Battleship Essex, Dublin System
September 1st, 819 A.S.
James Barett was reading a book. It was about the concept of transhumanism- humans becoming, as it were, more than human. Whether it be living longer, extending one's own abilities or something else entirely, it had been happening for a long time. It had started with clothes, the book had said. Early humans had more body hair than a modern man, but as they lost hair, winters became harder to deal with. Clothes were, the book said, an extension of the way a human body naturally keeps warm. There was a long history following the same pattern- swords, telephones, computers, starships- all extensions of natural abilities.
The next chapter was about increased longevity. Humans, read James, have always been living longer. The steadily increasing life expectancies had started to steady around the early 21st century AD, eventually stagnating. The reason for this, the author reasoned, was the resources involved in caring for the elderly. It quoted statistics, saying that, on average, it costs seven and a half thousand Sirius Credits (818 estimate) per year to care for an elderly man from retirement at 65 to death at an average of 90. There was a picture of an old man's medicine cabinet- many different kinds of drugs, increasing as the patient got older. If an average man in Liberty decided he wanted to live longer than the usual 80-90 years, not only would he have to take too many drugs for his faltering sight to distinguish, but also his insurance premium (or, in some cases, direct medical bills) would get higher and higher, until he and his family could not afford. Bretonia's National Health Service had gotten around problems such as these by simply refusing to keep people alive past a certain age, leading them to the same financial problems as the man in Liberty. In the end, the author had written, it was simply too difficult to achive immortality by biological means.
The next chapter invoked a common staple of badly-written popular fiction; using technology to outsmart Death. However, the book used most of the same fiction as a warning against using technology- replacing human emotion with cold machine logic would eat away at the things that made humans what they are. And anyway, it was illegal in most of Sirius and even where there wasn't much of a 'law' to speak of, people were still superstitious and would band together to destroy anything they deemed to be 'evil', even by their standards.
The following chapter saw the other side of the 'man meets machine' argument- technology is a vital part of the lives of nearly everyone in Sirius. In fact, an alien visitor to a typical city, using Planet Manhattan as an example, would remark that rather than having their own free will, human beings are controlled either by black polymer boxes attached to the side of the head or by two wires that connect into the brain through the ears and control them via audio. There was also a snide remark about starships being mistaken for the dominant species in Sirius, but it was a joke that had stopped being funny before it was even about starships.
There was a point to this long rambling, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind.
Junction Base, Kansas System
What Catherine Herstal was about to do was illegal nearly everywhere, but that didn't matter. (Oh, I remember now! But if I told you, that would spoil the whole thing.)
'Angel of Death' was the codename for a highly secret experiment by the Liberty Government (Who else?) that involved creating a fusion of man and machine. It had started by adding cyborg elements to a human test subject- enhanced reflexes, eyesight and connecting the brain directly to a ship. The tests up to this point had been huge successes- the subject performed well in combat training, outclassing LNSEALS and Delta Force veterans in the process. But when the subject's brain had been linked directly to the Neural Net, the subject had difficulty adapting to the limitless knowledge that was stored there. Difficulty meaning going insane.
At first, the subject (different retellings vary on whether it was a man or a woman) had been simply distracted, going off on long journeys along the information highways, displaying typical behaviour for people who regurlarly used the Neural Net, whether for recreation, academic research or research for work. But when the subject had been given complete control of a battleship (against the will of the scientists- the high command had pushed for a 'mass-produced' version in time for a potential war against Rheinland, just before the Nomad Wars had kicked into full swing) and performed better than a crew of thousands, the Navy had started to worry. They ordered the project cancelled in case the research fell into enemy hands, which meant killing the subject. Needless to say, they were faced with an impossible task.
The subject escaped into Zone-21, where they were faced with an opposing force too massive for even a battleship. The subject had activated the self-destruct systems, killing themselves and several other personnel.
Officially, the explosion was blamed on the Order.
Catherine had uncovered much of the story from some old drunk on Yanagi Depot who claimed to have been part of the project. After making some calls, she had found substantial evidence that the subject's consciousness had survived the explosion, detached from its original body and looking for a new one.
What Catherine Herstal was about to do was repeat the experiment.
Junction Base, Kansas System
September 2nd, 819 A.S.
Catherine polished the steel that now made up the frame of her right arm. From the shoulder downwards, cables intertwined with steel framing, passed through mechanized elbow joints capable of impressive feats of strength and ended with the hand; an arrangement of wires and servos that controlled five powerful mechanical fingers, each ending in powerful electromagnets that she could activate with a thought. The forearm was detachable and could be fitted with anything Catherine needed- a weapon, plasma cutters, anything.
Catherine felt satisfied with the arrangment, but it still needed testing.
Battleship Derby, Leeds System
James was awoken by the stern voice of a Lieutenant shouting at the other Ensigns to get up and scramble to intercept a Kusari raiding party that had shown up in Leeds. He got his flight suit on and ran for his Templar, which was in the docking bay. James clambered in, just as the fuel line had been disconnected. Checking his helmet, he gave the signal that he was ready to be deployed. The bay was sealed and the air was vented. After his fighter was turned downards, the doors opened and the electromagnetic rails launched his ship out into space, without making a sound.
Just before he left the confines of the battleship's shield array, James flicked on his own and engaged the engines. A Kusari battleship, flanked by several destroyers, gunships and fighters was pounding the Derby.
"This is Barett, reporting in," he said to any friendly pilot who would listen.
"Ensign Barett, this is the HMS Kingsclere," came the voice on the toher end, from the captain of a Bretonian destroyer, "We're being swarmed by fighters and our flak cannons are being taken out by bombers. We need assistance immediatley!"
This was James' chance. Engaging the afterburners, James charged at the swarm of Chimaeras that surrounded the Kingsclere. James waited for the right moment, and let loose with a Sunslayer torpedo. the fast-moving projectile exploded after colliding with a bomber, instantly destroying it and disabling several other enemy ships.
"Good work, ensign," said the captain of the Kingsclere.
The battle lasted for several hours, but eventually reinforcements came in to drive the Kusari ships back. Their battleship had been heavily damaged and left virtually undefended, making a clean escape difficult but not impossible.
James returned to his quarters after debriefing. Space was in short supply among most battleships, at least in Bretonia, so James was the only pilot in the room, which he shared with a Second Technician. Second Techincian was the second-lowest rank on most large ships, the role of which was to make sure the officers could rely on the vending machines to dispense tea rather than toxic waste, but because of numerous costcutting methods, James had said, nobody could really tell the difference.
The technician often told James that, in the days of old before there were even Jump Drives, before the War of Sol, huge mining ships that flew between the planets carrying valuable ores mined from asteroids were where the technicians really shone. On long journeys that took many months, sometimes even years, a technician's job was important for 'morale reasons'. James didn't know much pre-Sirius history that wasn't to do with battles, but he was certain the technician was making things up.
James settled down in his bunk and started reading his book again.
The book was one of those books that could waffle on for hours, days or even weeks (depending on the reader- in James' case it was minutes) and still remain interesting. This chapter delved into the realm of conspiracy theories and, by an improbable (to people who have no idea how to write fiction, at least) coincidence, was about the Angel of Death project.
(You read about this in the last chapter, so I'll skip this bit.)
James was intrigued by this. Reading further into the subject...
Yeah, it may actually have happened, the subject's consciousness may have escaped into the Neural Net...
You read it before.
James put the book down and went to clean the old Webley revolver his father had left for him.
James was on shore leave on Planet New London.
The shuttle dropped him off at Floor 101 of the Winchester Tower.
The Winchester Tower wasn an immense structure of plexiglass and high-strength metals, rising from five hundred metres below ground to an altitude where the stars were visible, at around fifty kilometres. It was, in many ways, a self-contained city; there were huge shopping centres towards the top, several offices where the Winchester Corporation was based and massive industrial complexes that operated to keep the tower running smoothly. Nearly the entire New London branch of the Winchester Corporation lived and worked in the tower, and several schools, both public and private, meant that entire generations could live their whole lives in the tower without leaving, except for universities.
The outside of the tower was quite different from the usually well-polished interior- three centuries of torment by acid rain, high winds and the occasional crash meant that the exterior was in a constant state of apparant disrepair, with crews working around the clock on various parts of the tower. Shuttle bays made up a large part of the outside as well, filled to the brim with the personal craft of anyone who had reason to leave the tower.
James hopped off the orbital shuttle and made his way to his mother's apartment. He knocked at the door and waited.
The door opened to reveal his mother, Jacqueline Barett. She was in her fifties- her hair still had its brown colour but her face was beginning to wrinkle and her blue eyes now seemed duller than before.
"Oh, James! I was wondering when you next had shore leave. Did you get the package?" she asked, referring to the old Webley revolver.
"It's in my quarters," he said.
"Oh, good," replied his mother, "Why don't you come on in for a cup of tea?"
Junction Station, Kansas System
Catherine's transformation continued.
She opened her new eyes and looked at herself in the mirror. Both eyes retained their natural appearence, even though they were much improved. Letting the surgical gown fall to the ground, she examined how she had changed in the past two days. From the shoulder downwards, her right arm was like that of a machine- wires and tubes intertwined with a polished steel frame. Picking up a spray can in her left arm, she painted the metal snow white to match her skin.
That was when her new eyes began to take effect. Using the zoom finction and the perfect focus to ensure that evcery detail was done perfectly, she put down the can. The heads-up display read out data about her surroundings directly into her brain. Turning her head back to the mirror, she looked at herself again.
She looked so different without her glasses. Her glasses had helped her greatly over the years, but they couldn't be adjusted across the EM spectrum or provide displays for any purpose.
Catherine got dressed and headed back to her workshop.
The next stage could begin.
Catherine's mind had been wandering freely in the Neural Net for some time when she recieved a message from an anonymous person.
::INCOMING TRANSMISSION::
::OPEN MESSAGE::
Comm ID: [ERROR: DATA MISSING]
Target: Catherine Herstal
Subject: I know.
I know what you are.
And I will destroy you.
Meet me at the endeavourgc.net forums as sson as you read this.
There can only be one.
::TRANSMISSION END::
Catherine knew that there were only two people who could possibly find out about it. James, who, as far as Catherine knew, had no idea, and the original Angel of Death.
For the first time in her life, Catherine was truly terrified.
She headed to the Endeavour Gaming Community forums.
Endeavour was Catherine's usual Neural Net hideout. It was focused on an old fantasy game called 'Free Trader', which was based around roleplaying in a world similar to early 21st Century Earth. It was quite deep, with all sorts of commodities that could be traded, jobs that could be done and a wide range of vehicles, from small trucks up to massive container ships that sailed across the oceans. There were some other games that were popular, such as Dark Dungeons Online and Counter-Attack: Origin.
When the page had loaded, Catherine felt a second presence there. It was different from all the other users; this one was something like she had become.
Oh crap.
"I see you are here," said a deep, booming voice.
"Who... who are you?" replied Catherine, stuttering with fear.
"I am the first, the last and the only. And yet, you seek to challenge me, drive me out and let others ascend to this higher plane of existence," boomed the voice. Catherine strengthened her resolve. If this became a fight for her life, she would need all the strength her mind could give her.
"The only?" Catherine brought herself to burst into laughter, "You've already failed at that!"
"YOU DARE MOCK ME, AZRAEL, THE ANGEL OF DEATH?" came its reply.
"Look what the Neural Net has done to you. With no physical form that can be destroyed or contained, yo've turned into a monster. I've seen people who will torture people emotionally, even drive them to suicide using the anonymity of the Neural Net as a barrier, and you're no better than them!"
"YOU FOOL. WE SHALL TAKE THIS ELSEWHERE,"
Suddenly, Catherine was somewhere else. A hellish landscape stretched out in front of her for infinity, with seas of lava and impossible rock formations. In front of her stood a monster of flesh and steel, a goat-like demon with a mechanical leg and a missile launcher for an arm.
An evil laugh boomed across the landscape. Catherine looked down, and saw an old-style revolver and a short sword.
Not having any idea as to what was going on, she picked them up and charged.
Battleship Derby, Leeds System
September 6th, 819 A.S.
James got back from his patrol and went to his quarters to rest. He checked his PDA to sea what Catherine was up to.
Quote:iWin7.62 In-game: Quarter-Death: Battles
James had some downtime, so he unfolded the PDA's keyboard to join the game.
"This game requires a password to join," said the text on the screen.
Thinking Catherine was just playing with a friend of hers, James put down the PDA and went back to his book.
Inside the Neural Net
Catherine, or rather, her Quarter-Death: Battles avatar, was locked in combat with Azrael.
She was dangerously low on ammunition for her revolver and was being beaten down brutally. Worse, she had used up her last med-kit.
If she died in the game, Azrael would destroy her completely.
As she was blown back with one health point left, she realized something. This guy has no idea how to set up an anti-cheat system.
Diving behind a rock, Catherine activated the developer console. It appeard in the corner of her vision, displaying debug information.
Catherine thought as hard as she could the cheat codes. The console readings said exactly what she needed to win. Godmode ON
Magic Bullet ON
Catherine charged forward, stronger than ever. There was only one round left in the revolver. She pulled the trigger and prayed silently, to any god who was listening.
Someone was.
Azrael fell down on his knees, about to die for the last time.
"YOU CHEATED!" he bellowed, unable to do anything else.
"So did you. Nobody's supposed to play as the boss on this map," came her calm reply.
"YOU CANNOT STOP MY... MY... DESTINY!" boomed his voice as his demon form began dissolving into pixels.
"Not your destiny," said Catherine as she prepared to leave, "Humanity's destiny,"
As the demon exploded into a flurry of code, Catherine turned around and faded out. Player iWin7.62 has left the game.
Junction Station
Catherine awoke in her own body again. The short, plump body of someone who spent more time with computers and machines than people. Not the body of a secret agent who killed demons 'for the lulz'.
Catherine began realize the magnitude of what she had done.
Not only had she 'ascended' to a potential form of computerised immortality, she had ensured the safety of all others that would follow her.
It was time to prepare for them.
Planet Gammu, Omicron Kappa
September 10th, 819 A.S.
Catherine had achieved the greatest thing in human history.
For several days she had worked, modifying the AI drone to accomodate a human body. The workshop was built for her by the machines that lived on Gammu, with all the facilities and resources she needed for her and others to become the new gods and godesses of Sirius.
The ships were to be their physical presence, at least in space. On stations, they would use their human bodies. Otherwise, they would divide their time between surfing the Neural Net and the Open World.
The Open World was to be their private retreat, a world they could shape for themselves and live out their wildest imaginations in.
But for now, Catherine had to wait. They would come eventually. But she would be ready.
She settled into the pod that would hold her body here on Gammu. She was working to create a system to create new biological bodies, but progress was slow because of the machine's limited knowledge of the human body. But that was no matter.
Catherine lay back as the wires probed into her spine, linking her directly to the Neural Net. After gaining her bearings, she directed her mind into the drone's CPU. Adapting to the new body was a strange experience. The visual sensors detected she was in the modified hangar on the surface. Assuming direct control of the facility, she opened the doors and started the drone's engines.
The Age of Mankind was over.
The Age of Gods was beginning.
![[Image: rPQpZ1j.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/rPQpZ1j.jpg)