Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Chapter 26: The Capsule

Location: Solar System; Earth; Former City of Brisbane; Magicon Facility

I stare at the capsule in disbelief. It’s finally opening. And all it took were two weird balls of metal. Are those the keys, or is it the converted magical power? “Maja, the capsule is open.” My voice is a little shaky and I almost stumble over my words.

“I'm on it, just give me a few minutes… Wait, what? What’s inside? I wish I could see, stupid tablet hardwired to the computer.”

I snort a short laugh, she really was distracted in the beginning. “The lid is still closed, I can wait if you want.”

Maja is quick to reply. “Yes please, one more minute and I’m done with extracting the files. Decrypting them will take another 30 minutes, but I can do that without the tablet being connected to the computer.”

Exactly one minute later, Maja signals that she is done, and I disconnect the tablet. Now holding it in my hand again, I point the camera at the capsule. Maja makes the sound of a sharp intake of breath, and I can’t keep myself from chuckling. She’s getting more and more human ticks every day.

I slowly slip my free hand into the seam and start to lift the top part. It’s quite heavy, but with a bit more force, it begins to move. There is a double clanging sound and I look around in panic, almost letting the lid fall back down. What was that? My eyes finally settle on the floor, and I sigh in relief.

The balls! I forgot to remove them from the top, oopsie. Anyway, I flip the lid all the way up, and my breath catches in the back of my throat.

It’s not a survivor, but what it is, is just as fascinating. Inside the capsule lays a body, but something is strange. There are no signs of life or any kind of life support system, but somehow the body looks like it was just put into the capsule five minutes ago. The light skin looks completely healthy, and the platinum blonde hair looks freshly washed.

The body looks just perfect, with no scars or blemishes, just smooth skin. I blush at the lack of clothes and quickly look back up at the face. The eyes are closed and if the female nature of the body below the neck hadn’t been obvious before, the face looks clearly feminine. Round cheeks encompass full lips coupled with a small nose.

Something is different with that body, but I just don’t know what… I must have stared at the body for a while, because when Maja tells me that she has decrypted the files, I realize, that 30 minutes have passed.

“That explains it…” The tablet starts playing a video with the Magicon logo at the beginning. “Come on, watch it, it should explain everything.” Her voice is full of excitement, I wonder why.

The logo disappears and the video now shows a platinum blonde woman sitting at a desk. That has me do a double take. My gaze snaps back to the female body lying in the capsule. They are identical! But how is this possible? The woman starts to speak and what she says, leaves me completely flabbergasted.

“Hi, my name is Serena Allen and if you are seeing this, my plan failed and I’m probably dead.” The woman sighs with sadness written all over her face. “When we first got news of Utopia mobilizing for war, I went to my boss here at Magicon and asked him for approval of my idea. Unfortunately, he declined and like everyone else, my job was to create supportive Magitech for the impending war. Magicon stayed strong with their anti-weapon politics throughout the whole war, so we only created supporting tools. Armortec on the other hand boomed with the war effort, but that’s not important here.

“You’re probably asking yourself what my idea was and why my boss declined it at first.”

Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m thinking right now.

“When the war started in full and not that much support stuff was needed anymore, he finally gave me the green light, but that too is not important. What’s important is that if the containment held strong, you should see the partial result right before you inside the capsule in the middle of the room. Just push in some Utility magic and it will open.”

I quickly stop the video. She’s talking like everyone can just throw around Utility magic! Was everyone on Earth a Mage? Oh, and now I know what kind of magic the two balls emit! I continue with the video.

“As you can see, it contains a body… my body. Or at least it looks like me and if everything had worked out, it would have been my body. The body before you is my answer to Song Medical’s longevity potion.

“Created with Magicon’s most advanced robotic Magitech pieces, this body is made to be inhabited by an AI who can control the body just like a human would do. That is the part that worked well. I tested it with multiple AIs, and all of them were able to execute simple movements while inhabiting the body.”

Wait a second, does that mean…? That’s why Maja sounded so excited! If the body still works, Maja can have her own! “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Maja?“

“Oh yes, I am! Come on, watch the end of it, then we can try.” I focus my attention back on the video, Serena is just starting to explain where the issues started.

“While the body worked fine in all aspects, the second part of my plan brought more issues. The idea was to digitize my consciousness and create myself as an AI. This would enable me and other humans after me to live on without the need for food or other necessities. Also, it would let me live on practically forever, as long as someone refills the magic running the body from time to time. The only cost is losing one's magic, as the robotic body isn’t able to hold a magical core.”

Wow, that’s ambitious, turning oneself into an AI to become immortal. From what she said earlier, AIs in her time were not that advanced, probably even dumber than S-57… I guess she would have given everything to meet a fully sentient one like Maja. She’s practically what Serena tried to create minus the part that makes the AI a digital clone of the human.

“The process to digitize myself was a hard one, as I was trying to do it alone and I’m not that good at computer science. My team got bigger for a short time when the Worldender Ship entered the Solar System, as digitizing everyone was one of the ideas the people in power had to ensure the survival of the population. During that time, we made enormous progress on the AI front, but it still wasn’t enough.”

I have to pause the video again. Worldender Ship… Is that what left the whole system in ruins? I can’t imagine a weapon so powerful. Alone the thought of it is scary as hell.

“A bit later the Big Five came up with Project Exodus and the digitizing idea was shelved again. With that, my team was reassigned, and I was asked to pack up and relocate together with Exodus. But I refused, thinking I was too close to achieving my goal. So I stayed behind on Earth and watched the destruction of the Solar System a while later. It was a horrifying sight, let me tell you. At least I’m shielded from the radiation down here. A few years later, my supplies are starting to run out and I’m now filming this video. I’m so close, I can feel it.”

With that, the video ends and leaves me standing there in silence. That woman has my respect. Staying behind to prove that her idea will work… requires balls of steel. Now I do have some concerns with plugging Maja into the body… What if she succeeded, but the body didn’t turn on because the magic stalled or something?

“Uhh Maja, do you really think using Serena’s body as your own is wise?”

“I don’t know, she said if we’re seeing the video this means she failed… so she’s dead, right?”

“You’ve got a point there, but still… Is there a way to power up the body and check?”

“Yeah, there is. It requires the balls again to convert the magic. I’ve got the blueprints of the body. They say the battery is right below the navel, right where the magic core of a Mage is located too. So lay the balls down there and we try to jumpstart her?”

I shrug, it’s worth a shot. Rounding the capsule to collect the balls, I bend down and grab them. Then I lay them down on the body’s stomach and start pushing out my power. It takes all I have, and I sit down in exhaustion. The body still looks the same.

“Is there a way to connect the tablet and do something like a diagnostic?”

“Brilliant, yes there is. Right behind her ear, just like your AI port.”

With that, I grab the tablet and plug it in. The result is immediate. Maja opens a window, and it shows the status of the body. I instantly notice the warning label that indicates that no AI is loaded, and a wave of sadness overcomes me. She didn’t make it in the end. May you rest in peace, Serena!

The power meter shows that the battery is filled to about a quarter of its capacity. I groan, three more full loads of my core to fill the body all the way up. This is going to suck.

I sit back down to recover my magic. It’s been a long time since I was completely empty if I ignore the wild ride that led me to Earth. “It’s going to take a while to fill up the body. I think I’m going to sleep a bit. Wake me if something happens, please.” A random thought crosses my mind. “Oh and do you know what those two magic balls are?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t. But there are a few more encrypted files that I can decrypt and check out while you sleep, I’ll let you know. Goodnight Sara.”

A short nap later, I get back up and push another load of magic through the balls into the body. Halfway there. With nothing else to do besides recovering, I talk with Maja about what she has decrypted so far. Unfortunately, it’s not much and nothing regarding the two balls.

A few hours later, when I’m recovering from the third fill-up run, Maja finally has some news. And news it is!

“I got it. You won’t believe it! Hah, that’s just amazing.”

I jump up in surprise, her excited voice wakes me right up from my dozing. “What is it? You finally cracked the balls’ secret?”

I can literally hear her dusting off her shoulders. “Yeah, of course, I did, I’m the best after all. Those balls are not only simple power converters. That’s just a side effect resulting from their real purpose. Wanna guess what it is?”

I scowl in annoyance. “Come on, don’t keep me in suspense. Just say it! You still want the body, right?”

“Alright, alright, no need to threaten me, chill.” She laughs before continuing. “It’s just so big and I couldn’t resist teasing you a bit. Our two balls here are what they call artificial Artifacts.”

“Wait, Artifacts like those extremely expensive things that can enhance my power?”

“Yeah, but also not quite. I guess those things would be much more expensive in places where magic isn’t that common.”

She pauses for another dramatic effect and I literally play with the thought of ripping her chip out of my head. I am Not patient at the moment.

“What we have here are two artificial Junior ranked Utility magic cores. Meaning that if we can implant one of them next to your Space core, you’ll be able to cast Utility magic too!”

My brain shorts out and my eyes go wide. WHAT? For real? Oh my god, that’s all I have ever wanted. I can’t believe it. I have to steady myself at the edge of the capsule. It’s just too much. All my problems are going to be solved. Maja isn’t kidding me, right?

I lift my jaw from the floor. “You are serious this time, right?” My voice is still shaky, but I think she understood what I said.

“Yeah, I am. This is big. We need to get the body up and running for me, then I can play doctor and expand your magical capabilities.”

She’s right, screw this, I’m not going to wait any longer. Let’s see if my recovered power is enough. Putting my hands down next to the balls – no, magic cores, I start channeling my power again. When I’m empty, I check the tablet again. It was enough, the battery finally shows as filled.

“Okay, now what? How are we doing this?” I hope Maja does know, as I don’t have a clue about how transferring her to the robot works.

“Use the slot behind the ear. In theory, you just take me out and of your head and put me into the slot there. I will be offline for a time, so just wait, please? Let’s say if there is no reaction after an hour you put me back in your slot?”

Now she does sound uncertain. Well, It’s a big step for her. “Okay, I can do that. Don’t worry, you said it yourself. You’re the best! Are you ready?”

Maja confirms and with a deep breath, I reach behind my ear and grab the AI chip. It comes out just as easily as S-57 before. I now hold the only friend I have here with me, in my hand. It’s a weird feeling. I quickly shake it away and proceed with inserting the chip into the robotic body.

Now I just have to wait till she wakes up, as I refuse to think of any other outcome.