancy and connected with all the computers on the planet. With Sense Chaos and Technomancy running concurrently, he was able to copy and analyze all stored data as well as active data worldwide within a moment.

Damn, it was good to be back to almost normal, even if his normal had previously been within a digital reality. That he could do the same thing out here in the real world…well reality was nothing but solidified electrical charges given form and function. Should he really be surprised that everything he could do within a digital reality would also be possible within physical reality?

To facilitate going through all of the data he was absorbing, Adam compartmentalized his mind and began multitasking. He hadn’t realized how much he missed being able to utilize his full abilities as his mind assumed the familiar form he’d had back when he’d first created his union with Thor. He still had to play by The SYSTEM’s rules but right now his experience with computer systems and his ability to pull on memories of previous examples made what he was doing child’s play. He had a feeling if he did something like this while outside of The SYSTEM, he could achieve levels of processing power hitherto unheard of.

As he went through their data he detected their technomancers and individuals with abilities and skills that could theoretically counter his, if they were at his level. Unfortunately for them, he had memories of code and digital networks as well as all of the safety protocols and defenses of hundreds of thousands of societies locked within his mind. As they tried to infiltrate, they were blocked. As they thought they made progress, they realized their progress was a dead end. It only took one of Adam’s subroutines of consciousness to keep them busy while he infiltrated and commandeered everything within 1,863,000 miles of his current position.

While his mind was busy taking over the digital infrastructure of the planet he found himself within the electronic systems of everything in orbit and out to the four moons that were in identical orbit offset from each other by 90 degrees which formed a square around the planet, probably to make sure local gravity was stabilized. Adam’s mind wandered a bit as he thought about the inherent problem such a setup would create where the tidal forces intersected with the surface.

One of the movies he’d liked back in college had a planet placed near a black hole. Because the planet was completely covered with water gravity had created giant waves. If his calculations were correct the same would be true as the moons made their way around this planet. The shifting gravity would cause constant earthquakes and create giant waves unless... Unless the rotation of the planet matched the orbital velocity of the moons. That would lock the lines of force and prevent them from pulling the planet apart. Also, it would probably help stabilize the planet.

Adam focused his attention on the moons for a moment and found what he knew had to be there. At the very center of each moon was an artificial structure that was quantumly locked into orbit along one of the magnetic flux lines of the planet. That explained how the moons were orbiting the planet at a higher velocity than the orbit they were in, without then falling out of orbit and flying away from the planet. Adam, of course, knew about quantum locking. It had been one of the coolest things he’d ever run across. He’d just never thought to do it on a planetary scale. It looked like he still had a few things to learn.

“Welcome to the Xeli Corporation. What is your reason for visiting us today?” a woman behind the counter said, bringing Adam back to where he was standing.

Adam looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “Bounty Payout.”

“What type of bounty?”

“Most likely the most recent bounty Xeli Corporation issued for the three-stage event they hosted. The Bounty amount was 1 Trillion Credits.”

Adam watched through Technomancy as the receptionist tapped the terminal in front of her, pulled up the information concerning the bounty, and said, “I have it here sir. Are you saying that you were able to capture or kill the target of the Stage 3 event?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Adam said with a smile.

“In a manner of speaking, sir?”

“Well, sure. The target of that quest was me,” Adam said with a huge shit-eating grin.

“I’m sure, Sir. What did you say your name was again?”

“I didn’t, but you can call me Adam. Why don’t you call your supervisor, or the person in charge,” Adam said as he went through all of Xeli Corporation's Documents, Files, and even the information backed up in a quantumly locked drive. It was quite elegant how they’d made access to the room the information was stored in inaccessible by placing it behind both magical and technological barriers that looked to be at the highest possible levels. Truly outstanding work. Adam bypassed the shielding like it wasn’t even there.

As he waited patiently for the receptionist, a woman named Cassidy Alesia Jones, to decide what to do he read over the latest information that had been stored by the semi-sentient A.I. A Sentient A.I. may have had a chance against him, though that was doubtful. Processing power-wise, Adam was sure there wasn’t a single processor created by any biological entity within The SYSTEM that could compete with his ability to process and sort data. He was actually looking forward to finding out what this Ascension deal was. He’d scrubbed all the databases and as far as he could find anywhere on the planet, Ascension was just rumored. No one claimed to know what happened and those that had returned to visit never stated what had happened to them.

As he looked through the files he noted that the Founder had Ascended earlier that day, leaving his daughter in charge. She was currently off the planet and probably out of the Sector at one of their private holdings somewhere, though Adam did see a coded message for her attention had just been sent. He probably had another 30 seconds before there was a response then.

Adam considered the society he was looking at and noted that the date said it was the year 3,496, what they were calling the 35th Century. The Scientists here even considered this to be the first Prime Universe because of the coding The SYSTEM had designated it with. Adam considered that for a moment as he looked over the Scientific data. For some reason, the Scientists of this Era believed that coding of The SYSTEM in some way designated all Prime Universes, all universes ending in Prime digits; 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc.… were somehow not copies, echoes, or the phrase they liked to use here, shadows.

That sounded like a bunch of bullshit to Adam, though the Universe ending with a “1” might be important. If the other Prime Universes were similar to the first then they were most likely alternate dimensions or “Shadows” of his Earth as well. None of that mattered to Adam. What mattered to him was the audacity of a corporation or people to think that they could indiscriminately hunt down and kill the shadows of the members of their society without a care in the world about the morality of that choice.

Adam’s experience with souls allowed him to postulate that while the individual people of each of the alternate universes and dimensions might be a genetic copy of the individual and that they might have similar experiences, the animae, or souls within were different. If he split himself into multiple bodies and quantumly linked the bodies those bodies would all share the same soul, which was fine because his Animae was far more complex than anything here that he’d come across. While he couldn’t check it, or could he? He hadn’t tried.

With Sense Chaos Adam reached out and checked the connections of every person within range and analyzed their soul cores and Animae within. His instruction to do so sent out a pulse of invisible energy that passed through everyone. As the pulse expanded, Adam’s passive scan enabled him to detect that everyone on the planet and nearby only had a single Animae embedded within their Soul Core. None were part of a complete structure, nor did any of them look to be strengthened by the Soul Core which Adam assumed meant that there was no one within range that could utilize soul attacks or heal wounds to the soul. It also meant that their idea of destroying the personal Shadows of the individuals on this Earth and that doing so somehow made their link to the afterlife stronger and would garner them more power in the Cycle of Reincarnation was fraught with errors.

When their Soul Core finally released their Animae, it would fly free for a bit and then act as the anchor or structure of another Soul Core. That meant that each of the “Shadows” had their own soul and would make their individual way into the After Life and then the Cycle of Reincarnation. The more he read and contemplated what he had discovered, the more he wanted to slap the shit out of some dumb ass that had taken the clues they had to how souls worked and stopped trying to figure it out. Of course, he could…

Adam wrote a paper about his discoveries titled.

“Your Soul, Soul Core, Animae and What it Means to Be You

by Someone that Knows a FUCKTON more about his subject than You Do

-A”

Adam had the paper appear simultaneously on every electronic device across the planet and in the outposts on the four moons. He detailed what someone would need to do to be able to perceive their Soul Core and look at the Animae within. He left out how to try to modify either structure. If they wanted to play with that, they could figure that part out themselves. Besides, he was pretty sure the only reason he was able to do so was that he was using Chaos and he wasn’t going to share that information.

As he smiled and waited with Cassidy the fruits of his labor started to explode across the globe as people saw the electronic paper appear. Some read it while others laughed and deleted it because they thought it was spam. That was fine with Adam, they’d made their choice. It wasn’t a long paper. 20 seconds after he’d released it the forums and public places exploded with conversations which was ironic because as that started to happen 10 vertical rectangular portals opened near Adam.

Ten Soldiers exited the portals in a typical forward assault pose with Level 10 weapons, where Level 10 indicated that the weapons were utilizing power sources that could damage ships rated to faster-than-light travel that could withstand micrometeorite hits. They wouldn’t do much damage to such structures, but they would leave a mark. To biological people, they would be devastating.

Cassidy dropped to the ground and put her hands over her head as Adam casually looked at the leader and smiled.

“Do Not Move! Shadows have no rights. The Xeli Corporation is claiming you for study before your disposal…”

Adam looked directly through the mask into the man's eyes, as all the weapons and armor that all ten men were wearing evaporated within a second as he said, “Yeah, no.”

Adam had to give the man credit, he had balls as he pulled a sword from his Personal Storage and jumped to the attack. Later he would admit that he might have gone a little overboard, but he’d become so frustrated with everything and he knew that no matter what he did this man would continue in some form or another.

So, Before anyone moved Adam decided to push the limits of speed. If he wanted to make someone look like James “One” Shade from Resident Evil he’d have to make 72 horizontal cuts, 30 vertical cuts 12 vertical cuts along the z-axis. That should be able to turn him into 1-inch cubes. Just like Jules had been by the Red Queen. Yeah, that should get his point across nicely. Adam moved and returned to his starting position with no one the wiser that he’d moved.

The other nine security personnel were also pulling weapons from their Personal Storage when the sword their leader had pulled and started to lift into striking position continued rising up and away from him as their leader’s body fell apart into 1-inch cubes of flesh and blood that exploded and fountained toward and around Adam and Cassidy. Of course, the nanites Adam had released into his immediate vicinity broke apart and prevented any blood or flesh cubes from landing within five feet of Adam or Cassidy as they were broken down, but he did allow the fleshy cubes that had been the security guard to fall and scatter near everyone else around the two of them. A moment later the sword clanged to the ground on the other side of the counter.

Everyone froze until other non-combatants that were going through reception started to wretch as did three of the nine security guards. Cassidy, obviously made of sterner stuff, closed her eyes and started reciting the Lord's Prayer. Seriously, a religious person who still followed Christianity after everything this corporation was known to do and the fact that magic existed, and this society knew it existed. That surprised Adam more than anything else he'd discovered today.

Adam looked up from Cassidy, who suddenly had an extra 10 million credits in her account that he’d transferred to her, and to the second in command of the security detail that had appeared around him. She looked back and forth slowly to her other guards as Adam smiled and said, “Take me to your leader.”

Before the female security guard could respond a new portal opened and a woman standing at a desk with a backdrop that looked out into empty space behind her looked through the door-sized portal as she said, “Adam, I believe. I am Valeria Xeli, If you would be so kind as to step in, I believe I can help you.

Sense Chaos told Adam that the woman was a hologram and also that the location on the other side of the portal was in a space station somewhere outside of the current solar SYSTEM, but his Area of Influence was so large that he could now detect the portal, which was about 45 billion light years from his bodies current position. The only reason he could detect the portal was because he was receiving information from Sense Chaos from both locations simultaneously and his Personal Map showed both locations on a giant representation of his local viewing area which appeared as a blank space with two dots on.

Adam looked to the guards and walked toward the portal as he said, “Well this was fun, let’s be sure to do this again”, as he had the nanites clean up the mess that had been the previous security detail, Captain, though he left the sword. Yeah, he’d overreacted a bit. As he stepped through the portal it closed behind him and the image of Valeria Xeli disappeared.

“Now Adam, if you don’t do exactly as…” Valeria Xeli started to say as Adam teleported into the space beyond the transparent Aluminum viewing portal and sped up to the barrier of Nothing. He could still feel the station sitting back about 1 light-year from the barrier of Nothing where the universe he was currently in ended. Adam reached out and touched it with his hand which he dipped in up to his wrist.

It was interesting, the Nothing was trying to break down his physical structure, but his intrinsic nature held together just fine. To be on the safe side, Adam created a duplicate of himself 50 light-years away in a random direction and quantumly linked the duplicate to himself with a thought. Once done, he dipped his body that was next to the Nothing through the barrier and vanished from sight.

He need not have worried. His experience with Nothing previously prepared him. There was literally nothing to see within the barrier. It was just Nothing. After a moment he followed the quantum link back out into space and teleported back into the station to a seat that was right beside the real Valeria Xeli who was frantically tapping keys in an effort to find him. As Adam appeared in the seat across from her a Long Island Iced Tea appeared in his hand, “Where were we, oh yes. I apologize for my inattention, You were saying,” Adam asked as he maintained eye contact while he took one long continuous drink.