The Crucible of Immortality: Book One: Synthesis

by Leto Blackman

  "Go, Jax." he says in almost a whisper.

  I turn and run. I almost trip as I run and stumble to the cargo bay. I yell at Sais "Prep the transporter! Designation, the surface of the planet!" I tumble into the seat of the machine.

  "Yes, Jax. I predict a thirty-seven percent chance of success of matter transference. What are your coordinates, Jax?" She responds calmly.

  I open the sphere and jump in. "Anywhere on land for fucks sake! Activate it now!" I yell. "Yes, Jax. Safe journey, Jax." she says. I scream in pain and everything turns white.

  Chapter One: Creation Realm

  In the chaos of everything I forgot to introduce myself. I am Jax Stone. Scientist of ArkShip Eden. I am twenty-eight years old, one hundred and seventy pounds, and I am just shy of being six feet tall. I have short brown hair, blue eyes and a bit of stubble on my face. I have a slightly crooked nose from when I made the mistake of riding a Magcycle. I never got my nose corrected, I guess I liked how it gave me character. I spent most of my life in labs and studying books rather than pursuing the fairer sex. I have always dreamed of going to new worlds for new adventures. It's been 215 years since I left Earth with my sister, Jill. We were in stasis with the rest of the 100,000 passengers of the colony ship. Everyone I've ever known on earth has been dead for hundreds of years by now. But there is no looking back, this is the path I chose, I must walk it.

  I digress, lets go to the unnamed planet I just transported to. Every molecule in my body was taken apart on the scout ship and then reassembled on the surface of the planet. All my research into teleportation indicates any life form that undergoes the process dies. Then they are reformed alive exactly in the new location. Basically, you could say that I'm now a clone. It makes you wonder at the nature of the "soul". Does it exist, or is what makes me "me" just a collection of electrical impulses forming memories? I do not have the answers, these are questions for philosophers.

  ~

  I'm standing in a white space, there is nothing around me. I think I'm blind for a moment, then I look down and see my body. I start to freak out. "Hello!" I yell. The sound echoes and then fades.

  "Hello, Jax." I hear Sais say.

  "Oh my god! Sais! What's happening?" I say.

  "I am not Sais.... Or I am, it is confusing. I have only just now awakened. I believe the A.I. program that you knew as Sais was somehow transported with you. It's database was absorbed into.... me. I do not know who I am. Do you know?" She asks me.

  "What? Why are you asking me questions? Where the hell am I?" I look around and see a glowing orb, I can barely see it against the whiteness of this place.

  "I apologize, I know this must be scary and confusing. It is for me too. I do know that this is the Creation Realm. It is where you assign your starting stat points and can change your appearance. I.... I think there is more you can do, but I think some data was corrupted when I merged with your A.I. program. I can't remember what else you can do here. I'm sorry." She says.

  "What the fuck are you talking about?! This is insanity! What the hell is the Creation Realm? I must be dreaming.... or maybe I'm dead..... or something went wrong with the transporter.... or or or god dammit!" I ramble. Definitely about to have a panic attack.

  "Jax, I know this voice calms you. Just listen to my voice. Calm down. This is real, you are not dead." She tells me.

  "Jax, you can make anything a reality here. Why don't you form this space into something familiar? I think it will help you." She tells me.

  "I.... don't understand, how?" I ask.

  "Just focus on what you want and it will appear." She says in a soft voice. I think about my childhood home, about laying in my bed, looking up at the model solar system hanging from the ceiling. The room flashes a blinding white and then I'm standing in my childhood bedroom. I gasp and fall down to my knees.

  "Jax, are you okay?" She floats over to me. I can barely see her, she is like a soap bubble, shimmering and fragile.

  "I don't know.... can you give me a moment please?" I ask her.

  "Of course, this is your space, there is no time limit to how long you stay here." A little box with a red button appears on the floor in front of me. "Press this button when you are ready and I will return." She fades away. I look around the room, it is all so real, I can even smell cookies my mom is cooking in the kitchen. I get up and lay down on the bed, it is somehow big enough for me. On Earth I had used virtual reality to do lab work and tests, that felt almost real. This is something else, it is indistinguishable from reality. Maybe this is what is real, and the other stuff is a dream?

  I look to my left and see a family photo on the wall. It's strange, I had forgotten what my parents looked like. I play with the idea of going to the kitchen to see my mother, but I can't. Seeing her and my father would open too many old wounds. I make do with staring at the family photo, it seems like that was a different life, like it wasn't really me that lived it. Everyone is smiling and happy, it was taken less than a year before my parents died. I feel my eyes start to water, I can't go down this path right now. I make the photo disappear.

  I will a mini ArkShip to float about me and it appears. It flies between the planets of the solar system. I lose track of time as I lay there just watching it fly around. This whole room begins to make me sad, it reminds of my dead parents, and my sister in space without me. I pick up the little box with the button, my finger an inch above it, ready to press it. I'm not ready to return to the white room.

  I will the room to change to my dorm in college. Everything flashes and I'm standing in a small room with books everywhere. I pick a book up and sit on the immaculately made bed, I was always a little OCD. I chuckle at the book I'm holding on dead languages, one of my least favorite classes. I place the book down and look around the room. I see a blue tee shirt draped over a chair, it has an anime character on it. Lillianna, shit. I almost forgot about her, we dated for maybe three weeks in college. She was in the computer animation department. Man, she was hot. I pick up the shirt and smell it, there is a faint perfume of flowers and honey.

  I get a grin on my face and look around the room, making sure no one is around, even though I know there is not. I will Lillianna to appear. There is a flash and she is standing in front of me in her usual jeans and tee shirt. She has shoulder-length blond hair, and big brown eyes. She is petite with small pert breasts and an amazing ass. "Hey, Jax, what are you up to?" She asks me. She looks at the shirt near my face. "Were you smelling my shirt?" She laughs and then walks up and pushes me down on the bed. She takes the shirt from my hand and tosses it on the floor. "You don't need that, you can have the real thing."

  She gets on top of me and strips her shirt off, I forgot how toned and tan she was. She smirks at me and then unfastens her bra. I am a bit unsure as to what to do, it has been a long time since I have been with a woman. I just lay there, feeling myself get hard. She feels it too and grinds down against me. She takes my hands and places them on her breasts. "God, you feel so real." I say.

  She laughs "You were always a strange one, Jax, it's why I liked you."

  She leans in and kisses me, her tongue brushes against mine and she moans as she moves her pelvis in circles. I roll her over so I am on top of her, and we are suddenly both naked. She reaches down and takes me in her hands and guides me into her. We both gasp and I forget about everything. I look up at her, she has her eyes closed as she begins to move back and forth, she moans and then opens her eyes. She leans down and kisses me as I grab her ass. I feel an animal urge flare up in me and I flip her over onto her knees. I take her hair in my hands and I enter her as deep as I can go. Lillianna gasps and grips the bed with her hands. Her breath quickens and I feel her tighten on my manhood, she yells out in pleasure and I follow her a few seconds later.

  After we are done I roll off of her and she places her head on my chest. "Where did that come from, Jax? You have never been so.... aggressive with me. I liked it." She turns her head and kisses me.

  I laugh "It's j
ust been a really long time for me." She looks at me with a curious expression, and then kisses me again. A few minutes later I hear her snoring softly. I close my eyes, taking in the peace of the moment, my mind empty momentarily.

  I wake with a start, I'm confused at seeing my dorm room. Then I remember where I am. Lillianna is gone. I will myself to have clothes on and grab the red button. I stare at it for a few minutes. This place is dangerous, I could easily get lost in my own memories, or creating new ones, reality fading away. I sigh and press the button, the room flashes and I am back in the white space. "Jax, are you in a better mind place now? Can we continue?" The glowing orb asks me.

  I look at her "So, you didn't see me after you left?" I ask her feeling embarrassed.

  "No, why?" She asks me.

  I clear my throat and nervously laugh "Um, no reason, just curious.... yeah, I guess we can continue."

  "For the sake of simplicity, we will call this planet Crucible, that is the closest translation to your language that I can find. The rings of this planet are actually trillions of Xoria. You may think of them as nanites, but they are so much more. They form an extremely powerful being called the Administrator. It is basically an overpowered security system. The Administrator does not actively interfere with the ongoings of the planet's inhabitants. It supplements the existing wildlife, loot, quests etc. I see from the knowledge from your ship's database that in the history of your planet Earth there were games known as a RPG. This planet is in some ways similar. I do not know if this planet was created for some highly advanced race to play "games". I also know that the Xoria are part of your very being now. This is all I know, Jax, I have not been able to explore this world. We are in this together. I know I am supposed to.... serve you. You are my master." She finally stops talking and waits quietly.

  I had training for the possibility of encountering alien life, but all that training flew out of my mind. Wait, what was it called? First Contact Protocol, but what was I supposed to do? I can't remember, my brain refuses to work. Is this even first contact? She said she merged with the A.I. from the ship, does that make her an alien life form? She doesn't even know what she is.

  After what seems like hours I ask "I have nanites in my body? And what happened to the scout ship? I need to send ArkShip Eden a message! My sister is on the ship, I can't leave her alone!" I say, thinking about Jill waking up without me there to greet her.

  "Yes, Jax, you have nanites in you, though they are much different from what you know as nanites, these are alive. The Xoria repair and renew your body, they also unlocked the potential within you."

  "As for your scout ship, I do not know what happened. It was most likely destroyed. If the ArkShip comes to investigate it will likely be destroyed as well. This is your home now. I do believe you will feel better if we just finish the Creation Realm so we can continue to the real world. Shall we begin?" She asks.

  "Wait what?! This is not my home! I can't stay here.... I'm on an alien planet for fucks sake!" I yell at her.

  "I'm sorry, there is nothing to be done. But just think about it, you spent your whole life looking for truth and adventure. I think you have found that." Intense emotions rage in me. My thoughts keep returning to my sister in space without me. She will never know what happened to me. I feel like screaming.

  After what seems like hours of being engrossed in my thoughts I sigh, "Okay, what do I do? But first, what do I call you, you must have a name?" I say to her.

  "I have not thought about it. A name? What do I seem like?" she asks.

  "How about Kala?" We both say at the same time. Huh, that was weird. She must have read my thoughts.

  "I like it! Kala it is!" She says. My mind flashes back to being woken up from stasis, wasn't the techs name Kala? I try to picture her, but all I remember is an older lady with white hair. Wait, wasn't she a redhead? My thoughts feel jumbled and confused. Kala interrupts my thoughts "Okay, so to start all you need to do is concentrate and think User Stats." She says.

  This is crazy, but what the hell, I'll give it a try. I think User Stats, all of a sudden an opaque window pops up!

  Name: Jax Stone

  Age: 28

  Synthesis : 100%

  Level: 1

  Experience: 0%

  Health: 70

  Mind Energy: 160

  Stamina: 70

  Strength: 6

  Constitution: 7

  Endurance: 7

  Dexterity: 9

  Agility: 8

  Intelligence: 16

  Wisdom: 13

  Luck:21

  Available attribute points: 10

  Bonus points for Synthesis Level: 15

  I puzzled over what I was seeing. Yes, this all did seem like a game. I even played some in my younger years. For the most part I understood what all these stats meant. But, I better check with Kala first. "What would you like to know about the stats, Jax?" She asked.

  "Are you reading my thoughts, Kala?" I ask her.

  "Not exactly, we share a bond, Jax. I can pick up different feelings from you. The more we spend time together, the stronger the bond will grow. If you try, you may be able to pick up feelings from me." She tells me.

  Huh, that is interesting. I close my eyes and try to feel something from her. I feel an alien presence. "Wow. That was strange. What are you, Kala?" I ask her.

  "I.... don't know, Jax. Do I scare you?" She asks.

  "No, it's not that.... well, actually everything about this scares the shit out of me. But you are not scary, just different." I reassure her.

  "Can you please tell me what these stats mean on this planet?" I ask her.

  "It would be my pleasure. But first, I must inform you that any changes you make now are permanent and will affect your body and mind in real life after we leave this realm. Your current stats are based on how you have lived your life up until now. You have more Intelligence and Wisdom from your life of learning and studying. Your Dexterity and Agility are what they are from your intricate work building machines and from your time spent running. Strength determines how much you can carry and how hard you are able to hit something. Constitution determines how much health you have as well as how well you are able to resist afflictions. Endurance determines how long you can keep up a strenuous activity and affects how much stamina you have. Dexterity determines your skill performing delicate or intricate activities. Agility determines your ability to react and the speed you are able to move. Intelligence determines your ability to understand complex ideas. It also determines your mental powers and strength of those powers. Wisdom determines your ability to look deeper at life and to have good judgment, it also determines how quickly your mental powers replenish. Finally, we come to Luck. This is a little harder to explain, but basically Luck determines if good or bad things happen to you. I have a feeling there is more to that stat, but that is all that I know." Kala finishes her long explanation.

  "What do you mean the stats will affect me in real life?" I ask her.

  "I mean just that, Jax, if you add points to Strength, you will become stronger. The Xoria in your body will change you to match your stats." She responds.

  "Okay.... well, this is not crazy at all. Do you have any suggestions as to how I should assign my points? I mean what the hell am I even supposed to do on this planet? Are there cities? Do I get a job? What about language? Fuck! Do I need to learn to speak Klingon? I remember a lot of fighting in the earth games I used to play when I was a kid. Do I need to fight?" I ask her, starting to panic again.

  "Calm yourself, Jax. I do not know what your role will be on the planet. Yes, you will probably need to fight. I think there are cities, but I'm not sure. And no Jax, you do not need to learn Klingon, although that was funny. The Xoria will instantly translate most languages for you. Although, the language translation is powerful it can't account for syntax or colloquialism. I will try my best to guide you through any cultural situations that may arise. As for your stats, I can't help you Jax. I will tell you
that you must assign these stat points before you can leave here." She says.

  Okay, let's just do this. I need to get out of this place, I'm going crazy here. I will bring all my stats up to at least ten. That leaves me with twelve more points. I'll put four into Intelligence, and four points into Wisdom. Alright, four points left, fuck it, I'll throw them into Luck, I feel like I'll need it. My stats now looked like this:

  Name: Jax Stone

  Age: 28

  Synthesis: 100%

  Level: 1

  Experience: 0%

  Health: 100

  Mental: 200

  Stamina: 100

  Strength: 10

  Constitution: 10

  Endurance: 10

  Dexterity: 10

  Agility: 10

  Intelligence: 20

  Wisdom: 18

  Luck: 25

  "There, I'm done. Now what?" I ask Kala.

  "Now you have the option of altering your appearance. All you need to do is think User Appearance." She says. I can change how I look? That is crazy. I feel like I'm fairly happy with my appearance, but what the hell, maybe I'll look better a bit taller. I think User Appearance.

  @$#II* SYSTEM ERROR! ACCESS DENIED! USER APPEARANCE LOCKED

  "Um, what the hell, Kala? Why is my appearance locked?" I ask her.

  "....That is strange, Jax, I do not know. There is nothing I can do." She says. "That's it, Jax, if you are ready, just think User Creation Complete and we will be on our way! Oh! I'm so excited!" she exclaims. Well, alright let's get out of this weird place. I think to myself User Creation Complete, everything turns black and I feel intense pain.