Chapter 14: Chapter 14 : Updated Mental Space (Part 2)

“After going on a creation spree, I decided to treat this place like a video game. Or rather, I decided to turn this place into one. What you see, is the result of that.” Rei paused to take a sip before commanding, “System Prompt.”

Suddenly, a digital window appeared before him. “Zero System. That’s what I call the unified system that runs everything here. This window details all code that is operating in this place. You can summon it as well. Just chant ‘System Prompt’.”

“System Prompt.”

Ralf didn’t waste any time. An identical window appeared at his side, and he readily began examining it. While doing this, he paid attention to Rei’s voice.

“First, I worked to create an accurate physics engine. The physics engine your subconscious mind cooked up was both inaccurate and lacking. Weight, speed, time, numbers, degrees, distance…I added the various key units into the system’s database. I then made the necessary corrections and additions until finally…we have what we have now. I can’t say confidently that it's a hundred percent accurate, but any differences between this place and the outside world…at least my world, are negligible.”

“Mm, as expected of the Silver Devil,” Ralf commented as his eyes remained glued to the screen.

Rei shrugged at the mention of his moniker.

“It wasn’t that challenging. Programming in this place is much easier than in those games I used to work on. There’s no need for a thousand lines of gibberish. Here, simple commands and conditional constructs work wonders. This place is very understanding.”

While listening to his other self, Ralf's eyes caught sight of something most curious.

‘Hmm, random values?’

Finding the option, Ralf clicked into it.

[

Random Values:

Random Value 1: 343697937729327392382398223827383782

Random Value 2: 2326823226723

Random Value 3: 6627671261.212212

Random Value 4: 12

….…..

…..

…

]

“Ah,” Ralf exclaimed.

He was left dazed at the sight. The numbers weren’t static but ever-changing. Ralf noted that the rates they were changing at weren’t equal. Some took a second, while some took several seconds. Scrolling down to the bottom, one would find a ‘Random Value 345’ present. What's more, this was only the first of ten pages.

“Oh, the random number generator. That was a must. It's responsible for a lot of the cool effects,” Rei spoke up as he took notice.

“Wait, how did you even create a random number generator?"

“Interested? I’ll show you, follow me.” Taking to the air, Rei flew off. Ralf followed along. The two quickly arrived at the western edge.

“This is it?”

In a giant glass structure, thousands of discs were neatly arranged. All were in motion, rotating at various speeds.

“Yeah.” Rei nodded. “It all started with a single disk…” At his words, a disk the size of a CD appeared in his hand. Flapping it around, he then ‘placed it on’ the air in a horizontal position. Tapping the top, the disc was transformed into a roulette wheel design, sporting numbers ranging from 1 - 10.

“...and this thing,” Rei said as he conjured another object which wrapped around it. This mechanism held a red triangular pointer that was slightly above the numbers.

“Using object-oriented programming and conditional statements, I have this thing spin.” The disc began spinning. “This red triangle can register the number below it. It then enters it into a database. This was how it started. I then made more of these contraptions and varied things. Instead of one to ten, like this, I would extend the ranges or leave out numbers. I would have the discs rotate at different speeds. I also varied the rate at which the secondary mechanism adds numbers to the database.”

Several more discs were created to illustrate his point. “These values aren’t static either. For instance, the first value I got was 1927394323. It was then brought to a two-digit number by being continually being divided by two. Then, the 57th of three hundred arithmetic formulas I prepared, was used on it, so X x 2 + 2. And then this number changed the speed value of the disc registered as ‘Disc 1’. This was only the start. Since then, I’ve added thousands of formulas, calculations, and discs, and used the randomness to create more randomness, until what popped out was a mystery to even myself.”

“You really went all out.”

“I had to. This is easily the most critical mechanism in this place.” Rei turned around. “That storm, the motion of the water in that lake, the raging winds… none of this is possible without it. Another thing that isn’t possible without this is the gambling hall.”

Ralf’s eyes lit up.

Rei smiled wryly as he shook his head. “We'll get to that in time. I have a few things to show you first. Let's head to the virtual spaces.”

“Virtual spaces?”

“Those domes,” Rei said pointing to them.

“Oh, then let's go to that one.”

“Fine.”

In the blink of an eye, the two arrived at the dome in question. It was the forest biome Ralf initially caught sight of.

Ralf watched Rei pass through the white filter, before moving forward himself.

“Ah?!”

Ralf’s reaction was instantaneous.

“Rei?”

“When you enter a virtual space, you must play by its rules. In other words, your power is restricted in these spaces. Try flying or using omni vision or any power that doesn’t follow the rules of this space and you’ll meet with a suppressing effect.”

“Ah, you’re right,” Ralf said as he confirmed it. The plethora of powers at his disposal mere seconds ago was now lost to him.

“Of course, as the ruler of this domain, you can’t truly be bound. If you will it strongly enough…”

*Shatter*

The forest was no more. Like glass being dropped from a rooftop, everything broke apart into millions of white shards before dissipating into particles until an open black patch was all that was left behind.

“...this is the result," Rei continued with a wry look on his face." You can force the issue, but you’ll destroy the virtual space entirely. Luckily, it can be easily restored.” With a snap of his fingers, Rei resurrected the virtual space.

With the space back, the restrictions returned.

“Bringing up the system window will allow you to view the code operating in the virtual space. You'll be able to see your character stats and other special restrictions and conditions specific to the dome.”

Ralf summoned the interface. “Does this place automatically register my existence?" he asked as he saw ‘Ralf Fawkes’ at the top of the Character Menu screen.

“Nope. This system only recognizes verified objects. That’s why I gave you that avatar. If you were in your previous form, this place wouldn’t recognize you, nor would it apply the restrictions. You can add other forms if you want, but that one is best for what I have planned.”

"Have planned?" Ralf's curiosity was piqued.

Rei shook his head and turned around. “For later Ralf. For now, follow me.”

A grand tour followed.

The gambling hall, the food court, the various domes; the two zoomed from place to place. All the while, Rei explained the ins and outs of the mechanisms he created and also his future plans.

Now, the two landed before a giant building.

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“Babel Library.” Ralf read out the sign in front. “The library that contains all, huh?"

“That’s the desire.”

“You serious?”

Rei let his silence answer the question and continued forward.

‘Ah, he’s serious.’ Ralf's face paled at the thought.

The two entered. Dozens of shelves adorned the several-floor building. Dozens of empty shelves that is.

“Oof, we’re a long way off.”

“Yeah, but it's only a matter of time. And it's not like we’re empty.”

“We have something?” Ralf showed confusion.

Rei’s memory was extraordinary, but it wasn’t at the level where he could perfectly memorize every book he read. Ralf doubted he could perfectly replicate even one.

Rei didn’t answer and led Ralf deeper into the library. Seeing no answer coming, Ralf remained silent. Ten meters later, Ralf’s eyes caught another signboard.

“Multimedia section.”

“This library captures all, not just books.” Passing through the archway, Rei gestured to the objects ahead. “That is the key to this library’s aspirations.”

Ralf cast his gaze forward, then frowned. A television, a strange black helmet, CDs, and several black boxes that resembled computer chassis.

“More games? Where’s the keyboard and controllers?”

“Unfortunately not. I didn’t have time to make those things. These devices serve a different purpose.”

Rei walked over to the adjacent shelf and retrieved one of the few discs present, then moved to the computer box and inserted it in the slot. Picking up the remote, he walked back to Ralf’s side.

*Click*

At the push of a button, the television lit up. And then a moment later, so did Ralf’s eyes.

On-screen, a video was playing. Ralf instantly recognized it. The video was a first-person perspective of him staring at the clock in his living room. While he marvelled at the display, Rei’s words entered his ears.

“When you transferred your visual feed over, I had the feed project onto this screen and watched it like this. At the same time, I recorded it.” Rei said while wiggling the remote in his hand.

“Hmm, I see. So this is how you’ll fill the library.”

Rei nodded. “Yes. With us on either side, we’ll be able to fill this place....at least that was the idea. There was a more efficient way.”

This time Rei forewent moving physically and used his Mental Space telekinesis to carry out his will. After ejecting the current CD, another was put in its place. Now, instead of a video, a still image was displayed.

“The letter…you did this yourself?”

“Yeah. We can not only peek in from outside but also activate mechanisms. From the outside, I activated this mechanism. Just like how we are each other's telepathic points, this device is set up to be one as well. We can transfer sensory information to it, and then record it to these discs.”

Ralf grew giddy at his other self's words. He could already see the possibilities that this device presented.

Meanwhile, Rei returned the discs to their rightful place. “This setup isn’t set in stone, but I’ll give you a rundown on how to use it. Each one of those four buttons on the television’s top left represents different levels of information that can be recorded. From left to right in ascending order.”

Ralf's eyes followed Rei’s words obediently, ready to soak up the information.

“The first button is for screenshots, so what I used to record the two pages. The second button is for recording visual information only. The third is for audio-only, and the last button is for both visual and audio.”

Rei focused on the TV’s display, then pressed a button on the remote and like magic, the image plopped off, leaving a duplicate behind.

The screenshot floated toward him. Grabbing it in his hands, he altered its dimensions until it was the size of a page. After adjusting some more, he was satisfied.

“One page down.”

Ralf’s face showed both amazement and bitterness. “Doing it like this will take a while.”

“Another method will come to us.”

Ralf didn’t doubt that. He turned back to the setup and his eyes locked onto the item he was most curious about.

“What’s the helmet for?”

“That’s for everything.” Rei willed the helmet to him. A disc from another shelf flew over as well. He inserted the CD into the slot at the top, then handed it to Ralf.

“Here, have a go.”

Ralf obliged and put it on.

“The blue button records and the red one plays.”

Hearing Rei’s explanation, Ralf pushed the red button. Instantly, the world around him was replaced with another.

‘Ah, so cool.’

He was returned to his room, at the edge of his bed, staring down a row of wooden figures. The air that brushed his skin, the softness of his pillow, the smell of wood, everything was the same.

Five seconds later, the experience ended.

“That was great. We can do so much with this. Good work Rei.” Ralf marched up to his other self with a wide smile then proceeded to ruffle Rei's hair in praise.

Rei didn’t resist his other self's touch; a small smile crept onto his face.

Knowing not to overstep, Ralf relented five seconds later. Ejecting the CD, he had it fly back to its initial place. “Those different colour shelves, I assume, its a way of distinguishing the types of information.”

“Yeah. don't want everything to be jumbled up. We’re going to have millions of items in this place so being organized from the get-go will save us from headaches later on. There’s still much to do here, I just didn’t have the time. I’ll get to it later.

Rei turned and headed for the exit. Ralf followed suit.

“You said Naturals can house millions upon millions of books in their databases. Babel Library was meant to mimic that feat. Not just in storing either, I plan to create a search engine as well.”

“Like Google?” Ralf’s eyes sparkled.

“Yes, like Google. Knowledge is power after all. Any question we need answering will be at the touch of fingertips.”

Ralf beamed. “A Unique, a Telekinetic, and a pseudo-Natural, what’s next?”

Rei shrugged. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll start with those twenty-seven books on your shelves then move on from there.”

“Should we start now?”

Ralf was eager, but Rei shook his head.

“No, before that, we have to make a stop somewhere.”

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