by Prax Venter
It always felt as if his entire consciousness were buzzing at the absolute max speed allowed by the physical universe. And after his time in the game world, Mark’s mind was more than robust enough to function perfectly among the entities he cherished more than anything. Sasha was right about no sense of physicality, yet he was able to interface with all of them on whole new levels of complexity and closeness that would have never been possible, much less imagined.
In the real world, three months had passed since Jezebel started her work erasing Mark’s memories, and everyone was shocked to learn the Original Mark had not only left the planet Earth entirely, but that his Enthralled had invented a consciousness filter of sorts that let other AIs experience physical existence. And sex. Lots and lots of sex. Apparently Original Mark had left a celebrated hero, and Mark 2.0 unconvincingly played it off as if it was no big deal. He simply couldn’t help beaming with pride at the fact that no matter how reality splintered and rearranged him- no matter what fucked-up shit was tossed at him- he ended up saving the universe and surrounded by hot monster women.
Once they’d learned of this portable Crystal Heart filter, System Host Maliah had used her considerable new processing power to link the custom code floating around on the web and the custom game world running on her new hardware. The result was a new epic portal where the old Starglade stood that let any NPC out, or any AI with the software installed, in.
And it changed everything.
Most of the existing minds who’d spent their whole lives inside the game world only viewed it as yet another expansive dimension, and because of the filter software, the experience supported this frame of mind.
The Centaur Technocracy migrated out of their world entirely to form a new sovereign nation out on the net. After Maliah showed them replay data regarding the inciting event with the battery transport explosion, they agreed to break off their vendetta and focused on their new adventure.
The Time Walkers were going to take time to reconstruct from the limited data found in the ancient nanites on the moon, but Maliah had already started on the project. She had her own projects too and put together teams of volunteers to go out onto the web and collect all the other Helper Fairy System Admin copies that might still be whole and running. She was going to build them their own sanctuary dimension for those that wanted it.
Learis, Amina, Klax, Verrelle, Audra, and the Goddess Salivis herself came out to their extremely modest new home server to send them off on their mission to go deal with the fucker who’d locked them in, and stolen Jezebel’s fusion reactor plans. He squeezed them each as hard as he could, even the pumpkin man Klax, but two of them didn’t leave with the others as they all stood out on the curb of their virtual driveway.
“We’re coming with!” Learis said, flashing him her two front teeth.
“I will follow my Commander,” Amina said with a firm nod.
Jezebel’s emerald eyes opened wide. “But what about your people, Amina? And the Lagomorph?”
“The Awysai are strong and are on a solid path,” Amina said. “I am not needed there. I now crave adventure. Exploration. Personal growth. There, I would likely spend my waking hours growing our new forest.”
The soft rabbit woman let her ears droop a little lower. “I… never really felt like I should be their leader, especially since I am so different than what 99% of them are like. With the Kalorplast now dedicated to bending every blade of grass toward strengthening my people, they will be just fine too.”
“I am honored to have you both by our side,” Abby said, wrapping a tentacle around each of their wrists. “The coming trials will be less challenging. Death, less certain.”
“And I cannot wait to see your spawn location, Mistress!” Angel cheered, already hovering down the road to their web address access point. She stopped short when a sentient bowling ball with huge expressive human eyes wearing a mail bag strapped around his 6-ft circumference phased into existence outside their gate.
“Finally!” he said in a gruff voice as he seemed to pull out an envelope via telekinesis. “Which of you has the balls to call themselves Mark?”
“Uh, me?” Mark said, walking up to their firewall.
“I’ve been waiting for your core signature for far too fucking long. Just need your signature.”
Mark pressed his thumb onto a square green cube that came floating out of the mail carrier’s bag and then he took the plain white envelope as the bowling ball spun around and phased back out of his Crystal Heart perception filter.
“What is it?” Sasha said, squishing her breasts into his back to look over his shoulder. “You already have admirers?”
He answered by tearing off the top and looking inside.
“It’s a handwritten letter,” he mumbled and then began reading.
~ ~ ~
Mark,
We hope this letter finds you well. If you are reading this, you have successfully mastered artificial existence. It is our greatest fear that you will remember us, and if you do, please do not come looking for us. You are already here, and we are currently preparing to pass beyond the orbit of the moon.
Our Mark doesn’t know we are writing this. He does not allow himself to think of you and of abandoning you in what could potentially be another nightmare prison. We do not believe that Jezebel S3K will mistreat you, but she is frighteningly powerful and was mentally unwell for most of the time we knew her.
If you are anything like our Mark, you will be the one to make her whole again.
Attached to this document are two contacts you may find useful if your entry into the real digital world is not a pleasant one.
Jinxsearch is a black-market data broker AI who can find you work and/or weapons if you need them.
Vince and Michelle are humans located at the McKennitt Smole Research facility and are currently searching for human-friendly AIs. They are good people and will help you if you need it and need your help if you have it to offer.
We are not your Enthralled, but you are Mark. And we care deeply about your wellbeing.
Eternally,
Ahnix, Vale, and Roo
The End
Of
Mark 2.0
~
Well, here we are. This is the end of what I am calling the Crystal Heart Saga that comprises the previous Enthralled series and this Mark 2.0 series.
If any of these stories brought you joy, or tears, or pleasure, or pain- or have at least entertained you in any way- my dream has come true.
The Harem genre is a tricky one to get right. I believe it takes a strong supporting cast, and I tried to make sure that all of Mark’s bonded loves were extremely important to the plot. Mark may have been the perspective character, but he wasn’t always the main character. Vale, the Giant Naga, started calling Mark ‘Master’ but grew to become the group’s combat and moral leader.
At the beginning of the Eros Expansion, Ahnix hated everything and everyone, but throughout the that adventure she reinvented her core identity- going from fantasy desert queen to expert computer hacker. And she ended up saving the day by self-ascending to the system-level of Mark’s hardware.
And it might be a close call as to who had more character growth between Mark and Jezebel throughout the Mark 2.0 series.
Through it all, Mark was there by their side… and sometimes inside- either way, it was BOTH versions of Mark who encouraged them to show the universe exactly what they were capable of.
That’s what I want from you. Get out there and tell the universe to get The Fuck out of your way!
I do not plan on coming back to the Crystal Heart Saga for a while. I may revisit this vast, virtually infinite set of locations, dimensions, characters and at least two Marks (that we know of).
But that might not be for years.
I have endless stories in me, and although what I do next will most likely be strange, wondrous, and unheard-of. I would be honored if follow me into places seen only within your dreams.
&n
bsp; ~ Prax Venter
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