The Miner

Once I was in a position of strength then control of the system would be mine and my body wouldn’t be hijacked by a jumped-up support system. Given that he wasn’t directly able to view my thoughts. That would make things tricky.

[Got it. Ask no questions, hear no lies. Do you know if any living creatures around here could pose a threat? Or robots, I’m not being biased when it comes to hostiles.]

The same voice in essence telling me to shut up and get on with it I interrupted.Time to learn how it would respond for someone else to put the stupid system in their place. Yeah. Your turn Campos to listen to me.

[Forget about it. Thanks for the help. I’m going to need that five minutes in the Memory Palace now. Given the hefty amounts of power units that I neatly stacked up and the rest of the green battery logos on the other crates around here I’m guessing that our essential needs are met for the moment. No need for food and drink as a machine but only power. Still, I’m a human being so I need some essential downtime for myself. If only for my mind to recover. Be a dear and open the Mind Palace, I want my five-minute reward. I’ll be asking about those experience points later. No need to talk back, I prefer you on a computer screen for a while rather than a voice in my head.]

I had assumed that the whole process would be slow or have some form of transition. Waking up in a purely entirely blank white room before pieces of furniture flew and the walls, ceilings, floors, and other fixtures flew into place. At least that was how it had been when I left the Mind Palace and things began to disappear into white blankness.

…Creating Initial Loci…

….Building Mind Palace within established perimeters…

Process correction 12%...34%...67%...89%...100%

-Mind Palace Complete

-Timer Set

-Loading Mind Palace Facsimile>

<……>

No, this was a far simpler process. It was hard to work out the exact moment when you fell asleep and then woke up and opened your eyes. A job that nobody dealt with just yet.

You just felt yourself relax into unconsciousness and then not. Not an immediate process but simple enough.

Opening my eyes I was lying down on the same comfortable antique-style green sofa. It was a lovely sensation to be able to smell and breathe air. Slightly less stale than before but still with a tinge of smoke that smelt of lavender.

That was different. If I would be able to choose the taste and smell of the air, I’d be choosing a sweet mint. Further control of my immediate environment would prove to be an interesting experience. Even providing a few avatars to chat with or play card games, would be a nice distraction.

Change the décor a bit from the ancient antique stuff and turn it into a fancy private club with a swimming pool. The possibilities were endless. Well, in my limited imagination at least. I’d only have five minutes here and at least a minute had passed while still lying on a sofa.

Sitting straight up I took in my immediate surroundings. Everything was back in the same place as on my previous visit. Expensive, old stuff. Electric lamps, portraits of old-fashioned humans. I did love the mahogany brown oak chairs and tables. It matched the dark green colours of the room. Not quite to my taste but reminiscent of an interesting escape room.

Was I fully dressed this time? Familiar but different this time around. Acid-washed jeans with a red hoodie and sockless shiny new trainers. Pulling my jeans up I checked my underwear, yup it was bright red as well. Different.

It would have to have a mirror in here to check out my appearance. Gazing around the room my eyes stopped at a bookshelf, there were a few more books than before. More like manuals judging from their size of them. A cross between a large grey folder and a hardback book but large. The reason they caught my interest is that they held a light green luminescent glow around them trying to make me focus on them.

A hint or an order from a non-evil artificial intelligence that wasn’t a god but had saved my life when I’d be in a bit of a down spot. Now, where was it…The computer, mouse and keyboard with an office chair that was out of place in this old-fashioned room.

Ah. Across the room in a corner, in the same place that was it located previously. Well, as far as I was able to anyway. A black screen with a glowing green light indicated to me that it was turned on. I’d rather not spend my time sitting down to type text. Not this time, if this room was built similarly to an escape room, then there should either be an exit.

*Ding* went the computer screen on the desk.

I ignored the sound. I’d prefer to make the most of my five-minute reward to have some time without being under pressure. Also, it was nice to be back in a human body even if it wasn’t lavender-flavoured air that I was breathing.

*Ding*

‘I don’t need to hear it right now ok. I fulfilled the mission parameters and got my five minutes in your so-called Mind Palace. Just…just give me some time. I need space and a moment to myself. Alone.’

The monitor held no text at this moment for me to read, not that I could tell in detail from this angle. There was no way that I would want to walk up to it and get involved, not yet. Being in a disembodied form had made me consider more about my actual existence, if this place enabled me to take on a physical form, then surely, I’d be able to eat, drink and perform bodily functions.

*Ding*

*Ding*

‘….I told you that I don’t want to be disturbed right now, I’ll get up and do some light reading. If you want action then I’ll take it at my own pace.’

I got off the sofa and walked lightly around the room. My white trainers felt soft on my feet, given that I wasn’t wearing any socks. The red hoodie felt comfortable on my skin if slightly restricting. This five minutes was going to worth it, all the hard work just for a chance to be a standard human once more.

But if this place could be changed into a beach front it’d be even better, the sound of the waves, the warmth of a sun on my toned body and the soft warm sand beneath my toes. Ah well, make so with what I had for right now. The future was a distant dream at this point.

There was no food or drink for me to consume yet so the only way for me to sufficiently relax would be to grab a few books and start reading. I walked over to the bookshelf that held a few lightly growing grey manuals and picked one of them up. This manual had some serious weight to it. Hoping that this one wasn’t a book about digging myself out of trouble. I read the title ‘A Guide to Asymmetric Warfare: How to Win a Conflict a Rock at a Time.’

I felt slightly surprised that this wasn’t about mineral resource management but then recalled that the system Campos had been talking about the threat of scavengers and how I’d need to be equipped with weaponry on a machine body I suppose that it made sense.

All I knew about the surrounding area was that an explosion or meteorite had torn through it and caused severe damage to what was meant to be an excavation site. The word scavengers meant to me someone who would pick through debris to support their way of living, not armed soldiers who had deliberately carried out a mission to break apart a simple mining site. I wasn’t a trained combatant anyway.

There was a science fiction a film where the main character piloted a giant exoskeleton Mining suit to defeat evil space pirates, but stories were always far different from reality. Or were they scavengers? Either way they’d been breaking the law and in dire need of punishment. Pretty bloodthirsty film considering that it was based on an asteroid, it could have been classified for horror if there were actual monsters.

The ending eluded me. I suppose that I must have had enough of the main character laughing so much when he smooshed the villains into paste. Not too graphic but boring. I relaxed in the green antique chair and began to let myself relax a little bit. How much better this would be with a hot cup of buckwheat tea and sweet pastries?

‘Refreshments appear! Drinks and fresh baked goods! Right now!’

Not my luck then. There had to be a break time coming soon. This was my time to relax, imaginary or not it was most refreshing. Music would be my next mission. I needed a darn playlist of decent songs. Even classical would do. I loved music. All types.

One step at a time. After reading a few dozen pages and getting a slightly better idea about using poison pills, not literally, to beat an enemy that had superior firepower and the value of propaganda in warfare. To make it simpler I now recognised that if a scavenger were to try and steal a power unit from my supply, I could rig one to overcharge and leave it out in the open on better display than the others. Then whoever would pick it up and tried it out resulted in a minor explosion.

A poison pill that would be a hidden warning that the rest of the power units could also be rigged. A means of fighting against a larger force by using specific military tactics. I suppose that it could come in useful at some point as long as it was reinforced with system backup, given that I barely knew anything about this new…reality?

Picking up the book and lifting my body from the chair I placed it carefully back on the bookshelf. Best to be neat and tidy, a good habit that I’d picked up from my parents back in the day. The paintings and busts on the walls of the mock Escape Room came into my mind. I experienced a strong desire to check if there were any funnier pictures like one of the women with the title ‘Mine for Life.’ I could do with a good dose of humour before it was time to exit this place and go back to robotic work land. Someone had a sense of humour when this place was built.

*Ding*

‘Yes? Is my time now up? Come in number nine your allocated time on the rowing boat is now up. Hah.’ I chuckled at my pathetic attempts at jokes, as sometimes you just needed to make your humour. Or go slightly mad.

*Ding*

*Ding*

‘Fine. I’ve ignored you long enough. I just needed some space to myself. I’m coming now alright.’

After a glance across the paintings in the room which still showed the same dusty pictures of various men and women portrayed in old clothing but nothing that struck my particular interest, I walked over to the lone computer screen which worked without wires or connections.

It was still stuck on the same small desk and the modern office chair didn’t match the rest of this room. Totally the wrong vibe and out of place. I was glad there hadn’t been any blood or dead body parts but that was a road that I was trying to avoid thinking about.

This place was strange enough already without any horror elements getting mixed in, all I needed was a creepy hand or a head poking out of a box on a table to set me off. No, horror had never been one of my interests. I think.

Whoever had designed it had gotten the optics wrong. Total mismatch, my café had been designed for a range of human tastes. Teddy bears to antiques to modern artwork. This place on the other hand looked like a copy of an image of an ancient style reading room, the type where people drank alcohol and smoked and talking to each other.

The minor details were clearly wrong though or at least they gave me a slight jarring sensation when I noticed them. Best to ignore it and keep going.

‘Human. This wasn’t built by a human. Whatever. Make it clear what you so desperately need to tell me evil god Campos. I’m going to find all your little secrets through the power of my amazing computer given my previous role was managing and correcting the software in drones used in deep underground mining operations. I talked too much. Behold my ability.’

Stretching my fingers out and giving them a little wave movement to both loosen them and grant me the amazing power of good luck I grabbed the blue office chair and sat down. I’d better not get too used to this sensation of sitting down for too long. I might be needing sufficient amounts of exercise for health.

This body sure felt strong enough. Huh. I grabbed a bicep on one arm, it felt pretty firm. Nice. I thought about putting a hand under my shirt but touching myself was starting to get a bit weird.

Besides, it would be silly and self-conscious to slap my likely rock-hard belly a few times just to boost my ego. I had words for that after all.

‘Note to self, don’t eat, or drink and get reincarnated more often. The fast way to a six-pack and a strong, healthy body. Or get your soul transferred into a niche version of the Elysian Fields. All the fun running through sunshine and crops and eating ancient-style fruits, I love it.’

I chatted some nonsense to myself to pass the time by myself. I wouldn’t mind trying out different fashion styles and try stuffing myself with pastries.

The mind affects the physical form or was it the other way around? An experiment for another time. Talking also helped to settle my mind a little.

The large screen was flickering this time. I failed to notice any messages. Huh. I had been expecting a black screen with green flashing text. That had been my main communication with the system in this place. The keyboard and mouse were right there on the small desk ready for my use.

Sitting in the chair I moved my face closer to the screen. The flickering intensified and various colours began to play across the screen before the same proto-astronaut appeared as a singular face on the screen. The gleaming visor stared straight at me without any sound or movement.

Yeah.

No. No. No.