"Gweneira Cross!" a blonde researcher greeted Gwen as she came inside the simply decorated office room. "It's an honor to have you come here."
"Mm."
"I'm Reina. I'll be the guide for you during your visit here, in the Center of Consciousness and its Applications," Reina explained. "Can I ask you what brought you here?"
"I want to work on the #008 – 3," Gwen replied immediately. "What else can you tell me about it, that's not on this document?"
Reina took the document, pointed a neon-light at it. It revealed a code that Gwen could make out from behind the paper: A0M3078JGA8. Reina then sat on her computer and quickly inputted something. Gwen couldn't see the keyboard, but she could see which fingers were moving.
'Left pinky, right pinky, right index, left middle, right pinky, right index, right middle, right index, left index, left pinky, right middle…'
Gwen quickly memorized the fingers Reina used to input whatever she inputted.
She compared it to the fingers needed to type in the code and it mostly fit in. The only weird ones were two right pinky on the second and fifth inputs, but Gwen supposed that Reina used her right pinky finger to press '0' instead of using her right ring finger like most others.
But that wasn't important. What was important was what that code was. And Gwen was sure it was a code that revealed who the original owner of that paper was. With this, her relation with Elan would be revealed.
There was a chance that it would be ignored because Elan and her were sisters, but in the worst case, they could doubt her integrity.
Gwen really just wanted to work on the #008 – 3. Her promise to Elan was just a side thing.
'Should I explain myself?' she contained a grimace. 'No, let's hear what she has to say.'
Contrary to Gwen's expectations, Reina simply smiled and continued as if nothing had happened.
"Nothing at the moment, I'm afraid. But I can work something out if you're willing to sign an NDA. Of course, we'll take some extra measures to make sure you fulfill them. Please be understanding." Reina said that part a bit more harshly. "And also… a donation from your person would be much appreciated as well."
'She's willing to look over the matter for a price,' Gwen smiled. 'But it's only so she'll allow me to be part of the research. I'm still not allowed to disclose any information.'
It sucked for Elan, but there was nothing Gwen could do. Perhaps she would be able to relay the info if they met, but if Reina insisted she worked from the facilities, then she could only work from the facilities.
It was uncomfortable and disadvantageous for her, but she was willing to suffer through it to be part of the research.
"Sure," Gwen replied after thinking a bit. "Is two million okay with you?"
Gwen expected Reina to be shocked a bit at least, but the latter replied coolly.
"We accept any and all donations."
'People who work on a non-public Lvl.5 have a skewed sense of money, I guess,' Gwen thought with a sigh. 'Well, two mil isn't much for me. I'll just think of it as payment to be part of the research.'
She arranged for her secretary to deposit two million dollars into the research center's account and proceeded into the documents. The process finished quicker than Gwen expected, as Reina had some NDA agreements on her person. Gwen gave it a quick read, found nothing wrong with it, and signed her name.
"Perfect…" Reina said, stretching. "Now that we're done with the tedious stuff, where should I start… Well, I can tell you one thing about the experiment, or should I say the research on consciousness, is that we've already succeeded in transporting a person's mind. We even prepared a space for them in the digital world called the One World."
Gwen's eyes glittered as she listened.
Reina continued to talk about the early development of the technology, the ways they could influence another's consciousness, the idea of a Deep-dive virtual reality game, the grueling process of building the world, about spirit and the skills, and finally, the risks to the user that they needed to resolve to be successful in the market.
Reina provided many documents and resources on their research and Gwen spent a long time catching up. At the end of it, although her knowledge was with holes, she was knowledgeable enough to work on simple things in the research team.
And normally, she would be happy enough to do that. But Gwen knew that wasn't all. Reina was still hiding many things from her. Heights that Gwen would never be able to reach alone.
The technology and science she was hearing were at least two generations more advanced than what she worked with in her private little research room. Gwen was rich, yes. But no matter how hard she tries, she can never compete with countries. It was the same thing as an individual never being able to own a hadron collider.
Gwen suddenly felt truly indebted to Elan. Her expectations were high from the beginning, but the things she learned exceeded even those. And Reina left her with a promise of more.
'I want to quickly move on to the big things… I'm confident in my abilities, but the research team isn't trustful of me yet. They also don't have high expectations of me.'
To prove herself, Gwen needed to do something useful, instead of what she, or anyone else, would want to work on.
'Although I really want to work on spirit and skills, I need to prove myself first. The easiest way to do that would naturally be this.'
"When are the risks associated with the logins are going to be resolved?" Gwen asked.
"According to our forecast, with all the data we've collected and will collect from the test subjects, a risk-free transportation of the consciousness will be possible only in a year. It's a bit difficult now, since the subjects we have now aren't that diverse… The One Leader's agents are trying to hire people from abroad, but that's taking a bit too much time.
"It's really a shame," Reina continued. "Although we are almost done with the world and the game itself, we can't reveal it to the public due to the risks… And I'm also afraid the One Leader would release it even with the risks attached."
"Is that possible?"
"Yes. We just have to make an official notice alongside the game. Of course, by the time we release, the risks would be considerably smaller. Perhaps even less than 0.1%, but there would still be incidents."
Thinking about it now, it was something the One Country could afford to do. Also, Gwen realized that even if she worked her ass off, she wouldn't be able to completely eradicate the risks. In that case, she could take a different approach.
"The 80%... is it possible to fix their damages people receive?" Gwen asked.
"They sometimes heal over time… but we don't know why. Some get better by simply resting, some get better by actively entering the One World. And we also need to consider the different types of damages they must receive. In conclusion, it's too case-by-case to make a broad consensus."
This sounded much more doable to Gwen.
"Can I check the data later on? Perhaps I might be able to help. You probably don't know about it, my diploma work was related to measuring thoughts. I'm also familiar with the damages associated with disrupting those electro-chemical currents."
"Of course. Of course. After you've caught up, I can arrange for you to meet the other researchers working on the same thing… But you won't be able to bring any of the documents outside, and of course, you'll be deprived of your access to gadgets. We'll provide you with anything you need."
'As I thought, I have to work from here… Sigh… Well, it's fine.'
"Thank you. I'll start working as soon as possible."
"It is reassuring to have a genius at your level working on this project," Reina showed a friendly smile. "But I am sorry we have to enforce so many restrictions on you."
Gwen waved her hand dismissively. Her father thoroughly taught that to get what she wanted in the world, concessions were necessary.
"As for the skills, is there anyone who succeeded in using them?"
Now that her responsibility was decided, she could sate her curiosity a little.
Reina smiled. "Yes. As you may guess, the One Leader was the first, and a few days ago, someone else managed to use them. Actually, he's just logging in again today. Do you want to see him in the One World?"
"Is that possible?"
"Yes, yes. Since he's also suffering from damages, you'll might need to work with him as well. Oh, and last time I saw, he was going through a small pickle. Let's see what happens."
***