August 4th, 2005, Brockton Bay
Being inside a full dive virtual room is extremely uncanny, I consciously know that the room around me doesn't exist and yet both my mind and body disagree with me vehemently. Everything about this room is realistic to such a degree that anyone uninformed about its nature wouldn't suspect a thing.
This realism can only be achieved by thoroughly measuring and quantifying every single one of my senses and having the program simulate the room using this data. The process works so well that every detail about the room feels as real as the real world sown to the last detail. In order to make the virtual reality more distinct from the real world, I added video game-like control screens that can be used to customize the room's settings and to exit the simulation.
Realism notwithstanding, the room also includes various 3D sculpting and modelling programs of my own designs. My prior method consisted of drawing the blueprints on paper and using a program on my 3D printer to interpret them before printing which would usually take a few minutes to complete. The modelling programs are both easier to use and will save me quite a bit of time in the long run.
Even then, using the modelling programs by themselves would save me only a few minutes on every project which is negligible in the grand scheme of things. That is, if you don't account for the variable time dilation experienced in this virtual world. With the ratio currently being set at four to one, a complicated blueprint that would have taken me an hour to draw on paper is modelled in seven and a half real world minutes. Of course, in virtual reality those seven and a half minutes feels more like half an hour.
Normally, the mental fatigue associated with experiencing an extra few hours of consciousness every day would be enormous. This problem is completely negated by the nature of this virtual reality. The program works by using a piece of hardware to sends signals to different areas of the brain corresponding to the different senses. Because none of the signals have to be interpreted by the brain or by the sensory organs, the brain spends considerably less energy than it would when awake in the real world.
The only change in my daily life needed to accommodate for those virtual hours is an extra hour of sleep every day. Worth it in my opinion for the amount of progress it allows. Of course, the programs time dilation can be set higher but not for any lengthy amount of time. At some point the amount of signals needed to simulate the accelerated room becomes too much for the brain to handle. I don't plan on going above four to one often anyway so it shouldn't be a problem for me.
All things considered, this isn't nearly the best virtual reality I can think of but it's good enough for my current and near future needs. The disconnection is nearly seamless on the programs part but the instantaneous change in environment is still nauseating on my senses.
Exiting the virtual classroom isn't the only thing making me feel nauseous. I guess my mind still hasn't come to term with the fact Hero is back. It's already been two days since the PRT officially announced his recovery and the whole country is still reeling from the shock.
Five years ago, the only thing that kept Hero alive after being bisected by the Siberian was Eidolon's quick use of a healing power and despite escaping death, he was still left in a coma. For a while, everyone in the country hoped for his recovery or for a parahuman to heal him but after four years waiting, people lost hope. After all, if Eidolon couldn't wake him up then the changes of someone else doing so were low.
As a result, the unplanned nationwide announcement by the PRT took pretty much everyone off guard. The sceptics were quick to claim the person a fake but I couldn't bring myself to doubt the PRT on something this big. With the amount of thinkers they have employed, not even the highest rated stranger could fool everyone.
The shock experienced by the public couldn't even begin to rival the one felt by the tinker community, almost any tinker younger than thirty had grown up looking up to the man after all.
Hero's subsequent announcement yesterday declaring his intention to attend Sphere's meeting in order to catch up to modern tinkers did little to calm us down. To the public, the news was only considered as more gossip to had to discussion but for tinkers, there was only one way to interpret it. Sphere's meeting is an opportunity to both meet and show off to the tinker community's greatest idol.
I expect the number of tinkers attending the meeting to rise exponentially, anyone with the means to come will want to be there and I'm no exception. For me, the stakes have risen to unbelievably high levels. The meeting went from a small opportunity to get some publicity to the single greatest gathering of tinkers since the advent of parahumans within two days. In other words, I have to make a great impression.
Luckily for me, my upgraded tools are just good enough to support my competitive spirit. My list of equipment to bring will remain the same but I plan to upgrade and install anything I can in the ten days left before the meeting. I don't expect to get much sleep.
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August 10th, 2005, Brockton Bay
Being stuck in a tinker fugue for over twenty eight hours isn't healthy for anyone but I can't argue with the results. I probably haven't eaten in days and I feel like my eyes have been flash dried but the pain is well worth the reward. The first sight that greets me when my mind clears up is a handheld universal transmutation machine. Despite having no recollection of building it, my tinker power quickly supplies me with information about the machine.
The thing needs four ascendant matter disks to work and somehow incorporates multiple miniaturized particle accelerators and micro foundries which makes it capable of replenishing it's reserves of ascendant matter. It's also capable of low complexity transmutation which means it's able to make alloys as long as there's no more than three component elements. The thing works a bit slow but that's acceptable considering it's nature as a handheld device.
Despite being the most useful, the transmutation device isn't the only thing I built in the last six days. Besides the transmutation device which is something I've never built before, everything else is either an upgrade or a new take on something I made in the past.
For transportation, I built a swarm of eight unmanned micro drones capable of projecting portals of varying sizes depending on their position. The biggest portals they can create are house-sized and each drone can reach speeds similar to my hypervelocity armor which makes them my fastest way to transport massive amounts of materials over long distances. I plan to use an even bigger swarm for the Behemoth fight.
These drones are a testament to how far I've come, they're my only creation I'd consider first rate due to how many functions they have. Each one incorporates miniaturized mute field emitters, stealth systems, force field generators and adaptive programming. The swarm is controlled by a low level A.I that learns from every situation it's used in and they each went through a lengthy break and repair cycle.
For weapons, I made my single most lethal piece of equipment to date. In simple terms, it's a highly powerful railgun that shoots portal bullets. The railgun by itself is merely lethal but the portal bullets are overkill. Each projectile is essentially an extremely miniaturized portal generator with sensors connected to a small computer that decides when to open the portals. When the bullet reaches the target, it essentially cuts a thumb-sized hole through them regardless of durability. Only a few types of brutes, a few breakers and certain force field users have a chance to survive.
I've also made a miniaturized image printer which contains copies of every blueprint I've made to date. That way I can have all of them on hand if needed. I can even go into a ten to one virtual room at any time if I want to quickly create any blueprint I haven't made yet.
The two final pieces of equipment work in a pair. The first one is a flash forge which is just a fancy name for my fastest type of 3D printer. At the expanse of being unable to print any truly complicated tinkertech, the flash forge is able to print things like EMP grenades, flashbangs and emergency shelters in under five minutes.
The second part of the pair is called the inventory system, it's essentially an automated storage unit which sorts and stores whatever the flash forge prints. What makes it special is that each storage shelf can generate a portal connected to my drone swarm which means I now have access to any extra equipment I leave there. I'm no longer limited to what I can carry.
Besides all of that, everything I plan to showcase for use in the lunar colony has been completed and tested. My meal tonight will be chicken of the woods mushroom with mashed potatoes and broccoli. The portals have already been tested by my daily use of them to get from my house to the boat graveyard.
Unexpectedly, the artificial gravity generator has unreal entertainment value. I spent at least an hour after building it just fooling around with the settings. Walking on walls and on the ceiling was pretty fun but nothing can rival the childish joy I felt jumping around the room under zero gravity. For a moment, it almost felt like all the world's problems disappeared. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to enjoy it but I swear I'm going to make my own zero gravity room after the meeting and I'm going to spend all my spare time in it.
I've also received news from armsmaster that he'll be going to Sphere's meeting along with over three hundred PRT employed tinkers AND Brockton Bay's newest ward. I'm happy for the kid, the meeting is any tinker's single greatest opportunity for improvement and recognition and it would be a shame for him to miss it. Coincidentally, the other two unknown tinkers just happen to be going on vacations suspiciously close to the meeting location in just about four days.
Since I'm done with every project I wanted to do, all I can do until the meeting is spend the time attending to my obligations and writing some programs I'll need for future projects. Maybe I'll go see armsmaster and meet the new Ward to check if I can help him figure things out.
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August 12th, 2005, Brockton Bay
I don't know why I didn't expect this, I should've know armsmaster wouldn't be able or willing to help the kid much. The guy is so career oriented that I'm pretty sure the only reason he recruited him was so he'd get another achievement on his resume. The only reason he'd spend time helping the kid is if he had something gain from it and as far as I know, the kid hasn't made any designs for something better than my arc reactor yet. There's also the compatibility problems to consider, armsmaster's specialization doesn't require him to think outside the box so he wouldn't be of much help on that front.
Even worse, with Sphere's meeting rapidly approaching, armsmaster's been holed up in his lab for a week trying to prepare. As a result, I took it upon myself to help the kid at least a bit, least I can do since it's my fault he's stuck with armsmaster as a mentor. Now I've been stuck listening to the kid complaining for the last thirty minutes.
His whiny voice interrupts my thoughts and I'm once more forced to pay attention to his childish rambling.
"And none of this stupid shit works! I've been trying since last week to make equipment so the adults let me go on patrol but my stupid power won't let me do what I want." I can't help but sigh at his way of thinking. Just as I was about to speak, the kid interrupts me.
"And what am I supposed to do with power sources if I don't even have any equipment to power? Eh? Why don't you answer my question since you adults always seem to think you know everything."
And now the kid just changed my annoyance into anger, my response might be more rude than it needs to be but I don't care anymore.
"Listen kid, a power is only as good as it's user and from what you've been telling me, you've been a shitty user." Just as the kid tries to interrupt me, I shush I'm and continue speaking. It may be impolite but his pissed off look is worth it.
"Don't try to deny it, you've just been blaming your power for not giving you the final answer when you're not even willing to do any of the mental gymnastics yourself. Just as a test, why don't you tell me the average problems and advantages of a regular power source?"
Despite his surprise at my question, the kid quickly interprets it as an opportunity to get one over me. The kid's expression is smug as he rattles off a surprisingly long list.
"Well a power source can have meltdowns, it can have a breach, some power sources create radiation and others create heavy elements after a while but most of my power sources can produce a lot of energy." Despite being longer than expected for his age, the list is still short for any half decent tinker but it's more than enough to teach him a lesson.
"Now I'll show you why you've been a shitty user with your own answer. First of all, a power source can be designed to meltdown explosively on command which can be used to make one-time use grenades. Even better if you can make a power source that creates an EMP on meltdown."
The kids anger and smugness quickly turns to a look of interest, his eyes rapidly dilate in what I'm assuming to be a sign of tinker thoughts. Now that I have his complete attention, I list off the rest of ideas.
"Secondly, a power source can be designed to breach in a controlled and continuous manner. Depending on the design, this can provide either thrust or cutting tools using plasma ejections." By now, the kids eyes are half glazed over and he's absently taking notes.
"Finally, power doesn't actually have to come from the generator. By that, I mean a power source that absorbs ambiant energy, this can include heat, electricity, wind, sounds, light and you can even extract some energy from earth's gravity or magnetic field. Such a power source can be used to cool down or freeze a place, stop electronics from working by depriving them of electricity, make something immune to radar by absorbing the radio waves, create a zero noise area similar to my mute field emitters and can even be used for visual stealth by absorbing every bit of light that touches the power source to cover the power source in absolute darkness."
By the end of my short rant, the kid is only half listening and is already well on his way to a tinker fugue. I take the opportunity to leave and the kid is so focused he doesn't even notice my exit. Despite being a little shit, I'm still happy I could be of help to him. I'll have to talk to armsmaster about at least trying to be a good mentor for the kid. My suggestions should be enough to show armsmaster how much potential the kid has.
Now that I'm free, all I can do I wait. My portal drones were sent on their way to Sphere's complex in Texas earlier today and should have arrived quickly. I guess I'll go there tomorrow by portal and set up an emergency shelter a few kilometers from the meeting location. That way I'll be sure to arrive on time.
The meeting has also been changed from a simple meeting and exchange of ideas between a few dozen tinkers to something akin to a tinker themed comicon. I've been assigned a stall position by mail yesterday and multiple meetings are planned to happen throughout the five days of the event. Sphere supposedly wants to meet every tinker there personally over the course of five days. I'm not sure how he's planning to do that since the current number of attendees is in the hundreds and rapidly approaching a thousand.
For now though, I have to go to bed early. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day.
A.N: this chapter is a bit packed with information but I'm trying to be detailed and since the story is told from a first person perspective, the chapters are as busy as the situation warrants. As of this chapter, some of the differences that make this a parallel universe are shown. Hero was in a coma instead of dead. The reason he's now healthy was hinted in previous chapters but the hints only make sense in hindsight when you know Hero was never dead in this parallel universe. Hope you enjoyed, till next time.