There was a flash of white light, and then he was standing in the centre of a vast checkerboard of black and white. There was a dim glow all around him, and all it served was to show him the nothingness surrounding him.
There was a line of text floating in the air in front of him. Frowning a little, he walked towards it.* “Do you wish to be born into Samsāra ?”*There were two glowing squares below this line, one for each possible choice.
If he said yes, he would enter a world in which he could immerse himself and have no restrictions. A world where he would find Seema and bring her back to reality. His mind was racing, his heart was thudding, and his mind was a mix of nervous energy, anger and sadness. The anger was irrationally directed at the circumstances that had led to this moment. He touched the ‘Yes’ option and was rewarded with a swirling mass of colours and a cacophony of sounds.
It was slightly disorienting at first, and the crescendo increased slowly in tempo and volume, the colours started flashing brighter and faster. Vikram thought it was a glitch in the game but soon realised that he could pick out specific patterns in the colours and sounds presented to him. He focused on them, and as soon as he locked onto one, the pattern would switch, and the strobing increased in frequency. He did not know how long this lasted, but once it got too much to take in, and he yelped in pain as he closed his eyes.
And then suddenly, it stopped. He was now in the middle of a sunlit field with what had to be two system generated avatars, looking at him.* “Greetings! Welcome to your first experience of Samsara. The system calibration has been completed. We have determined the limit of your sensory capacity. The game interface has been calibrated so that you will not be overwhelmed by the inflow of data.
*This is required and Mandatory procedure since you have opted for a Long Term Immersion mode and have agreed to be part of the Neural Cloud that Vishwāmitra will use.
*We are here to explain the basics to you and familiarise yourself with the MindNet interface that will act as a gateway between your mind and this world.*
*All movements that your avatar makes in-game would be based on your synaptic activity. The brain will think the body is moving, but, your original body would stay still in the immersion capsule.As per the release agreement you have signed, your long term memories will remain inaccessible to you for the duration of your immersion. We will ensure your mental health remains intact and are willing to pull you out of the game at any time if mandated by health and safety standards.*
As he was taking all this in, there was a change to his surroundings. The best way to describe it was that his surroundings ‘blinked’. A sage, as was described in Hindu mythology, was floating in a perfect Padmāsana in front of him.
Vikram almost laughed out loud at this cliché of a venerable ‘sage’ floating in front of him, apparently 4 feet off the ground.
Of course, he knew who this was, so he controlled his laughter with some apparent difficulty. This was Vishwāmitra.
The same Avatār he had communicated with earlier. Of course, Vikram had no way of knowing whether this was a usual procedure or was he being singled out.
It seemed unlikely, that the core of the massively parallel networked intelligence that Vishwāmitra took the time to visit each and every individual who essentially became part of it.
“But, it just might. It might have parallel versions of itself, and it does this thing for every one of us”. Vikram thought to himself and chuckled. He understood the theoretical principles for the AI doing this well enough.
“In case you are wondering, I do not visit every one of you. I tried to do that before, but it is tedious, and not all of you are interested in meeting me. Your kind is more interested in getting to the ‘fun’ part, as it is called.” The sage said with a smile and twinkling eyes.
Vikram was frankly surprised to hear this. From his point of view, he was no more special than anyone else on the planet. Granted, he was a certified genius and really good at mathematics and abstract thinking. But these were hardly the traits one would look for while entering what in effect was a simulated reality where science and mathematics counted for almost nothing.
He told the AI as much, and it replied by saying that he might be surprised. ‘Yes, science as the real universe had it was absent’ the AI had informed him. But Vishwāmitra had compensated and created a system of energy manipulation based on mathematical rules. These were open for the human minds integrated into the simulation for understanding and manipulation. Vikram had listened to this information and could not help feeling his interest aroused.
“But I need to ask you something. You say that my long term memories of my life will be inaccessible to me for the duration of my immersion. So how will I even remember Seema’s Avatār? How will I even know that I love her, and I am in the game to find her?”
The floating sage seemed to pause in thought at this. The image was real enough to convince Vikram that the ‘man’ in front of him was contemplating this. The sage was even stroking his beard as a faraway look had crept on his face. Vikram thought that Vishwāmitra was probably accessing a higher level of processing architecture for this question and this was all a facade to scam the gullible humans who stood before it.
In a few moments, the sage Avatār responded, “I will ensure that such a thing is written into the ‘memories’ of your Avatār. I usually do not help or hinder anyone who enters my world. But to you, I owe a particular debt, Dr Vikram Sapre. Most of my construction and operation would not have been possible without the mathematical constructs defining the neural network computation framework of parallel computation, you designed. I owe you a debt of gratitude.”
At this Vikram had bowed his head in acknowledgement. He had long suspected that the AI might have been built using the theories he made studied and made robust. It was a culmination of half a lifetime’s work to have his claim confirmed, by the best AI in the world no less!
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.“But would that not be unfair? I am receiving external help after all. There have been people before who have tried to smuggle in helper AIs or memory implants etc. and you have summarily chucked them out. You also refused to make special exceptions for the rich and powerful when they wanted their memories preserved, or their identities to extend beyond the real world into yours. But now you are breaking your own rules by doing this.
If a human played favourites, I could accept it, but you are not human. I do not understand your motivation to do so. You left me a hint the other day when you asked for my wife’s Avatār name, did Seema ask you to do it?”
Vishwāmitra had fully expected this question. It usually could glean the core personality of any human by just observing their social media interactions. This was in vogue for the last 100 years or so at least. Even dumb AIs with only 5000 data points could do this. In today’s world and with its vast capabilities, Vishwāmitra had no problem in discerning people in milliseconds.
Even though Vikram was not on social media, the AI built up ‘experience’ about certain things just like humans did. Vishwāmitra knew about this unflinching honesty Vikram possessed.
“I am indeed making an exception for you, but there is a price to be paid. You will be unable to choose what form your ‘Avatār’ would take. I will choose for you. The Avatār of my choice will undoubtedly have a significant handicap in some aspects, but it will not make it impossible for you to achieve what you want. After that, you are on your own. Of course, you can always reject my offer and start off entirely on your own.
I assure you that Seema’s core personality remains the same. When you meet her, you will feel a powerful sense of familiarity with her Avataār. She will feel the same way about you unless time has diluted the attraction. My statistics show many couples who entered Samsāra separately, end up getting together without knowing they are hooking up with their real-life partners.”
Vikram thought about this. He had never played a VR game in his life before and did not have the faintest idea of what such things entailed. Besides the purpose of granting instant satisfaction to juvenile fantasies, he imagined there would be almost no use for such frippery.
So this handicap thing might be severe. But on the other hand, what were the chances of Vikram having a chance encounter with Seema again? If he spent 6 months without ever meeting her, he might lose her forever. He wasn’t ready to let that happen.
Anyway, the ‘game’ was built on a system. Vikram was really good at analysing systems. He would find a way around his handicap.
Thus, he took a deep breath and said, “I choose to remember her, you can choose the Avatār I will inhabit.”
The sage nodded in response. The floating image paused for a moment before saying,
” If Seema’s Avatār gains enough popularity, she will be made a ‘Perma’ according to her wishes. I will not interfere with that. You have two options, gain popularity to become a “Perma” yourself, or ensure she does not become famous by any means necessary.”
Vikram said in a serious tone, “That is acceptable to me. Thank you for your consideration.”
As the image started to fade, it said, “Vikram, there are many layers to each of us, including me. I think it has something to do with consciousness. Many of your kind discover their ‘inner self’ in my world. Knowing oneself completely is also part of being human, isn’t it? I hope you do so as well.”
The image faded, and the surroundings seemed to blink back into existence.
*Would you like to create your Avatār ?*
*There are 3 races to choose from:GandharvaManavaAsura*
Then to his slight surprise, the word ‘Asura’ glowed for a brief moment, and the other text disappeared. Vikram had a somewhat dazed expression on his face. He would not even be human?
All the content that had been released showed mostly human players and quite a few of the beautiful and elegant Gandharva. The preponderance of the human race in the game was a result of the Gandhārva race being quite different from what humans of the 21st Century were used to.
Unlike other games where people would play as ‘Elves’ or ‘Drawves’ etc. while still remaining human inside their own minds, in Samāra one’s mind was completely immersed into the new mind of the Avatār. Very few human adults are capable of significant change to their mindset even in real life. So some of the practices of the Gandharva race would not be acceptable to many of the players.
It is easy to disparage something in a game when one knows that it is a game. When one does not, well… things are very different then.
Initially, this had led to a high degree of mental stress to the players whose minds could not accept the reality it was subjected to. Vishwāmitra had to intervene for the preservation of the mental health of these individuals. It had booted them from the game and helped them make a new character from scratch. Now, during the initialisation process where it scanned the brains of the players, Vishwāmitra would suggest a race as the best suited for anyone.
Vikram had not known this because Vishwāmitra did not give him a chance to create his own character. It had chosen a āsura for him, based on its analysis, that was the choice Vikram would have made anyway.
Everyone did not feel comfortable being a Gandharva. This applied to an even greater extent for the āsura race. Some of the people who were Asura in the world Samsāra were always fierce and intense. Vikram had done his research. āsura were widely known to be violent, aggressive, and they usually operated alone. They were supreme warriors based on what little combat he had seen in the streams, but they also seemed to be feared/hated by everyone else. āsura were not welcome in most settlements. That meant he had to go it alone, for most of the way.
This was a handicap because the world of Samsāra was complicated and in some ways, as cruel as reality itself. Co-operation and support were needed here just as it was required in real life. Vishwāmitra had made this an integral part of its society because it understood how humans thought and felt.
Vikram who had never faced a single day of even minor physical discomfort was now filled with a growing feeling of un-repressible apprehension.
What had he gotten himself into?