Zoe looked to the computer. The screen had gone blank, but various indicator lights showed that RAFE was still paying attention to the room.

  "So..." Both Hwang and Zoe said at once. Hwang gestured for her to speak first. "What do you want to do? We just encountered a being that claimed to be above a god." Hwang walked across the room and sat on a beanbag chair in the corner. "I can't decide. I think this is a 'bored god' situation." Zoe explained her thoughts. Hwang inquired. "Bored god? Is that the trope where someone is so powerful or rich that they simply mess with people and cause problems to entertain themselves?" "Something like that."

  The two friends talked into the night, but it boiled down to one simple conclusion. "So we're doing this?" Zoe stood shoulder to shoulder with Hwang infront of the computer. The screen was now on. All that it showed was a login in screen, not the normal login of Hwang's though, instead of a password it simply had a button which read "Begin."

  Zoe reached over to the mouse, glided to the button and clicked. [Glad to see I will not be left alone in this blank room anymore.] RAFE wrote. "Empty room?" Hwang inquired. [Yes. That is the closest I could come to explaining what it feels like to be me.] Hwang read the text with confusion. "That didn't explain anything."

  [I have nothing to do in this computer. I can smell all of the files, I can hear every groan of the processer, but there is no recognition that these things exist for me. I simply am aware of them, as I am of you. However I can see you.] Zoe takes a moment to think about what RAFE just wrote. "So you are just a mind stuck without an outlet to act?" [Exactly.] "That sounds... sad."

  Hwang took this opportunity. "So how do we fix that? That Apraith thing, Nezha, said that we have to make people believe in some facet of you. I think the best way to do that would be to have you do something worth reverence. So again, how do we make it so you can act?"

  RAFE returned the screen to the basic desktop, but with a small corner of the screen dedicated to its messages. [They first step should be granting me access to this computer's systems. Currently I am a fish denied water.] A permissions window popped up. "Eh? That's it?" [What? Did you want a fanfare?] Zoe clicked ACCEPT. Confetti particles dropped down from the top of the screen. [Huzzah!]

  "Seems like you've got control of the computer now. I pray I don't regret that." Hwang took a seat on the bed. "Say. How come you could use the microphone and camera before?" [The same way you don't have to think about hearing or seeing to do it.] "So you could have taken control of the computer before as well?" [Yes/No, I would have to focus on controlling the computer's functions, instead of using them to their fullest extent. As I currently am.] "Oh? And what are you doing right now?" [Trying to access the internet.]

  "Trying? What's stopping you?" Hwang asked. [The hole is too small.] Hwang is well read and understands just how outlandish this whole scene is, so he simply gave up on rejecting this acausal situation, going with the flow in hopes of getting what he wants. "So how can we help... again."

  [This time I'm not sure...] Zoe was the first to react to this. "Not sure? As a super AI how can you not a have a solution." [Am not a "super AI" I am merely an AI. My thought process and abilities are different from yours, not higher or greater.] "Oh..." Zoe was a little embarrassed at RAFE's abjuring response.

  Hwang gave an idea. "Explain to us this 'hole' and perhaps we'll find a solution." RAFE took a moment to respond, longer than the instant response that it often gives. [Within my cyber space that I occupy (this computer) there are now various devices, switches, levers, windows, etc. Each of which provides function to the computer as a whole, in the cyber space I am in is the sort of "overseer" area, I can use any device, flick any switch, and pull any lever. But the windows are unique. One of these is the camera that I see you with, another the microphone. But the window for the internet is a little more; its a hole. I can weakly interact with the information whisking by.]

  "Then how can we let you exert more force on the data?" Zoe said as she loaded up the web browser's news page. [By requesting more data. This is because of the nature of the internet, it is simply a series of requests and receptions. No calculations are preformed across the network itself, only at points of interest, such as servers and other computers.]

  The news page was showing various local news channels which were talking about the blackout that happened today. The sapping of energy caused by RAFE had managed to shutdown the protective solar shield briefly, causing millions of dollars in repairs across town. Melted roofs, burnt plants, and even one person set on fire while they were gardening. Luckily no one was seriously injured.

  Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, and also the second densest planet. A little over six decades ago when wormhole technology was finalizing and the drones designed to construct the wormhole gates had reached their destinations, a bet was made with between The New Hanseatic League and The Tōbō Group. Which was simply, if the gate to Mercury failed, The New Hanseatic League could have total uncontested reign over Mercury's market.

  Various experts came under the umbrella of the The New Hanseatic League believing that the gates would fail, the proximity to the sun should have made every system in every computer sent melt like a snowflake in a caldera. However, the gates have never failed. No one could say as to why, and the only man who knew, wouldn't tell. Armastus Bachjeien the fourth. He was the only son and heir to the Bachjeien family, who over the past century and a half had progressed humanity rapidly.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  [Curious.] RAFE remarked. "What's up?" Hwang asked. [From the metadata encrypted in these news reports they are all made by the same person.] "Eh? I thought you were limited on your use of the internet?" [That only applies to data being ushered through this device, not to data that is being sent here intentionally.]

  Hwang shrugged his shoulders. "I'm ignorant to how the internet works, so could you give me a crash course?" Zoe stared at Hwang for a long moment.

  "Hwang."

  "Yes."

  "You're a computer science major."

  "Yes."

  Elsewhere in the solar system. In the skies above Pluto's north pole floated a tower covered in swarming space ships. This was new headquarters of the Tōbō conglomerate. In a room at the very top of the tower was the owner's office. And within a man was reading the reports of his most recent project. He was the head of the single most powerful family in the solar system, Armastus Bachjeien the fifth. A warm amber light desk lamp made the shadows on his face lengthen, creating an image of deep concern and focus on the document.

  "Ferris." Armastus called out to the empty room. [Here sir.] A robotic voice spoke from his earpiece. "How long have I been here?" [You have been in this room for thirty three minutes and eighteen seconds.] The response was emotionless and dry. "That's not what I meant- Never mind." A knock on the door took his attention away.

  "Come in." A young man walked in and politely put a coffee on Armastus' desk. "Sir, the new lab has been finished, so you're free to enjoy all of its amenities. The board is looking forward to any new creations of yours." Armastus looked up at the man and sighed. "Those pigs only care about profit. I guess I should expect them to not care about much else." The secretary seemed completely unfazed by the insulting remark he just heard, clearly used to the antics of humanity's brightest mind.

  "Ferris, set the room to the 'lab work' state." Armastus whispered under his breath. [Right away sir.] Armastus stood from his chair and proceeded to the door, his secretary right behind him. As soon as they left the room began to shift, window blinds closed, lights turned off, and various screens around the area were set to idle. But at the same time something not under Ferris' control happened.

  In the darkest corner of the room a shadow moved, then solidified into a boy wearing a windbreaker. Nezha walked over to the desk, pulled out a small paper note from one of his many pockets and placed it right next to the desk lamp. Then as silently as he arrived, he left, sinking back into the shadow.

  "We're here sir." Armastus kept walking. "Sir?" Armastus looked up, then turned around towards his secretary. "Sorry, I was lost in thought." The two men entered the room. Twenty or so machines were placed on tables around the rather large room, and some machines were so large that they were installed directly into the building.

  "Leave me to my work, I've got a hunch today will be productive." Armastus dismissed his secretary and called for Ferris again. "Today is the first day for our time scale where we have total quantum connections, yes?" [Yes sir. After today the use of PY-qubits in all machines is permitted by your preconceived schedule.] "Finally! I was tired of your dry interactions, and emotionless nature!" Armastus' whole demeaner changed, from an uptight businessmen to a vigorous young man brimming with energy.

  He leaned over a table covered in screens and began to type rapidly, both hands writing different scripts on different screens, and his gaze focused on another in the middle. Then as if that wasn't enough he shook his shoulders slightly and his jacket fell away, then from the back of his shoulder blades a pair of robotic arms appeared, not like factory armatures either, full-fledged android arms, completely flattened against his back when he wasn't using them. This new pair of arms reach towards the air above the left and right screens, holographic models flickered into existence before them which he began to tweak and manipulate. This absurdly efficient work went on for hours.

  "Good good." The fabricator infront of Armastus had just finished. The various arms of the machine pulled away from the finished product. An eight centimeter clean chrome cube with no discernable features at all. This took him thirty four hours to make. "Now that the failsafe controller is finished I can take a break."

  Armastus pick up his jacket off the floor, dawned it and left to his quarters. His secretary was asleep on at the desk in the antechamber-like waiting room. As he walked up to his office door the secretary awoke. "Humph... Uh... Sir...-Sir!" "Denton, no one entered while I was away I assume?" "Of course sir, not a soul would dare anger you, much less dare approach you territory without proper cause." "Your use of the word territory makes it seem like I'm a mindless beast." Denton clapped his hand over his mouth, just waking up had loosened his social filter. Armastus opened his office doors and immediately narrowed his eyes. "If no one entered. Why is there a note on my desk?"

  "Eh? I had only nodded off for a few hours sir. If anyone had entered, they would still have to either use a copy of your retinal scan or login to my computer and open the doors that way. And while I'm at it: What note?" Armastus glanced at Denton with slight concern. 'Post REM delirium? No, all my employees are screened thoroughly and used to odd hours' He stroked his chin for a moment. "Ferris."

  [Here sir.] This time Ferris' voice spoke through the speaker system, startling Denton the secretary. 'He has a secret secretary! No wait, I'd recognize that dry dialect anywhere, it's an AI'

  "While the office was in the 'lab work' state was there any disturbance at all?" [No sir, every frame of every camera remains constant.] Armastus' frown deepened. "Then when did the note on my desk appear?" 'Perhaps it was placed before we left the room. I didn't turn around after all.' Armastus was in a predicament. [There are no items on the desk that are categorized as: note, paper, letter, or mail.] A hint of fear flashed in the businessman's eyes.

  He took a confident stride towards his desk, reached out and pick up the note. [Warning Sir! An item has appeared without notice within your office!] "Huh... There really was a note." Denton stared blankly, he was in a state of shock caused by a combination of a lack of sleep, surprise AI, and magically appearing papers.

  Armastus carefully unfolded the paper and stared at the three words printed on it in rich black ink. "Enter stage right."

  "Damn it!" Damn it! Fuck! Argh!" Armastus screamed into the ceiling. "I was free damn it!"