A cup of Time

 

               Survived the rush of another day, another job well done. The rat wheel of life had ceased to be, there was nothing left for me to do but to hurry to the Tube, in hopes of not taking too much time reaching home. The only problem now was the long lines that would be created during major traffic times, like when everyone would gather to watch the latest talk of the tech guru Awlpin or when the job shifts ended over dense business areas. The streets became so packed with commuters at those times that it was only obvious for merchants to eventually start selling their wares alongside the Tube waiting lines. In the shopping stalls on the sidewalks these merchants would sell you many things, ranging from the usual food to drugs that would make you fall into a state of bliss, and thus shortening the boring awaiting time period to get home.  There would also be a boundless army of barkers, inviting you to other places or ready to sell you bio or cybernetic modifications at some illegal shack for a boundless cheap price. The neon signs and augmented reality ads swamped the area as far as the eye could see, and trash littered the ground. All of this was the byproduct of the major overhaul in free trade done by the city state autarchy, and so despite the seemingly lack of rules abound in the city, the Law wouldn't act upon it unless it got directly bothered. The cogs of society were clearly working fine, no need for law enforcement to grease them with a few beatings with shock batons, or something worse. That didn't meant people were free of the barkers’ mental molestation, since I was being harassed by them as I advanced in line, waiting for my turn on the Tube, mostly ignoring their overused sales tactics that bore little to no significance.

- New leg muscles for you sir? They can make you jump ten feet higher and run fifteen times faster! Jump or run home instead of using the Tube!

- Ignore that guy! What you need is a new superior meatus, so that will only smell what you want to smell! Can you imagine a world where you only smell marvelous wonders? Come on over to the Imperial Lab and we'll get it done in no time!

- Have you ever wondered how a butterfly sees the world around us? Why not become one yourself and find if fairies are real with a bit of Tooku-traumlein? No bad side effects, guaranteed. Also, a pack of twenty-four drops is dirty cheap!

- High tech brawn over a twelve-month payment. Take the pamphlet home with you and mull it over. You know your lady friends will be all over you when you're done with the procedure. The Rough It company is the place for you, and we both know it.

               Another day at the line was almost over as I reach the Tube. Inputting the coordinates and getting to my house block many miles away is the only thing in my mind, there's always something better to do at home.

- The law enforcers think they own the place! - I think to myself as I'm surprised by an armored cop car almost blocking the outbound Tube.

               While diverting myself from this spatial blockage I notice two cops enforcing their Law over someone, wearing raggedy clothes and a barker badge confirming he was a legal worker, despite what he's selling might not be. Even from a distance you could still smell the awful low-class cigar that one of the enforcers was smoking.

- What you're selling isn't welcome over here punk. This is your first and last warning.

- But we're still in the city, most of what I'm offering is-

               One of the cops clubbed the barker with his baton, a malicious smile covered his face while he replied.

- The captain doesn't want to hear it and neither do I. We've had enough of it, the only thing that will be sold here is material good enough for the suburbs of the city. Why do you think you see no other barker around?

- I thought-

- Exactly. You thought. You should stop doing that and do what your told or next time we're permanently disabling your augmentations.

- You can't do that!

- We can and will.

               The cop turned on the shock apparatus and hit the barker's leg with it. A loud scream came out of the barker's mouth, it was an involuntary cry for help that no one would attend to. The other law enforcer crunches the cigar on the still human side of the barker's face, making him whimper like a wounded dog.

- This was your last warning.

               As I observed the scene the first law enforcer nudged the aggressing one, pointing over to where I was, as if I was a threat to their current plans. They both signaled me that what I was seeing was none of my business, telling me to scram to my house lest I be prone to be beaten into submission for standing in front of the Law. Typical law enforcers, even the threats they use on abiding citizens is something you end up getting used to, but it was best to never test if they really meant what they said. Detouring over the car blocked path I welcomed the ad blighted path on my way home, which despite no longer being any bit close to the city center, the surroundings were still full of vibrant ads. Around here it displayed mostly the family friendly ads, showing families doing whatever was the weekly fad. In this case it was the family friendly psychedelic drugs that ensured "fun without ever needing to leave your house". You could even pick what adventure you would want to get out of the drug.

               Finally arriving at the eight storied building without a proper door to block intruders that I lived in, I was welcomed by the smell of humanity. Inside the building were remnants of what could still be called people. Some hunched over a corner trying out whatever new drug they got their hands on, others screaming neighborly menaces from one door to another, while some others would tend to the interior clotheslines that would hang over one wall of the complex to another. The usual sight of humans with low-end enhanced prosthetics plagued the whole complex. I walked through the community kitchen to get to the elevator, ignoring anyone in my path, with my mind set on one thing and that was reaching home and turning on my beloved game. As per usual the elevator lights were still broken, something that fortunately didn't hamper the body scan, the last enemy in my path before being able to reach my destination. Taken to the seventh floor and reaching my door I take out my chip-key and let the door scan it. Error. The door wouldn't open. It was acting up again. How many times had I talked with the landlord about this before? Always saying that he'll fix it but that I'm a very resourceful man that could surely find ways around it, while waiting for the scanner to be fixed. Cheap rent comes with cheap excuses, and cheap materials get cheap solutions. One punch. Error. Second punch. Accepted. Second try, not bad. The armored door to my own palace was now opened.

               This palace was nothing but a backwater apartment, fortunately suited with a kitchen unit, a bathroom unit and a four and a half tatami floored room, that served both as living room and bedroom. Two windows were all it had, one in the kitchen and another in the bathroom, both with outdated anti-robber protection, small enough to make sure only the most mechanized bodies would fit through, and no one that mechanized would ever want to rob this type of house. It was small but cozy, and the walls were also thick enough to ensure nothing could be heard from the inside of it. The entertainment unit activated itself upon me entering the tatami room, it showed more of the proselytizing Awlpin talking about how we were in the brink of a new era.

- Turn on Legacy Omega and cook some instant ramen.

               The vocal order made the entertainment unit start display the Legacy Omega's logo over one of the three walls, while I moved over to the kitchen and waited for the cheap ramen to be served at the kitchen counter. Slurping the stale meal, the back of my mind debated with itself on my choice of food with one side implying I could afford real ingredients, the other side conveying that all that mattered was Legacy Omega. With the food intake hindrance out of the way it was finally time to enjoy some of that blissful time. Too bad it didn't matter how fast I was at eating, the long wait for the fourth wall of the tatami room to close was always there to destroy any time gains. The DoppelFramer was still on top of the futon, ready for my head to wear it so I could at last connect my brain directly to the game instead of having to vocally order the entertainment unit.

               Today I was supposed to help my guild grind for a coveted low drop item so they could win the next weekly championship. It was a quite hard to get item as they needed three teams of four people just to make sure the mobbing was properly done and another two teams of five people to solo the boss to get the item.

- You're early today Fawks (*´・ω・)ノ Most of the guild isn't here yet  ♪o(*⌒―⌒*)o♪

          I was greeted by a fellow guild player through the friend chat. It was 3juu, a high-level Tank whose job would be tanking the side enemies, making sure the boss teams wouldn't get mobbed. I've known 3juu for quite some time now, but we weren't kin on knowing each other at a personal level outside of the game. Inside the game we were both great friends, but I was hoping for the guild offline meetings, that were held every so often, to change how we view one another. I had high expectations for the offline interaction ever since I got scouted into the guild and lauded as some sort of prodigy, however those elusive meetings were nowhere in sight since I had joined the team.

- That's fine. Do you want to do something 3juu?

- Sure! （*＾ワ＾*）I need to get some items to reforge my armor bonuses♪~♪ d(⌒o⌒)b ♪~♪ I've been having terrible luck with the reforges (∥￣■￣∥)

- Sounds like a plan then, lead the way 3juu.

- Thanks for the help Fawks ＼（＝＾O＾=)/'`*:;｡･★

              We walked over the teleport system and moved to the area that had the needed items. It seemed there was no one around except the two of us for the longest time as we farmed the enemies, but that changed when a server side looking message popped in my head.

- "Congratulations you've been chosen as a winner for the award we're giving out"

- I won? I didn't even enter anything. Was there any special contest going on at the server 3juu?

- Contest? (゜ロ゜) Not that I know of. il||li▄█▀█●il||li  But you won?!（・ｗ・）Win what Fawks?  !!(ﾟﾛﾟﾉ)ﾉWho's talking to you, there's no one here besides the two of us? (´･ω･`;)

- What do you mean? I thought it was a global message for our dungeon. It looked like a global message. Didn't you get a message on your side too?

- "Your prize will arrive shortly. Please consider stop playing and wait for the safe courier to show up at your doorstep"

- No idea what you're talking about Fawks 。゜(゜´Д｀゜)゜。I didn't get anything and there's no one else here but us  ∠( ﾟдﾟ)/

- Okay that's wei-

               The house system announced a visitor at the apartment door through the DoppelFramer as I was still playing. A small video feed showed a fancy looking robot waiting at the entrance. No one else seemed to be around it, and the robot seemed to be too high-end to be your typical courier bot. From what I could see, it didn't look like I was being entrapped.

- Let's take a small break, there's a courier bot at the door.

- Awrighty Fawks!  ♪(ﾟ▽^*)ﾉ⌒☆

               Carefully taking off the DoppelFramer and waiting for the fourth wall door to open, I took my time to make sure this wasn't a scam. I opened the door, coming head-to-head with the robot that looked more like a personalized butler. It didn't seem like it had brought a delivery bag with it, so I ended up expecting a voice message to be delivered. Without uttering a word, the robot opened its chest area showing a hidden cavity where it stashed an item, an item that it was now handing out to me. This item was carefully packaged as an exemplary gift, any try at finding out what was inside without opening it was futile. As I grabbed the present the neat delivery robot bowed and went on its way. It was the first time I had ever seen such a display and it made me sure that whatever the item inside the gift package was, judging by who delivered it and how it looked like, it was something worth quite a penny. With the light package on my arms, I calmly walked over back to the tatami room and left the present on the floor picking the DoppelFramer so I could contact 3juu.

- "Open your prize now. Usher into the new world"

- Are you there 3juu?

- "Connection error"

               In the wall you could see the game was still running, with 3juu still playing the game, so the connection error that was now on display on all four walls made no sense. No matter how much I tried to contact anyone the error notice was always there to deflect any of my efforts. The message that was previously being displayed now showed something else instead.

- "Open your present"

               I became slightly freaked out. The message now had audio in it, and it repeated on my head over and over what appeared on the wall. I took off the DoppelFramer but it still felt like the message wouldn't cease to echo. There was nothing else on my mind, as if the previous command had coded a will within myself, I had to open the present now. Picking the item on the floor I savagely destroyed the outer wrapping, only to find out that what was inside was a high-tech looking pyramid. No chip or key slot, no visible audio recording device or button either. Not even a device to open through biometrics. Just a black pyramid. The surface was smooth and slick, and it emanated a light glow from the few lines that decorated it.

- Put your lips on it and   Hush your name.

               I acquiesced. It was no longer necessary to understand where the commands were coming from. There was only one thing that needed to be done, that was opening the faintly glowing black pyramid. As if knowing before-hand what needed to be done, I placed my lips on the object. The glow began to intensify, changing from a blue hue to a green hue. The words "ACCEPTANCE" fluttered in my mind as if they were flying in front of my own eyes. Upon hushing my name, I accepted "GLORY" into my life, feeling fulfillment as the black pyramid rearranged itself into a tiny cup with a strange liquid on it. I couldn't take my eyes out of it, surrounded now by four blue walls, this calm liquid invited me to enter a bright room where someone else was already waiting. As my body was magnetized to the inviting seat the host began a monologue, my eyes seemingly locked onto the man's face.

- Welcome Mr. Lem to this humble abode of ours. I'm sorry as you'll only take part of this little play as nothing more than a puppet for the moment being. You were one of the few winners around the world and what you've been given is the chance to become more. As you may or may not know, I've been the frontrunner of most bio engineered tech we legally have, and other wet work as well. But not this one. I'll be truthful to you. The reason I'm giving you this opportunity is not out of cheer charity, but because I need to know how the world and the individual will react to what I'm offering. I'll open a door to you, so you'll open a door to me, that's the sort of situation we're in. Which comes to what this present of mine is. It's Time Mr. Lem. Time. The most important asset at our life's disposal is now at your reach. All it takes is a sip of this tea of mine and you won't have to care about time anymore. Through immortality you'll no longer find yourself bound by time and its whims, and if everything works out, you'll eventually be able to even phase out of Time, as that is what I'm looking forward to bringing about in the future iterations. I believe that's enough for now, allow me to cut your strings so that you may acquire free will once more. With freedom comes responsibilities, and in this case choices.

               I could finally move my head now. I could think as well and much more but I couldn't take my eyes off the tiny cup of tea on the table in front of me. Poured into a tiny Asian styled green painted cup, was a dark brown liquid. The paintings on it bore no significance to what the liquid was meant for, it had four monkeys, wearing samurai outfits, seemingly having a picnic under some blossoming cherry trees. The table had a pearl white cloth, and the wooden chairs were something out of a twentieth century antique store. There was a warm light coming from the walls. Warm like the sun, but there were no windows in sight nor any sign of where the light was coming from. The hallowed looking room had no beginning nor end to it. In front of me was the man, a man I had clearly known about. It was Awlpin. Awlpin looked like an ordinary man despite the various augmentations he had done to himself. He had one mechanical arm, result of an incident as a small child but that was the only mechanical change to his body. Just like his only known fashion alteration were his cobalt turquoise eyes, that made him stand out quite a bit. There had been a rumor that he had also made a fashion alteration to his own body odor, so that he would always smell of summer dandelions, but for some unknown reason, there was no sense of smell where we sat right now. Nothing but a massive elusive room, with an absence of smell and end. Finally taken out of my stupor, I question the one that brought about the invitation to this place.

- Mr. Awlpin, that means I can refuse to drink this liquid. But why would I ever do that?

               Awlpin's face went from neutral to bored. It was to him as talking to a little child and trying to explain what death was.

- You see, just like you see me as Awlpin, you also think there's only good things to come out of becoming one with Time. For now, there won't be any scanners prepared to check for it but there will be in the future. Notably since this augmentation won't ever be on sale. And if you become something special, you'll be bound to be arrested and tested just so others can have what you have. And you'll be like that for an eternity. Do you think someone like you is up for the task of not dying? To forever stay alive? Possibly alone, without anyone that can help you, as you're deemed a pariah by others around you. Eternally bound to chains, clinging for a phase augment that may never come out to save you. The only way out of a situation like this is to destroy everything you care about so you may be free, free enough to escape the shackles that came out of boundless life. Are you ready for such an outcome? I'm not, yet. That's why I'm offering you this. It is as much as a present as it is a curse, but even as a curse, it will allow me to weight the good and the bad out of it and make my future decisions clearer. Maybe even show me other paths still unknown.

               A sense of dread came over me. I hadn't given enough thought about it. What it meant to have to fight a whole world of different beings, afterwards, if I chose to take the cup. A whole universe of consequences now claimed my mind as their own, but my body struggled over not drinking the liquid. I could become much more, more than I could ever wish to be, and all it took was a little sip. But the thoughts in the back of my mind wanted to keep my wish at bay, dividing my decision of becoming one with Time. If I can't die how bad can it be? I could learn everything I wanted, achieving everything I needed, work towards a goal without being under the stasis of life. Before any of my thoughts had reached a conclusion, my body had made its decision, grabbing the cup with my two hands, shaking, I gulped down the liquid and felt nothing.

- Is this it?

- That was it. Thank you for your assistance.

               I woke up inside of my room. The small blue walled cup was now empty. It seemed I had drunk all the liquid during the trance state, when I met the one shaped like Awlpin. If it wasn't for the messages looming in my head, I would have thought nothing had changed and it had been nothing but a dream. Especially since the black pyramid had now mysteriously deconstructed itself from the room. They read like messages without audio while wearing the DoppelFramer, but I suddenly remembered I wasn't wearing it. It was still on the floor where I had left it.

- "Hello user v32. Welcome to the New World"

- "As for a brief introduction, we advise you to change your visible name to something new and never before used by you, since other users will see your name as you’ll leave it"

- "This interface exists to help others like yourself decide their own fate through Time, allowing them to usher into the new age to come"

- "Think about your new name"

               Letters scrambled before my very eyes as I was trying to decide on what name I would have for myself. What would I want to do with this newfound illegal augmentation? Hide? Help others? Learn more and get a better job? What did I want out of this world of mine? For now, the whole world was mine and present, despite having to live in two worlds. The world where I lived for the everyday things like having a job and paying rent, and the new world that sounded like an ad screaming I could be everything I ever wanted. In the end it wasn't that different from the escapism surrounding my many hours spent playing online games throughout my life. So why not now use Life as escapism for itself and create a better self, a higher self that would ensure things would get done? With this newfound joy for Life the letters in my brain began to form a word. A new name had been etched for my newfound eternity, however long may it be, and a large smile was crafted over my face. I was ready, ready for my new Adventure.

- "Thank you. Henceforth you shall be known as Samael"

- "May you bring about a New World as you're taught how this Life now works"