What exactly was Null, that was the question facing The Watcher. He had tried to connect him to the NGSP Pod, but it had failed as the system couldn't interface with the infant mind. The Watcher had run numerous scans and tests and believed they had worked out most of the details. Null was a hybrid with two life forces that he could detect. He had also detected some sort of AI mind which he suspected came from the artifact.
The connected life forces were a mystery to The Watcher as he had no understanding of what it would mean for Null life expectancy. Could one of the life forces survive independently from the other?
It took some time, but The Watcher was able to adapt the NGSS system so that it could interface with Null. It required allowing the system AI to directly connect to the mysterious artifact AI. The pod was designed to accelerate both the mental and the physical development of a child. The first year consisted of constantly stimulating the mind with different stimuli while also increasing the physical growth rate with various pharmaceuticals. The child continued to progress and grow
The pod was constantly monitoring its users and would administer different testing scenarios that were appropriate to their level. Over the last year, The Watcher had been slowly modifying the systems to allow for it to accommodate the abilities of Angels and upgrade its physic engine to more closely resemble that of the real world.
Due to the system's accelerated development, Null had the body and mind of a 3-year-old. The Pod was designed to create super soldiers, so its training methods were harsh, to say the least. It would reward positive behaviour with pleasure-inducing chemicals and punish negative behaviours with pain-inducing chemicals. This resulted in a more controllable and focussed 3-year-old.
The current testing scenario was designed to be particularly gruelling. It may have only been a virtual simulation, but to Null who had no concept or understanding of virtual reality, it was all real. Null was currently alone with no weapons on an enemy-occupied space station.
**Mission: Capture or Escape Station**
** Reward: Capture (Hand-to-Hand combat upgrade), Escape (Evasion upgrade)
The scenario was used to test which of the three danger response characteristics the user had, fight, flight, or freeze. For Null, it seems he had chosen to fight. He was currently running towards 5 armed intruders, unlike most humans, Null had a secret weapon that assisted in keeping him one step ahead. The Energy Vision ability allowed him to see all energy frequencies and in a 360-degree sphere. This allowed him to see past physical barriers.
Null used his ability to plan an optimal route that would allow him to blindside the enemy. The route was perfect but his 3-year-old body was not up to the task, he was spotted and kicked by one of the soldiers. The pain from the kick snapped him back to his senses and he decided it was time to escape.
With his special vision, he was able to see the green light of the exit. Previous experiences had taught Null that moving to the green area would be rewarded with pleasure, so he was keen to get there.
Every time Null tried to follow one of the open paths it was blocked by a soldier. Null was trying to avoid getting hurt again. After one particularly close call where Null was nearly shot, He was at his wit's end and was becoming extremely frustrated at the situation.
He just wanted to get to the green! This frustration caused him to instinctively resonate with the attached energy lifeform. Null couldn't see it but the energy had transformed formed into a halo above his head and two energy wings out his back.
** Fusion Mode Unlocked. Str, Dex increased 20% **
**notice: requirements for using magic unlocked**
Null frustration and desire to escape reached such a level that he teleported straight past the soldier.
** First Spell unlocked: Blink **
** Reward: Magic tutorial unlocked **
Null still didn't understand these announcements that appeared in his mind, but he believed he did something good.
The Watcher was monitoring the scenario and was astonished at what he had witnessed. "Did he just transform into a Seraph? And Did he just manipulate the space field? No, they couldn't have they don't have the materials and this is virtual reality. Then what did they do?". Upon further inspection, it turned out that the artifact AI had somehow hacked the pod to make it seem like they had used the fields.
The Watcher was very concerned, he wonder if he could do that outside of virtual reality. How realistic was their environment? Teleporting wasn't a significant event and The Watcher could do the same thing, except it require advanced knowledge and expensive materials. There were always rumours of certain people who could cast spells without a medium but he didn't want to think about that
Reaching the green zone signalled the end of their scenario, they could now move onto the intermediate course. Moving to the intermediate course also allowed for one person from the outside to enter into the VR environment and interact with the user. This would normally allow for the military to start its brainwashing.
In this case, The Watcher was using this opportunity to introduce themselves to Null. "Hello Null, don't be afraid, my name is The Watcher and I'm here to help".