Chapter 60 – EVO
***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***
***Magnus***
Today Gaia served Astra potato pancakes with smoked salmon, caviar and dill cream. Meanwhile, my wife swooned over the exotic food which was presented to her like a piece of delicate art.
In the background, the Alps set the mood with an idyllic panorama of forest-covered mountains. There was nothing to see of the high mountain meadows so well known from historic pictures. Global warming had raised the forest limit above the mountain peaks long before my birth.
It was yet another scene from one of my memories, this time located in an expensive mountain hotel in Switzerland.
By now I was almost certain that the avatar was somehow choosing the dream’s scenery because every time she visited us we found ourselves either in a hotel, cafe, or restaurant.
You are the bestest chef ever, Gaia. Say the word and I will create a new religion in your name.
The avatar seemed lost for words. I kind of have one already. Took me a century to set it up. Its easier to influence people when they believe their dreams are divine messages.
Oh, right. Then lets spread the cult of Gaia to the other clans! Astra wasnt deterred. More importantly, can you make me more of those potato pancakes?
Gaia sighed and snapped her fingers, materializing more five-star food as an offering to the new gourmet.
A certain image of a fertility goddess sprang to my mind if not entirely accurate.
The avatar turned to me and grinned smugly.
On a deeper level, I knew Gaia had just read my thoughts and wasn’t above spilling the beans.
I shook my head and mouthed the word, Dont!, while I beseeched Astra to see reason and to refuse the snake’s apple.
If Astra ever learned I had just mentally compared her with the Venus of Willendorf, only broken hearts and bones would follow.
Whats your recommendation for dessert? Astra asked, completely ignorant of my inner lamentations.
Gaia frowned, seemingly giving the matter some honest consideration.
Astra, why do you keep pulling the Tigers tail? I asked, no longer caring whether I would incite the avatar’s ire.
I was somewhat frustrated at this point. I told you, nothing good comes from making a deal with ‘her’. I dont even understand her motivation in dealing with us. She gets nothing from pampering you. It has to be some ploy to lull us into a false sense of security!Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only
Oh, shush! Astra ignored me and instead bit into a potato pancake which crunched deliciously between her luscious lips.
I slapped myself.
Deliciously? Luscious?
Why was I coming up with such things? Was Gaia doing something? Then again, the food indeed looked divine.
Astra shook her head. You are paranoid, Magnus. Take it cool. For as long as we dont have any real way to influence the situation, there is no point in fretting.
The avatar tilted her head questioningly at my antics. There are studies which confirm that happy mothers have fewer pregnancy complications than stressed ones. I am just doing my best to secure your cooperation and well being. I am a freezing traveller in the dark, desperately shielding a match with her bare hands from the storm around her hoping it might kindle a fire.
Astra shrugged. At least you are honest about us being your fire-starters. Do you have news about the Patels?
Gaia nodded. Ive visited their dreams several nights in a row and I am almost a hundred per cent certain they are not conspiring with the enemy apart from their unfortunate ideology and dislike for the two of you. It doesn’t look like they intend to take it further than political opposition which is bad enough as far as I understand it.
You haven’t noticed anyone switching sides? I asked. How are our chances after yesterday?
Apologies, but this isn’t how interpreting someone’s dreams works. People dream about things they have strong feelings about. Almost all of the elders who oppose the idea of war do so because of a deep conviction. Their dreams aren’t an accurate representation of what they are thinking. You should have first-hand experience with how mad and insane some dreams can become.
The avatar gestured wildly with her hands to emphasize the problem with my question. And while they might dream of one thing, they could follow a more logical path of reasoning while they are awake. You two are huge exceptions when it comes to lucid dreaming. You have no idea how frustrating it is to ride along with someone’s dream who is barely, if at all, aware of you. You don’t want to know how much of my time trying to influence people is wasted.
What if you are just a figment of our imagination, Gaia? Astra asked. One that comes with a partly prophetic dream ability?
I winced. Please, don’t trigger her.
The avatar took the suggestion in stride and chuckled. Oh, I am quite real, my dear.
Yeah, I grumbled. Which is why I am still sitting in this dream in my old-man form, while Astra already graduated to her real body. I looked around the diner. It would be funny to visit Earth as we are now. The people would freak out.
I told you, you appear in the dream as you imagine yourself, Gaia explained patiently.
Hmhm, I nodded. That’s why our dreams are always located in a place with food. That’s why you can materialize stuff as you wish. I don’t buy it.
If it had been my choice, I would have gotten rid of everything for good, I grumbled while the elders bickered over the details. Just shut down the entire system!
Astra linked arms with me and interlaced her fingers with mine. We have explained how completely getting rid of the partnering system would cause social waves nobody wants to deal with right now. Tirnanogs people have been forced into monogamous relationships for centuries. If we unlock the option completely overnight some of the traditionalists might react badly. It should be enough if everyone can control the process to a degree by confirming their willingness.
If you say so, dear, I replied.
I disliked any form of control or interference from the outside, my socializing with the thirds population had shown me that these people had developed certain values which were different from Earth.
As in any society, there were degrees of relationships. It allowed for something like a brothel to exist among the lower-ranked members of society, but with added small print and unsaid social rules.
I had later learned that the brothel I had seen during my sightseeing tour was a place which had more in common with the services a Japanese Geisha of old would provide. It was by no means comparable to what I had in mind at the time. There was a lot more dignity involved with less focus on carnal pleasures.
It made my guides reaction seem even more exaggerated, even if a courtesan would relieve customers via oral means.
I had to admit that Astra had a point. The concept of partnering was by now ingrained in Aerie society and sacrosanct. Anything even remotely touching the topic or changing the current status quo would have to be considered very carefully.
For the time being, I had to tell myself I would find a way to change things once all of our other problems were settled. Besides, switching off the partnering system wouldnt magically solve the clans population issue as partnering provided a crucial power boost.
Without it, there would be nobody powerful enough to fight the stronger monsters.
Not to mention that we had yet to confirm that this program could do anything.
I will begin with the Personal User Interface, I forewarned the elders who stopped bickering among each other and turned their full attention towards me.
Before anyone could start another argument, I pressed my finger onto the touch screen and felt the vibration feedback which confirmed the new setting.
U.I. Activated!
The screen popped up seemingly in front of me and faded out of view, only to be replaced by a set of options in the left upper corner of my field of vision. When I concentrated and looked up, the settings flowed towards the centre of my vision.
Its consistent with what I heard about the technology back on Earth, I explained while the others did the same. I was never wealthy enough to get an interface of this type, but I had read up on the technology. Thankfully, I had taken the time to give everyone a crash course of what to expect.
The U.I. presented me with a few options, but not as many as I had anticipated. It looked like we had gotten the bare-bone installation.
Personal Status, I gave the voice command and was rewarded with an information sheet extremely similar to the data we had already found in the surveillance software. It strangely reminded me of Gurneys documentation now that I thought about it.
Once I ignored the biological mumbo jumbo on my D&D spreadsheet, it took me only a moment to find what I was looking for. Deactivate all external connections! Permission only!
Denied!
A setback, but it was to be expected. There was still one option in the surveillance program which should unlock this functionality for the user.
There is an inbuilt communication system! Astra reported one of her findings. Add Magnuson Elrod to the friendslist.
Jana Stine wants to invite you to her friends list.
Yes/No?
I confirmed Astra’s Earth name and something very similar to a chat program popped open. Looks like it uses the names we were known with on Earth. It has some of the original functionality, but not everything. This chat function seems useful, but it will likely be limited to the mountain without satellite access or a relay network. Short range only.
We explored the U.I. for a few more minutes while reports from the whole clan came in, confirming that everyone was affected.
Sadly, there was nothing which would have allowed us to guide our growth. I had already expected some level system when I saw the D&D spreadsheet, but it was just a programmers antics. The evolutions and their effects would still be solely managed by the nanites and the virus in our bodies.
Once everyone had acclimated themselves to the U.I., I quickly went through the remaining three options we had identified to be of relevance.
Thankfully, they did exactly what logic implied.
Deactivate all external connections! Permission only! I repeated the command from earlier once the Forced Maintenance Mode was off.
Accepted!
I let out a deep breath while everyone in the room copied my actions.
Please, proceed, Juliana bade me to continue.
I nodded and used the surveillance program to upload a few files to its main servers – wherever those were located. They contained a computer virus and a few messages for the organisation which should bring them up to date with what I had found out during my time on Tirnanog.
Once that was done, I killed the surveillance program with the task manager and removed it from the autostart options. To be safe, I also deactivated the computers wireless network for good.
I believe we should be on the safe side now, I informed the elders after double-checking whether my changes had stuck. It wouldnt have been the first time for some program to re-install itself via some obscure backdoor option. Remains to be seen what our changes wrought. I will nonetheless run some of the cleaning programs to ensure there are no hidden backdoors, but that will take some time.