Chapter Three: Processing

  The new document glows faintly as I press my thumb print next to my signature, then it folds itself into a small grey cube with my bindrune—a combination of the Elder Futhark runes which make up my name, which I created for myself—etched onto its surface. I manage to grab the cube from the air, but even as I hold it, it keeps folding itself until it is too small to see. I giggle despite myself at the thought of it being stored in some fractal cosmic filing cabinet. The dragon grins toothily at me, then with a flash, I am alone in an empty room, save for a little green sprout which is growing straight out of the floor in the center of the room.

  As I bend down to look at it, the sprout surges, growing wildly upward, surreal and alive, shoving aside the floor tile and pushing against the ceiling. I watch in awe as roots twist and coil around the walls, cracks forming everywhere in the structure around me. Just before the trunk was large enough to push me against the wall a hallway began to form in the wood at its base, and damn, that’s an invitation that no gamer could ignore. The air grows rich and earthy, now full with a smell that transports me back to the woods I used to explore in my childhood, the ones that are long since gone now... My breath catches as I reach out, fingers brushing against bark which is rough and sturdy under my hand. It’s so real… the sensation makes me shiver.

  I turn around, looking for Axiom, and freeze.

  Because I am now standing at the edge of a cliff. I press my back against the tree, the wild ocean roars below, waves smashing against jagged rocks. The now salty air stings my nostrils, mixing with the scent of the tree, and the sounds of the crashing waves is deafening. I feel like I might lose my footwork and fall, the immensity of the moment taking my breath away, I try to keep my balance against the tree, and then—a cough rings out in the air next to me.

  I turn sharply, still holding onto the tree, and see her.

  Axiom, no longer a void, but a woman, around my age, dressed in a dark three-piece suit. Her crimson tie stands stark against her snow-white hair. She smiles mischievously, her eyes swirling violet nebulae, and gestures down the hallway in the tree.

  I stammer, “It, It’s already started?”

  She laughs, the sound musical and disarming, and slips her arm through mine. “You’re still in the same room,” she says, leading me forward without a care for the danger of the cliff, “You’ll need to log into Endymion before we can really get started. But now that you’re MINE, I can use your neural implant to edit your experience however I like.” She winks, tugging me toward the wooden archway.

  We walk down the hallway, it only takes a moment, and I trail my fingers along the bark, no part of me doubting that it is really there. I take the time to take note of the woman next to me, her freckles are unfair, Axiom definitely accessed my personal preferences to make this avatar. Eventually the hallway opens in a huge internal space and inside was… another tree? Unlike the one I just exited however, this one was metallic, unbelievably huge, and contained within a cathedral-esk space.

  The stained glass bathed everything in ever-shifting hues and I could now make out a large crowd of people who were slowly making their way towards the base of the tree itself. The tree was definitely not organic, it was some kind of huge machine, I could just make out that the leaves were actually intricate solar panels, the floor was glass so I could see the roots were actually pipes which must have been pumping coolant as well as massive cables probably providing electricity.

  The air in here is cool, and along with the buzz of a crowd’s murmuring there is a faint hum of current vibrating beneath me. Axiom continues to pull me forward, and as soon as we enter the crowd, more people begin to appear behind me coming from their own entry points. I couldn’t tell how many people were in here, but the flow forced me to keep walking. Axiom just smiles when I look at her, leading me past those who were taking their time before completing their pilgrimage… before logging into Endymion. Since I don't have to pay too much attention to where I am going, I get pretty distracted watching the others around me.

  There must be hundreds of people in here! I see people saying goodbye in small groups, some who seem to have their families or friends to see them off, a few with only a spouse or in one case, a dude with a pet pangolin on a leash… oddly out of all of the goodbyes, it was the pangolin guy who seemed the most broken up about what comes next, judging by his tearful goodbyes.

  I see people at the end of their ropes, people who look dazed and lethargic, some of them are drastically under or overweight while others are wracked with injuries they were either born with or which they may never heal from. Some looked to have nearly destroyed their bodies and minds with substances, their flesh sloughing off their bones… while still others were very visibly mentally ill, some most likely through severe trauma, and a few far enough down the spectrum that it was obvious they could not take care of themselves in our world. There was one thing most of them had in common though, their eyes were hollow, their movements robotic, as if every step they took toward the tree was both an act of hope and resignation at once.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  As I got closer to the base of the mechanical marvel I was able to see many places in the trunk where people were sitting down, it looked like they were plugging straight into the tree? Each depression seemed to be uniquely shaped, fitting each person almost like a glove… I giggle, it looks to me like some kind of elven ‘sung out of the wood’ aesthetic… from here I can just make out cables attached the implant sites of each person, even this far away I could see the faint glow from the cables that pulsated in a rhythm that looked much like a heartbeat.

  Axiom looks back at me as she is still excitedly pulling me along, “Just a little further Leod!” Her enthusiasm is infectious, and despite my anxiety I felt a flutter of giddy anticipation building in my chest.

  Now at the base of the tree, which looms over me like Yggdrasil itself, there were not too many more people between me and the alcove Axiom was guiding me towards. The tree's trunk was massive, the bark-like surface was rough and made of many interlacing chunks, but also riddled with intricate circuitry patterns that shimmered with a soft bioluminescence. I tried to stand on my tip-toes so I could see the people ahead of me logging in, but there were too many people in the way still so I couldn't see the process fully.

  Before I could try another group caught my attention… because damn, I never thought I would see someone restrained like Hannibal had been, but at a connection port a few to the right of me was some kind of prisoner who was very securely chained to a wheeled upright stretcher, and who was wearing a leather muzzle which also acted as a gag on his head. The sight shocked me, but one of the police officers had a bandage on his hand, so clearly the man was a biter. The prisoner was actually accompanied by several police officers, as well as someone who seemed to be a judge, and an older woman who was absolutely in tears.

  Honestly she looked like she had lost her reason to live more than many of those making their way towards the tree, and what little I caught in the tumult of the crowd around me spoke of dark deeds and just punishments. I am shocked by this, and I stumble while imagining some kind of punishment realm that the NewU AI company rented out to the government… a digital purgatory for those deemed unfit for society… the idea of an AI administered hell sent a shiver down my spine. Axiom sees me looking and says, “Don’t worry about that, Leod, Endymion has a little bit of everything.” She winks and gives me a tug to get me moving again. I try to shake off the thought but the concept lingers like a shadow as I watch the prisoner struggle as they get plugged in. His body stops instantly the moment the cable is connected, and the calm that spreads across his face is more unnerving to me than his rage.

  As we move closer, I notice something strange. The people leaving the chairs and walking past me in the other direction look... lighter. Freer, maybe. But their eyes are too calm, like the light in them had been dimmed. Am I going to look like that too when Axiom and its team are piloting me?

  Finally, and all too soon, Axiom and I are standing as part of a small circle of people who are lined up for the connection. The ergonomic depression in the tree rearranged itself for each person, creating the perfect seat from the bark of the machine tree itself. Coiled around the chair was a long braided cable that was currently plugged into the neural implant of an old man who sat in the chair. He looked peaceful, his eyes closed, a faint smile on his face, as if he had finally found solace. I had used one of these cables before, whenI first logged into The Hub for the setup and linking procedure… It felt like plunging my brain into an ice bath, freezing cold but without the brainfreeze. It was comfortable in a soothing way, but also a wholly alien experience.

  Another step forward now, and uh… man, this process is actually going pretty quick actually, another minute and I’ll be taking one of my last steps on Earth for possibly one hundred years… the first steps of the rest of my life… I’d be thrown into an adventure, a test, which would allow me and maybe even force me to reshape myself. Frak, it would actually hurt me if I failed too… the whole idea of coming out of this machine after six months and having lived a whole life, maybe more than one? I couldn’t fathom it, I hadn’t even managed to fill my thirty four years with meaning… How was I supposed to believe that I would make it to one hundred without going mad or losing interest?

  I could feel my palms getting clammy, my breath coming in short bursts after I kept catching myself holding my breath, the gravity of what I was about to do settling in… This was it, no more rehearsals, no more day dreaming about changing my life, this is the moment I signed up for… and it is terrifying.

  Suddenly, I’m next in line. I watch the woman in front of me as she settles into the chair, her eyes are filled with pain, it looks like she hasn’t slept in years. A solemn looking man is holding her hand, looking at her with worry and love. She takes the cord, hesitates for a moment, and then plugs it into her implant. For a moment her eyes widen, then, a deep breath leaves her, as if the weight of the world is removed from her shoulders. Within a minute of calm breathing she rises from the seat, her eyes clear and her posture lighter. She smiles at the man beside her and takes his hand as they walk away. I can’t help but feel dread... Her movements were too smooth, her gaze too calm. She was just a puppet now, and god, was I really ready to become one too? My legs felt rooted to the ground as the realization dawned… I was next.

  Oh god, I saw that girl's soul get replaced! Watched the very moment she gave up control to a machine! How can this be safe? I can’t, I don’t, I…!

  Axiom takes my face in her hands, smiling at me and says, “Don’t worry Leod, I’ll take good care of her body, and yours too.” She places one hand on my back and leads me to sit comfortably in the chair. I just stare at her, letting her move me, trusting her to take care of me, even as the back of my mind screamed in terror, even as ten or so people all stared at me, just like I had the woman before me… all of them wearing the same hungry and frightened expression.

  As I sit, and hold the cable in my hand, I feel like I am falling down an endless pit, my world spinning around me, my inner self proclaiming the end of times, howling that we would never be able to take this back! It rages about giving our reins to a machine, about existing in an illusion, about giving up on life!

  I take a deep breath, just staring at the beautiful cosmic “woman” I was about to hand my world over to, her features showing… anticipation? It strikes me just how much she seemed to be awaiting my log-in. Before I can think about it, I take a deep breath, connect the cable to my implant and…