Infinitium

Sir Patrick Arnold Williams looked around his small study just north of London. The Prime Minister of Europe sat across from him smoking a cigar and drinking whiskey, while his Chinese counterpart sipped on some tea. Even the Minister from the Americas across the Atlantic seemed relaxed as he sipped on his scotch while Patrick looked at his terminal and the information he’d received from the scientist at Project Icarus.

Minster Robert Burton Garfield from the Americas asked, “Sir Williams, why are we here today?”

“Could it be that I would like to just catch up with my counterparts and acquaintances? We have been busy for the last couple of years.”

“True,” Minister Chang said. “My contemporaries…”

“Contemporaries? Sir Williams asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Forgive me, those that think they are my contemporaries, are very satisfied with the acquisitions we’ve made in North America and South America,” Minister Chang clarified.

“I am quite satisfied with how the USSR has fallen and been incorporated into Europe,” Minister Joseph Archibald said.

“The Americans have been neutralized as a global threat and now serve their leaseholders,” Minister Robert Burton Garfield said.

“And you?” Sir Williams asked directing his question to the last man in the room, Michael Clark. While he didn’t represent the United States, that was Minister Garfield’s responsibility, he was the richest American on the planet and second only to himself worldwide.

“As Minister Garfield has briefed you recently, The United States is tied up in debt and their military has been reduced to a reserve force that is utilized for natural disasters. They still have their nuclear capability but their interests are almost completely economic at this point.” Mr. Clark said.

“60% of which is owed to me, I mean China,” Mr. Chang said with a laugh.”

“As it should be,” Sir Williams agreed as he offered a toast to Mr. Chang.

Everyone took a drink and then Mr. Archibald asked, “Sir Williams, why are we here?”

“Very well, back to business. We have a problem,” Sir Williams said.

“What kind of problem?” Mr. Chang asked.

“The kind of problem that none of us are equipped for?” Sir Williams explained as he pushed a button on his terminal and a white screen dropped from the ceiling and images started projecting onto it.

“What are we looking at?” Mr. Archibald asked.

“Just over seven months from now, a majority of the people on this planet are going to die,” Sir Williams said as a video started playing on the white screen. An object had been detected coming from the opposite side of Jupiter traveling at roughly 160.934 kph, or 100,000 mph for our friends from the Americas. The gravity of Jupiter and its moons altered its trajectory just enough that it wasn’t going to slam into the sun. Instead, the asteroid is going to receive a gravity boost from the sun and, if the estimates are right, slam into the earth at about 110,000 miles per hour. After the video ended a countdown appeared.

7 Months, 17 Days, 17 minutes

Sir Williams stopped the video, “As the asteroid gets closer we’ll be able to lock in the time and place of the impact. Also, there is significantly less than a 1% chance that our calculations are off and it could miss us.”

“How big is the Asteroid, “Minster Chang asked.

“Early readings indicate that it's roughly spherical with a diameter of at least 1 mile,” Sir Williams answered.

“How did we miss an object that big until now?” Minister Archibald asked.”

“Its trajectory puts its origin outside of our Solar System. Our scientists estimate it entered our Solar System roughly four years ago. It’s taken the last 3 and half years to get to Jupiter and it’s just blind luck we spotted it as it came around the gas giant. Our computer models indicate that it was not visible from Earth for at least two months before it became visible to us. It was behind Jupiter as it approached the Gas Giant and as Jupiter is on the opposite side of the Sun right now,” Sir Williams explained.

“If it hits, what are we talking about?” Minister Chang asked.

“If it hits, it will be roughly fifteen times more powerful than if the Super volcano under Yellowstone erupted, so roughly 1,500,000 kilotons of TNT,” Sir Williams stated flatly.

The other three men sitting at the table looked shocked until Minister Archibald pulled himself together and said, “I assume we have contingencies?”

“We do, but they’re only for a select few,” Sir Williams said.

“A bunker, or bunkers, or do we flee into space?” Minister Chang asked.

“In the 7 months we have we can prepare a bunker that could house roughly 1,000 people can be built. The impact will be devastating but we should be able to find a place on the opposite side of the globe from the projected strike zone to place the new bunker. As for putting people into orbit. We could expand the modules in the International Space Station but there’s no way we would be able to prepare and sustain a habitat for more than 100 people and even then they wouldn’t have access to gravity which would reduce their bone density after a prolonged stay in low g. If they didn’t come back down to the planet after a short stay they would have a hard time returning at all,” Sir Williams explained.

“This doesn’t include the Cold War era bunkers that already exist but they weren’t set up for civilian populations,” Minster Garfield offered.

“True,” Minister Archibald agreed. “Also, don’t forget about the ships and submarines.”

“Submarines,” Sir Williams repeated thoughtfully “Yes, those could work. Ships on the other hand probably wouldn’t?”

“Why not?” Minister Chang asked.

“On the side of the planet that’s hit, the tsunami it will generate will be at least a mile high and travel faster than the speed of sound. On the opposite side of the planet, the ships might survive the initial blast but if they’re not airtight the ash in the air will be toxic. They might be able to survive near one of the poles if the jet stream keeps the ash out of the air but the temperature is going to drop as dust fills the atmosphere so the oceans at both poles are going to freeze and that will create new problems for those ships that are in the polar regions. Will some survive, probably, but I wouldn’t put anyone you want to survive on those boats,” Michael Clark explained.

“We could use them as an incentive to get people to work right up until the end,” Minister Chang said.

“Perhaps,” Sir Williams Agreed. “However, I would like to try to save as many people as possible. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to make that happen?”

“What about sending something out to destroy…”

***

Adam had been listening to Sir Williams, Michael Clark, and the three Ministers who actually ran this version of Earth. With Sense Chaos and Technomancy. He’d spread his senses throughout the world and took stock of the planet he was on. There wasn’t any magic anywhere. No dungeons. No hidden dimensional portals. No alien influences anywhere on Earth, the moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars. His senses had just reached the Asteroid belt and nothing was in that area of the Solar System either. This Earth had honest-to-goodness normal humans which was a pleasant change.

From the outside, this Earth appeared almost identical to the Earth he’d grown up in except for a few major differences. After this world's 9/11 the United States President, someone that had never been a president in any alternate history he’d ever come across, had gone a little bit crazy. There hadn’t been a controlled campaign into Iraq, it had been a massacre. While the rest of the world was dealing with the United States, China had exploited that period to take India over economically and Iran fell soon after. Some historians even referred to the aftermath of 9/11 as the 9th Crusades though what happened to Iraq and a few other nations in the area had nothing to do with religion.

Also, the United States hadn’t rebuilt the area and given it back like it had Japan after World War II. This time the United States conquered and then turned those it conquered over to its allies in the region, in this case Europe, which was how Sir Williams had become the richest man on the planet. A few political assassinations and a campaign to change the minds and hearts of the Europeans and Americans while China absorbed India and Iran with its own brutal responses to internal struggle and the world was left with three superpowers and the Middle East. With the Oil from the Middle East flowing north into Europe and Russia and also being sold to the United States as Capitalism took hold across the world.

Those who didn’t fall in line and support the policies of the United Nations were reeducated. Those who couldn’t be re-educated were handled quietly. Who determined what those policies were? Sir Patrick Arnold Williams. Michael Clark was an anomaly, a man much like Elon Musk had been on his original Earth if you crossed him with Einstein and Stephen Hawking. He was also smart enough to know not the rock the boat. The three Ministers were simply the toadies of Sir Williams. The politicians in each of the governments they oversaw knew who they were and who they answered to therefore, even though they were not officially in charge of any governments, they were. In this way, the illusion of democracy was maintained for the masses while they continued to pull the strings from the shadows.

Adam pondered over what he’d learned while he took a walk through Paris. He was surprised to learn about the Extinction Level Event as he’d been checking for any asteroids on a collision course since he arrived. Once he learned where the asteroid had been detected he understood why he hadn’t detected it yet. It would take light 50 minutes to travel from where the asteroid was reported to be all the way to Earth. which meant that the information from Sense Chaos, even if his range was ridiculous wouldn’t be known to him for 50 minutes from the time he’d activated the skill, which would be right about now.

As described an asteroid, made almost completely of…iron?… was traveling at Earth at roughly 100,000 miles per hour. Adam waited a couple of seconds to observe its trajectory and ran the calculations. The escape velocity to leave the Solar System was right around 94,175 miles per hour. If this asteroid missed Earth it would leave the solar System in around 4 years which meant that there was a high probability that it had come from outside the Solar System.

Adam considered what to do. He could be the tyrant and take over this planet if something else wasn’t going on. He could try to blend in and let things happen, see how it went, and then help at the last second. If he went that route, his involvement would be noticed. He could take care of the issue now and leave the scientists who knew about the asteroid stunned. Finally, he could just ignore the issue. He really wanted to go with the last option but he knew that wasn’t in his nature.

Adam paused on a walking bridge and looked at the people of Paris going about their day. His Sense Chaos skill indicated that almost 90% of the planet didn’t know who the real rulers were and just lived their lives day to day. Could he in good conscious just let this asteroid wipe all of them out? Also, while he hadn’t detected alien influence yet, the trajectory of that rock was just a little too accurate to be a coincidence, as was its incoming trajectory. With this planet's current technology, they couldn’t plot an intercept course that would allow them to do anything but fly by the asteroid at high speed. Not to mention that any ship launched would be traveling toward the Sun and would get cooked without shielding.

His best course of action would be to just take care of it. Adam took in his current location, checked all sensor coverage, including satellites, and found a blind spot near a corner. The little shop had an overhang to block rain and views from above and there were no cameras in the ally. Adam stepped into the ally and teleported to the backside of the asteroid.

He was in a vacuum and Jupiter was still relatively close by as he looked back on the gas giant that filled his vision. He’d never just taken a moment to view the magnificence of the giant clouds that rose up into the atmosphere which he could see clearly. Adam activated Mold Chaos and released nanites that he then programmed to break down the asteroid into nanites and wait until the asteroid fell behind the sun from the Earth. Otherwise, maintain current mass and trajectory and only activate at that point.

With any luck the scientist would watch the asteroid start its pass around the sun, lose sight of it, and then think it fell into the Sun. The nanites would spread out and reach Earth eventually and either fall into orbit or continue past the planet. Honestly, it wouldn’t matter. Adam took in the view one last time and teleported to the dark side of the moon, which wasn’t covered by any surveillance. He double-checked to make sure the shop he’d left in Paris was still clear. He’d come to the moon first because there was only a 2-second delay instead of a 50-minute delay. Once he was sure it was clear, he teleported back to the ally.

Adam checked his surroundings and then walked back out onto the street where his attention was drawn to a red-headed woman with green eyes who was walking toward him. The fact that she was absolutely stunning didn’t draw his attention. What drew his attention was the fact that the spot she occupied showed up as a hole to his Sense Chaos skill. Simply, there was nothing there.

She stopped an arm’s length away from Adam, smiled, and said, “Johnathan Bennard, or should I call you Adamantadine or Adam?”

Adam smiled, “I prefer Adam, thank you. And you are?”

“Celeste.”

“Who, or what are you, Celeste?”

“You can probably guess but it is not time for you to know..yet. What I can tell you is that you were placed here because you tried to enter an area you are not ready for yet. Also, you are needed here,” Celeste said.

“But this place has not been incorporated into The SYSTEM yet but I still have my skills and abilities?” Adam asked questioningly.

“Why do you think that is so?” Celeste asked playfully.

“If you’re here, it’s a test of some sort which begs the question, who is testing me?”

“In due time, Adam, In due time,” Celeste said with a playful smile. “For now, we would like you to help prepare this world for incorporation into the SYSTEM. The timetable had been set for one hour before the asteroid strike but since that won’t be happening now the schedule has moved up and events will be starting tomorrow.”

Adam looked thoughtful for a moment, “If I have my full capabilities this will not be a challenge,” Adam said with a smile of his own.

“That is understood, but your goal isn’t to do everything for everyone here. You will not be here for very long so your goal needs to be to prepare them as quickly as you can to survive in The SYSTEM,” Celeste said.

“That’s it?” Adam asked.

“That’s it.”

“When do I start?” Adam started to ask as Celeste vanished from sight like she hadn’t even been there. Adam also noticed that no one that was nearby reacted to her disappearance which meant that something had been affecting others in their vicinity. He pulled up the digital records from nearby cameras and noted that all they showed was him standing there enjoying the day. Celeste had not appeared on any of the Camera feeds. Interesting.

Adam checked on the location of Sir Patrick Williams and found him in the office with Michael Clark and the three Ministers. He quickly prepared a package that could be sent out on command to every electronic device on the planet and then deactivated every camera and electronic device around and above himself where he was and also in Sir Williams's study. Once that was done, he teleported into his study.

Adam appeared near Sir Williams. As he expected Sir Williams reached for and pushed his panic button. Adam laughed before he said, “As the wealthiest and most powerful man on the planet I would have expected a different response when faced with the knowledge that someone just teleported into a closed room with you.”

“I don’t know who you are, or how you arrived here but my security will be bursting through that door…”

“Let me cut you off right there. The button you pushed doesn’t work. Also, I can leave the same way I arrived so either you’re going to calm down and ask some intelligent questions or I’m going to leave the way I arrived and continue with my plans without your help, your choice?”

Adam watched as Sir Williams and the four other men in the room looked at Adam warily. When Michael Clark shrugged and nodded Sir Williams said, “We’re listening.”

For the next hour, Adam talked and used Mold Chaos liberally to showcase the various things that were about to happen to Earth. While he did so, he noted multiple attempts by all five men to contact someone outside of the room they were in. It never worked out well when trying to convince a narcissist, or someone with actual power that there were things more powerful out there. That was fine, he had about 23 hours until the SYSTEM was initiated on this planet. There were other ways to get his point across.

“I see I’ve wasted my time. I guess it’s shock and awe then,” Adam said as he sent out the data pack to every electronic device on Earth. The data packs were simplistic in nature and described what was about to happen in detail as well as his recommendation that they try to get to large population centers. Hunt monster spawns and make sure to visit the SYSTEM shops to purchase weapons and food. He closed by saying, “In just under 22 hours, everything you think you know about the Universe will change. You will need to adapt and grow as quickly as possible, Good Luck!

Adam released the lockout he had on Sir Williams’s smartphone and estate. Immediately it started going off with alerts as did the other four smart devices in the Study. Michael Clark looked over his phone, read the messages, and then looked at Adam, “What have you done?”

Adam smiled, “I told you…Magic. As for what I did exactly, I released that message to everyone on the planet and in orbit. I figure you’ll be busy for a bit. If take heed of my warning and make sure anyone traveling is on the ground when the SYSTEM turns on, everyone should be fine. Just review the data pack, information on what’s about to happen is in there.”

The World shifts. Adam looks around quickly. Sense Chaos hadn’t detected anything before the shift. In fact, it didn’t detect anything further than 10 feet away from him. Adam looked around and found himself standing on a white plane of packed dirt with an azure blue sky above. He checked his notifications and found that they were still locked out, while he could still access his Status Screen which showed the data he expected to see.

Adam was drawn from his thoughts when Celeste appeared and said, “That will do?”

“What will do?” Adam asked as he focused on her.

“We wanted to see if you would adhere to a framework with very limited information and an unknown condition. Not only did you do that, but you gave The SYSTEM some alternatives to think about when initiating on a previously magic barren world.”

“Glad I could help, I guess. Why am I here?” Adam asked.

“Before we talk, your notifications will be turned on momentarily. You need to go through those notifications, level up, and then make a choice, when you have I’ll be back to answer some questions,” Celeste explained.

“And what if….” Adam trailed off as Celeste was no longer there. She’d vanished as easily as she’d appeared. Adam thought about trying to vanish as well. He modified the frequency of his Chaotic Nature to return to the world with his base in the mountains east of Alamogordo. He felt his physical form tremble and then a notification appeared.

WARNING! This area has been Dimensionally Locked by @#$^&*$#$@

Huh? Okay. Well, if you can’t beat them join them. Adam opened his Notifications and began sorting them by importance, because there were a lot of them.

Congratulations! You have discovered The First Race of this Iteration!

You have designated the First Race, as The Primus. Identification Noted as Acceptable. Future notifications will label the First Race as The Primus.

Congratulations You have saved 115,696,587,245,125 Primus from extinction.

You have received 1,735,448,808,676,880,000 Experience Points.

You have received 11,596,658,724,512,500 Platinum which has automatically been converted to 1,099,117,578,830,410,000,000 SYSTEM Credits.

You have modified Cis’Thm and provided a conversion protocol.

You have created a new Domain

You have deposited The Primus within your Domain.

Congratulations the Domain you have created is compatible with The Primus and the SYSTEM.

SYSTEM Integration of your Domain has achieved 100%

It looked like The SYSTEM had noted the creation of the Domain he’d created for The Primus. More notifications followed that dealt with the creation of the Universe with the Chaos he’d spent on it. It seemed that doing so had been considered a very good thing after he received this notification.

Congratulations! You have been awarded 10,000,000,000 Karmic Luck.

He hadn’t seen much concerning Karmic Luck since he left the Digital Universes but obviously, it was still an attribute that was used out here in the real world.

Adam reviewed the next few notifications which informed him that he had earned enough XP to reach level 100 of a Legendary class. That was great and all but he still needed to pick an Epic and Mythic Class first. Fortunately, the next dozen or so notifications presented him with choices which provided him with the perfect Epic Class

Class: Polymath

A person of wide-ranging knowledge and skill. All currently known skills are raised to Skill Level Epic Level 1. Any unknown skill that is learned is automatically leveled to Skill Level Epic Level 1.

Rarity: Epic (Prerequisite: Eidetic Memory or Equivalent)

Attributes Per Level: 30

Bonus Attributes +1 to Intelligence per level. +1 to Willpower per five Levels

Hit Points per Level: 15

Mana per level: 10

Psychic Energy per level: 10

Skills Points per level: 6

Spell Points per level: 1

Psionic Slots per Level: 1

Advantages

Polymaths can utilize any skill whether known or unknown.

Disadvantages

This Class only has one Class Skill, Fount of Knowledge.

Class Skill

Fount of Knowledge:

Cost to Cast: None.

To qualify for this Epic Class one must be able to call on knowledge across all spectrums. As such this Class only grants one Class Skill.

Skills are Homogenized. All skills you use are utilized at a specific Skill Level which starts at Epic Level 1. Note Skill Progression is 100 times slower than standard progression. All skills, whether known or not are used at the skill level associated with this class skill regardless of previous skill level.

This skill removes the need to lock skills in with skill points before progress is allowed.

Adam accepted Polymath as his Epic Class. The Class Polymath gave him a whole bunch of ideas he could try, including spell creation and psychic skill creation, and now any skill he needed to perform that research had been leveled all the way to Epic Level. With the ability to use any skill, even those he didn’t know existed, he wondered what he could do with that.”