“Excuse me, young man, do you know where the restroom— Oh my, Alexander?” The older of the two gawked. “I wondered if you were here. I didn’t see you during the funeral.”
“You did arrive rather late, Oscar,” the other man noted. Laurie knew Oscar Remington and Alfred Rosewood, a couple of his father’s associates. Oscar was a CFO to some real estate enterprise and Alfred was in charge of the company that oversaw the Seattle biodome. Neither could really contribute to the work his father did. Alfred could benefit from it as the biodome’s redesign was one of his father’s first projects, but Oscar was merely some wealthy so-and-so and a potential connection in the business world, nice enough but a little loud.
“I suppose I did…” Oscar trailed off and wiped his lips. “My apologies. I wouldn’t miss a chance to say goodbye to Adele—a wonderful woman. I’ve heard many tales of her adventures. She had a fascinating life.”
“Thank you,” Laurie said half-heartedly. He might have meant it but could as easily have simply said it to be polite. Either way, they didn’t deserve his ire.
“I’ve heard that you’re working on something quite special right now, Alex,” Alfred said and stepped beside the young scientist. “A virtual reality program?”
“I am, although it’s fair to say I’m only developing it right now. I don’t have official funding.”
“Then it’s only you and a small team doing the work despite the odds to further the company and bring humanity further into the future,” Oscar declared in a grandiose tone.
“Yes, a very small team of one,” Laurie muttered. “I have made great progress. I have a working—”
“I’ve also heard that you’ve developed the next EI update,” the man interrupted, and his words slurred a little. “That has the general public talking. It’s been over a year since the EIs had a proper upgrade. Everyone is waiting with bated breath.”
Laurie sighed and shook his head. “I was pulled from that project. The state of the upgrade was… My father said it was not necessary for the general EIs. It might have more function for the professional models but—”
“Damn shame, but don’t let it get you down,” Oscar bellowed. At this point, Laurie was sure that he wasn’t listening and merely spewed niceties as they came to him. “You are the son of Jonas Laurie. Destined for greatness, you are.”
He remained silent and simply nodded quickly. The man smiled and clapped Alfred on the shoulder. “Let’s head back to the hall, Rosewood. I could use another drink.”
“What about the restroom?” his companion asked as the two walked off.
“Do you need to go? I’m fairly certain I saw it this way.”
“No, I don— Very well.” The two wandered away and Laurie turned and strode to the end of the hall. He threw open the doors to the library—which he suspected was only there because they didn’t want an empty room in the building. But it would make for a good hiding place away from the riffraff.
“Looking for some solitude, huh?” a voice asked. It appeared his assumptions of solitude were mistaken.
He looked at a man with slicked-back black hair and an athletic figure with tanned skin and a sharp smile. The stranger replaced a book he had looked at and approached him to proffer a hand. “A pleasure to meet you. My name is—”
“Merrick Rayne, Chancellor of Nexus Academy.” Laurie finished for him and regarded him curiously. “You knew my mother?”
“I accompanied her on a few of her travels—at least when she needed some ‘professional’ help.” That comment could have meant several things, but Laurie knew his mother preferred to work alone or with a small team of long-time friends. The fact that he had never known she had worked with this man meant she must have gone on journeys more dangerous than she let on.
“You don’t wish to partake in the festivities?” Laurie questioned. Merrick dropped his hand and tucked it behind his back. “I have said my goodbyes. At social events like these, I’m not much fun to be around, let’s say.”
“I follow. I usually enjoy such parties and I don’t mind a little debauchery but doing so after burying a parent is…tasteless.”
Merrick looked at the young scientist with concern. “Are you doing all right? I know it's rough but trying to hide in dark corners like you're the elephant man isn't the healthiest way to deal with tragedy.” His sympathy sounded genuine and weighed heavily in his voice. “Besides, I heard a number of people asking about you during the funeral.”
“I can't say I know most of them, who are my father’s friends and family I haven't seen since I was a kid. It’s simply not my kind of a ball.” He sighed. “I have nothing against them, but I'm not here to lend an ear to anyone who wants to tell me why they were Mother’s best friend or, possibly worse, why my father is so great.” He studied the chancellor. “Are you one of the two?”
The man chuckled and moved his hand from his back to reveal a small tablet. “I was actually waiting in here for the proceedings to end. I wanted to talk to you personally, Alex, about business.”
“Me? Really?” he asked, rather surprised. “Is it something to do with my mother?”
“No, nothing cryptic like that,” his companion assured him. “As chancellor for the Nexus Academy, I’m always looking for ways to develop our students and to further improve our curriculum.”
“I’ve heard about the new OS the academy is demoing. How have the results been?” he inquired.
“Well enough. They have allowed us to teach at a much faster pace and expand the classes and try new teaching methods. But I must admit, I am already looking at something that is far more interesting to me.”
“And what is that?”
Merrick offered him the tablet again. He took it, looked at the screen, and his eyes widened. It was a file on his project. “Where did you get this?”
“Does that matter?”
Laurie frowned and tossed the tablet back. “Yes, indeed it does. I have my files secured, so I need to know what I overlooked if you were able to access to it.”
“A smart observation. I received it from your father,” he admitted and returned the tablet to his back pocket.
“My father sent it to you? What for? He has a literal list of doubts about the project.”
The chancellor nodded. “I’ve gathered as much. I think he might have sent it to me by accident in a bundle of files that had overviews of potential projects we could use at the Academy. My guess is since he still has it on his system somewhere, it means he hasn’t given up on it.”
“Well, that’s certainly a more optimistic outlook than I have,” Laurie muttered.
Merrick eyed him cautiously. “How far have you gotten on it?”
He looked at the chancellor with both caution and hope. Caution because he didn’t know what this man wanted from him but hope at finally meeting someone who seemed genuinely curious and interested in one of his personal projects. “I have the system in place on a small scale—no more than one at a time—but the integration and sync ability could be smoother.”
“You’ve worked on this yourself, right?”
“For eight years, since I was fifteen. Getting the virtual reality plane into a state that wouldn’t immediately crash took five years on its own,” Laurie admitted.
“What do you think could be done if you have free reign with a real budget and a team of top technicians under your command?” the man asked, leading him on.
“So many things. I could connect different people to the same plane, have the sync smoothed, and increase the learning adaptability,” he hypothesized, his brow creased in thought.
“Could you do it for hundreds of people at a time?” Merrick asked.
“Hypothetically, yes, but that would require time and maybe some workarounds until I have a proper handle on the tech’s possibilities.”
“Interesting.” The chancellor stroked his chin thoughtfully. The noise outside began to increase and the people in the main hall seemed to rush out into the buildin
g. “It appears to be wrapping up.”
“Does that mean you have to go?” Laurie asked, his voice tinged with regret.
“For now, yes, but I have the information I need.” He withdrew a card from his chest pocket and handed it to the younger man. “I believe what you are working on could be of great benefit, Laurie. The capabilities, in theory, are amazing.”
He took the card carefully, almost as if he expected it to blow up in his hand. “I’ve preached that for years and I’ve been told the resources to see it come to life—if it can at all—would be too much.”
“But you’ve got it to work, right? Even in a primitive form?” Merrick asked and he nodded. The man smiled as he crossed to the chair he’d sat on and retrieved his coat off the back. He shrugged into it, then took a hat from the stand beside it and placed it on his head. “I need to finish putting things in place, but I want to see what you have made, Alex.” He turned to the scientist. “I suppose I should say Professor. You are certified.”
“It doesn’t mean much if I don’t put it to use.” He stared at the card. “When are you available?”
“I need to convene the board of the Academy, but I should be ready in three days.”
He nodded and slid the card into his pocket before he stood a little taller with a wide smile on his face. “I shall see you then. In three days, you’ll see my greatest creation. Project Animus.”
Chapter Two
“Thank you for coming.” Laurie greeted Merrick, who nodded as he walked into the warehouse. He removed his coat and studied his surroundings. A large pillar stretched from the ground and almost scraped the top of the warehouse about thirty feet up.
“You worked on this alone?” the chancellor questioned as he scrutinized the scale of the machine.
He took the man’s coat and approached the console on the side of the pillar. “To be fair, the pod was already made, albeit as a large energy cell for one of my father’s space station projects.”
“This is an energy cell?”
“One I restructured. It saved me months of work.” He placed the coat over the chair at his workstation. “Obviously, I know this isn’t practical. My initial thought was that a larger chamber would allow up to six or possibly seven people to enter at once. I’ve been in the early stages of downsizing it to focus on the energy capacity and sync rate for individual pods. I would also need to make a central mainframe that could connect them all together and work on a power source that could spread over a wide area without sacrificing output.”
Merrick chuckled as he sat. “It appears you were thinking along the same lines that I was even before we met.”
“I was being realistic. New inventions and advances are no use to anyone if they are kept in a basement—or warehouse in this case.” The young scientist looked at the gigantic pod and frowned. “And I certainly doubt that anyone would be able to make use of something that is this massive. It’s something of a hard sell.”
“Too true, but that can be righted in time.” The chancellor looked away from the pod to focus on the professor. “As long as everything else is in place?”
Laurie smiled and stepped quickly up to a console on the side of the pod and activated it. The device and warehouse lit up when lines of light traced around the pillars and dozens of lights above turned on. “Would you care to step inside?”
His visitor tensed and looked dubiously at the pod “I don’t need to get scanned or anything? It’s safe to simply walk in?”
“The ID system takes place inside the chamber.” He pressed another button and a large door slid open to reveal a room within. The floor lighted up in five extending circles. “I will scan your physical body and create an avatar, and to properly sync up with the system…” He leaned forward and pressed a key. A drawer opened and he removed two devices spread like a trident with curved ends. He attached one of these to his forehead and it clamped onto the top of his head.
With a reassuring smile, he walked over and handed one to the chancellor, who took it and examined it curiously. “What is this exactly?”
“In short, it’s a device that resonates your brainwaves with the pod’s sync waves to allow for integration,” Laurie explained and pressed a finger on the device that began to glow with white light. “It’s what allows for the integration and lifelike experience. Although I should say that right now, it’s only a workaround. I’m working on a secondary project that will not only allow a smoother experience but won’t require unnecessary devices.”
“What secondary project? Is it something I should know about?” Merrick asked.
“It has to do with my research and potential upgrades to the EIs. I can elaborate later.” He stepped inside the pod and beckoned to the chancellor to follow. “For now, let me show you the world of the Animus.”
The man was concerned. While he had expected to experience Laurie’s creation, he’d thought the young man would at least demonstrate it first before having him step in. But he had to admit, the professor’s enthusiasm was quite infectious. He placed the device on his head and stood to walk calmly into the pod. Laurie flipped the switch and the door closed, leaving them with only the lights on the floor for illumination. A white grid traced up and down, and the chancellor looked curiously at it.
“That’s the scan I told you about,” his companion explained and made himself comfortable on the floor. “I recommend getting into a relaxed position. As long as we’re in the Animus, our bodies will be in a suspended state. It’s nothing to worry about, but once we return… All I can say is that I had a hell of a charley horse when I went in standing.”
Merrick lowered himself to the ground. He tried to hide it, but it was clear he was still rather apprehensive. “So, when do we…um, sync in?”
“You’re ready, then?” Laurie asked and his smile widened.
“As much as I can be, I suppose.” He looked around the chamber. “I’ve used virtual reality before, but that was merely a device that simulated different experiences. There was always the feeling that you had one foot in reality.”
“You can always exit once we’re in if you’re worried. Simply say, ‘command: exit,’ or press your fingers against your temples for a few seconds,” the professor explained before he took a deep breath. “Activate Animus.”
Merrick stiffened a little and waited for something to happen—the lights to flash or the room to swirl—but he barely noticed the only thing that did happen. The lights on the floor pulsed lightly and a faint hum of machinery was the only other evidence of change. But soon, he felt a sensation that was similar to drifting to sleep. He blinked, closed his eyes, and shook his head. When he opened them, he sat in the middle of an empty street in a metropolis.
He jerked in shock and arms caught him from behind. “Steady there, Chancellor,” Laurie warned and helped him to his feet.
“Where are we?” he asked in bewilderment.
“Nowhere, in particular. I only have about three maps created so far, all generic. I decided that the city was more impressive than a desert or flowery field.”
Merrick stooped to feel the roughness of the street and walked over to a nearby store. It was empty, but he caught his reflection in the mirror. Everything was in place. Even a small birthmark on the left side of his neck was there.
“This is… This is real?” he asked.
“As real as you believe it to be.” Laurie approached the chancellor and quickly pressed two fingers into his chest. He caught him off-guard and pushed him back.
The man grunted in annoyance and was about to ask him what he was doing, but the significance dawned before he could get the words out. He’d actually felt that. “You can feel pain in here too?”
“It wouldn’t mean much if you couldn’t.” The young man opened a holoscreen, and after he’d pressed a few keys, a rifle appeared in Merrick’s hands. He examined it with real interest—a Terra Sovereign model.
“I looked into your history and hope you don’t mind. Your great grandfathe
r was the founder of the company, right?” Laurie questioned.
“He was. One of my cousins will take over soon. I don’t have much stake in it currently,” he explained.
“But you can use their wares, can’t you?”
“Of course. I am a soldier, even with my current position,” he confirmed.
“That’s good to know. Show me.” The professor fiddled with something on the screen and pointed to the left. Merrick’s eyes widened as a Soldier droid appeared with a rifle aimed at him. His instincts kicked in and he rolled under the shot and fired to blast one of the droid’s legs off. It toppled and he raced up to it and pounded the butt of his rifle into the side of the mechanical’s head twice. He cracked it with the first strike and crushed it with the second.
“You’re not going to simply shoot it?” Laurie asked and looked at the destroyed droid.
“You don’t want to waste a kinetic round, and you don’t want to overheat your energy-based weapons when it’s unnecessary. That’s basic combat advice.”
“Right. I suppose the SXP system won’t be of much use to you without prolonged training,” he mumbled, mostly to himself.
“SXP?” The chancellor backed away when the droid disappeared in a flash of white light.
“It’s the advancement system, where the Animus project really shines.” He flipped the screen and showed it to Merrick. “The more you train in here, the more SXP or synapse experience points you accumulate. The more the user learns and practices, the more they advance in a subject. Eventually, they gather enough points to unlock a vast array of abilities that they can then apply their points toward to learn those abilities instantly.”
“That… That sounds incredible.” He was genuinely awestruck.
“It is, in theory.” Laurie sighed. “So far, I’ve only been able to make it work on specific abilities—ones the user is already familiar with. Translating skills into practical uses is a little difficult when they know next to nothing about it. On top of that, the SXP system is a little…tricky right now. I’ve had trouble getting certain abilities to work, and the accumulation of SXP is rather slow.”
Animus Boxed Set 2 (Books 5-8): Revenant, Glitch, Master, Infiltration Page 63
