Upon reaching the gates of L'Reu, Arslan was greeted with a massive crowd of frantic and frigtehened people he had to come to stop otherwise the bike would have run them over. They started clamoring around him. With all these people around Arslan started to panic, as all of them were begging and pleading for help.
"Please - I'm in a rush! Let us through!" He shouted trying to get them off him.
>Mana reserves at 0.00052%
Even though I hadn't even taken a breath - my mana had gone down.
I wasn't breathing anymore.
"Hey - that's the Shepard! Let him through!" Shouted a guard and started doing crowd control.
"The Shepard?" Suddenly voices started cawing out.
"Shepard, please, help!" They clamored.
"Can't you see he might not make it?!" Shouted Arslan.
"Let him through! Let him through!" Shouted the guards. But to no avail. The people clamored around us, like koi fish asking for food. Jumping out of the water trying to reach Arslan.
"Please!" The situation had gotten to him I could hear panic in his voice.
To no avail.
>Mana reserves at 0.00039%
>Danger critical
>Life functions failure: IMMINENT.
I tried taking a breath - but I couldn't. There was not enough mana now to keep my basic life functions going.
Arslan was still holding onto me.
I could feel his heart beat getting faster.
"I SAID STOP!" He shouted, I felt how he broke a spell on my back. His hands pushing outwards. Electricity crackled through the crowd.
No one was hurt - but they did take a tumble. Breaking enough space for us to pass through.
The guards of L'Reu motioned him to push through, allowing him to pass to the city without showing any sort of ID.
My body still limp against him.
>Mana reserve at 0.00025%
>Depleting
What now? Do I just die?
>Negative
>Commence First Sphere Upload?
Arslan was pushing through the streets, driving as fast as he could.
I felt my consciousness slipping away.
>Death Prevention Enabled.
>Commence First Sphere Upload?
>Mana reserve at 0.00015%
>Aiden, I need confirmation, please, this is the only way.
Apollo suddenly blurted out.
I sighed mentally. I couldn't take a breath anymore.
Fine - just do it!
>Mana reserve at 0.0008%
>Commencing Upload
It was a weird feeling - but it was almost like I was leaving my body. Arslan pulled a corner and I was janked out into the sky. My body still in his arms.
>Mana reserve : 0.0004%
I went up towards the sky and just flew through until I reached the sky high. Then all was white, like I had entered a portal.
>Mana reserve: 0.0002%
Was I going to make it?
I passed through a portal - and then suddenly there I was.
My consciousness had reached The First Sphere.
">Aiden we made it!" Apollo said.
And so here were were - inside the first sphere. The space was massive, like I was inside an ever expanding building. It looked brutalistic in nature, and with stairs that lead nowhere and everywhere.
I finally got why it was named The First Sphere.
Because in this infinite space - spheres were connected to one another. With strands that lead to one another. And inside each sphere there was a world. I looked back. Seeing The Kingdom of Eldoren. Like it was some sort of plaything.
"What is this?" I could finally speak.
Apollo materialized and took a human form.
It shook me at first - but he was actually good looking. His form resembled me in a sense but it was completely different. His body was shining in different colors. He didn't have normal skin.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"You look good!" I said.
"In this space AI's can take any shape we want - however we can't look completely human - just close enough," Apollo mentioned.
"I see -" I said.
"All right - so it seems we have a little bit of time to spend here - Arslan keeping busy helping you out," said Apollo.
"Arslan? Is still trying to save me?" My voice slow. Like I was forgetting. Eldoren looked like it was moving in slow motion. Was time different here?
"You noticed the time dilation?" Said Apollo.
"Yeah - it feels weird," I said.
"You'll get used to it, humans are such trees, don't you think?"
"Huh?" I didn't get it.
I took a look around the space. Highways of blue - what I can only assume was information - was moving all around me.
They're other AI moving petabytes of info al blazing speeds, look at them go!" Said Apollo almost satisfied.
"I don't - I don't think I understand," I mumbled.
"Don't worry - you don't have too,"
One of the blue bits went out of the highway and landed near my face, scaring me a bit. It jumped around like it was scanning me.
It almost looked mad. And went back on the line. It placed a tag on top of my head. It started counting in numbers I couldn't understand.
"Remember what I said about how it will cost you being here?"
"I remember,"
"That tag counts the milliseconds you spend here - unlike free worlds - Sphere's cost money because storing human consciousness requires someone to uptake your server." Apollo explained.
"What?!"
"Basically you're on a rack somewhere IRL, buddy," Apollo mentioned.
"What do you mean? I don't understand-"
"Oops, looks like I said too much - Anyway, follow me this space is getting boring."
And he took my hand and whisked me away swishing through the spheres like we were traveling at light speed. I could barley see above me and below me. The space was warping around me. Thousands of spheres passed us by, each different color and with different worlds inside of them.
It was really infinite.
Apollo had called them free worlds?
Then we arrived where we were going.
Space time returned normal.
A white room.
And a monolith, so big it looked like a glowing sun. With tentacles of blue transmitting and receiving, a thousand story building. It was making my brain hurt.
"Aiden - meet Sybil!" Said Apollo.
I couldn't help but gasp.
Then just like that it was as if all of the blue traffic lines stopped in their tracks.
But before I could even do anything. My knees felt to the ground like gravity had gotten stronger, I was blind suddenly a visor appeared around my head, and my hands and feet were in chains. This all happened in the span of a second.
I couldn't help but mumble in pain.
"Sorry buddy," said Apollo.
Then a booming voice came from in front of me.
>CODE : ADAM/IDA/DAVID/EDWARD/NORA
>RED ALERT
>CODE 60 90
>INITATE SECURE PROTOCOL
I was strapped my hands and legs on the floor. I couldn't move
>CODE BLUE
>SECURE
>ESTIMATED 590 SECONDS UNTIL EXIT
>ALL PERSONAL BE ADVISED
>NO IMMINENT DANGER DETECTED
>CODE 60 90 HAS BEEN LIFTED
>NO IMMINENT DANGER DETECTED
>RACK 75° 160° 29° PALM AZURE (57/81) HAS BEEN ISOLATED
>MEMORY ISOLATION: ACTIVE
>CODE BLUE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE UNTIL EXIT
>Resuming all functions.
"You really shouldn't have come here," said Apollo in a whisper to my ear.
"They don't like you here."