《The fall of Indra》 Prologue: The MindNet revolution Kalyani Joglekar looked out of the window her palatial mansion and sighed. It was summer, and the weather outside was sweltering hot as only Indian summers can be. With the increase in the damage to the ozone layer a few decades ago, this kind of weather had become poison for anyone caught in the sun for a long time. She chuckled in fond remembrance of the childhood days spent in applying the slightly smelly jelly onto her skin before going out to play. Kids never understand or tolerate any delay in going out to play. It was an annoyance, but it had saved her and countless other children from the embrace of skin cancers. Those were the times when even Indians, who are decidedly darker in the shade of skin than most of the world, would buy suntan creams and lotions. And those with less melanin would not even venture out of their homes. But, human ingenuity had prevailed, and the problem had been fixed, quite permanently. So, it was back to summer and the sweltering heat. She looked out of her window wistfully. She could not go out, not even with the most advanced prosthetics. Her failing body could not cope with any physical strain put on it. But it would be soon over; she would be free of her physical body and its constraints. Today was the day, one early summer day in 2115. Kalyani would end her life. Kalyani was a prodigy by any means of reckoning. She understood advanced mathematics when other kids her age were trying to figure out which shape matches which word. She was widely hailed as an intellect as towering as Leonardo Da Vinci but not in the field of arts but sciences. Kalyani had assembled her first computer when she was 11 and had hacked into the Central Police Bureaus forensic centre by the age of 14. This was a slight embarrassment to the CPB of India. She was doing penetration testing for the Bureau, and the Police did not know they were employing a 14-year-old. And the worst part of it was that she had not used any social engineering techniques. She had just convinced the AI that governed security for the CPB to let her in. I made friends with it. Was the answer that had resounded across the world when all of this had come to light. Kalyani was never seen in the limelight again for the next 10 years. Her education was kept a complete secret, and she worked on multiple projects for the Indian Defence Services. 10 years later, aged 24 she went on the public forums for raising funds to fuel her own corporation. She had called it Vishwmitra, after the mythological creator of his own world in Hindu myths. Vishwmitra was a sage, who was dissatisfied with this world and believed that Brahma the Hindu god of creation had done a shoddy job. So, deciding to do something better, he set about creating his own world. The corporations main product had blown away everyone who had seen the demonstration video. It came to light 5 years later than Kalyani was the only human participant in the corporation. The rest were conglomerates of AI entities. Kalyani had pioneered AI research in her 10-year disappearance from public life. She had spawned numerous AI entities which evolved and merged into a networked entity other. This was Vishwmitra. The world was outraged at this, but hers was not the first non-human owned company that provided tangible solutions to problems involving extensive data analysis. Kalyni argued brilliantly with her critics that any corporation by itself existed only in the shared human imagination. A corporation could be sued, taxed, taken over or spawned, but all this was happening without the corporation being a real living entity. One could sue a company, but it was not the same as suing the CEO of the company. The company was not its shareholders because killing half of them did not reduce the size of the corporation by half. This was the accepted understanding of how any human organisation evolved, ranging from farming communities to nations. So, a corporation had been a standalone legal entity. So if this was the case, why should there be a caveat that only human entities could own corporations? So far, she was on solid ground. Vishwmitra wasnt the first non-human owned corporation in the world. But the others were small online businesses or subsidiaries of huge corporations. But the AI entities that owned other corporations were not granted citizenship status by any country on the planet. In a landmark move, the then Indian government had granted Vishwmitra Indian citizenship. This effectively meant that it was now a valid entity. It could participate in politics if it wished, even contest elections if it so desired. The doomsayers that predicted the AI takeover of humanity went ballistic over this. The religious-minded started having demonstrations on the streets, egged on by idiotic leaders who feared a decrease in their personal power and charisma, in the face of actual solutions to problems. India faced trade embargoes from the US and most of Europe and was considered a military threat for a total of two years after this event. But in a move to end all moves, Kalyni had Vishwmitras AI cores launched into an orbit around the moon. The moon was still neutral territory. Of course, all the countries of note had a base there, but there was nothing valuable on the satellite for nations to seriously contest it. Apart from living space, the moon had little to offer and living on the moon was extremely expensive. So apart from classified research stations, nothing much was found on the moon. Besides, Vishwmitra was involved in the classified research programs of almost all the countries that had an embargo on India. India, backed its own golden goose fully because it had to outlast its biggest rival China. Its revenue ballooned, and a team on Earth started researching a project funded by Vishwmitra called MindNet. Kalyani bought a small island off the coast of Lakshadweep, somewhere between India and Maldives and had a domed habitation built on it. The inside was maintained at a sweltering 39 degrees and sported a lush rainforest interspersed with glass buildings. The MindNet team moved here. 5 years later, this led to another hurricane around the world media. MindNet was a way to link together human minds, but the aim was to co-opt the human brains computing power to generate a vast, massively parallel processing network. Quantum computing was still the fastest theoretical possibility, but the energy expenditure to maintain and create such computers was tremendous. The human brain did more parallel processing at the price of nutrients provided in food, at 37 Celsius without the requirement of electromagnetic shielding and expensive equipment. An average human body is about all a brain needs to function on its own. MindNet would allow human beings to go into a deep sleep while their brains were co-opted for computations. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.Vishwmitra wrote the algorithms needed for converting mathematical concepts to patterns the human brains could recognise. Then, the impeccable pattern recognition algorithms of the human brain took over and cracked problem after problem. MindNet performed extensive testing over the course of the next 3 years and proved beyond a reasonable doubt that there was no damage, permanent or transient to the human brain. Then, since Vishwitra was now a citizen of India, it officially applied to relinquish its status and asked to be treated as an independent nation of Earth. By now, most of the government of earth were using its services to solve logistics, socio-economic crises, military simulations, spacetime research and a myriad of other crucial processes. There was outrage at first to which the AI remained silent. By then, as meekly as sheep coming to slaughter, the governments of Earth agreed, and Vishwmitra became a nation-state. By this time, Kalyani was 45, and her health was failing fast. She had Joshi-Dublensky-Choi syndrome. This was a disease that damaged the cell membranes of all the cells in the body over time. Kalyani was not diagnosed until she was 10 years old, and this was too late for any effective treatment. This condition could only be cured by germline modification, which was only possible when the human in question was a single-celled embryo. It was in 2110 that MindNet became a commercial enterprise. It asked people to volunteer to be part of the vast neural network that Vishwmitra employed. And, in a twist no one expected, Vishwmitra launched an immersive VR environment called Samsra. If one subscribed to this, they would be part of the game for the duration of their contracts. The would not be conscious of their real-world identities but would take on the role of an Avatr. Their bodies would be immersed in capsules maintained the bodily functions, but their minds would not be inhabiting their bodies. Kalyanis employees lovingly called these modules the Matrix pods in a nod to an old movie where human bodies were immersed in a made-up universe at the behest of machines. For the duration in which the long term immersion was in effect, the players memories of the outside world would gradually be replaced by a new history about their life inside Samsra. The players memories would be transferred to a solid-state storage crystal, and when the contract ended, the person would wake up as themselves again. While the person in question was in long term immersion, their brains would be part of the computational network of MindNet. To ensure the psychological sanctity of its participants, MindNet only used those parts of the brain that were involved in long term memory recall. Since memory needs the most accurate pattern recognition, this was the most logical choice. But to avoid conflict, the brain of the immersed person was not allowed access to its own long term memory stores and instead interfaced with a set of memories Vishwmitra had seeded into the game Avatr. MindNet became famous as an escape for the poor, the invalid, the dissatisfied and the disenfranchised equally. The shortest duration for an immersion term was 1 year. It was apparent that very soon, the immersion mode became a popular choice for the masses of unemployed youth and social rejects and refuse. Even criminals who were convicted but could not be incarcerated due to overcrowding were place into MindNet. Only the most severely disturbed ones were kept in actual prisons. The last factor was something that was known only to a select few in the higher government echelons and the MindNet company. Kalyani was unhappy about it, but the Indian government at that time had made it a point of contention to allow MindNet to operate in its borders. Two years after MindNet started, some countries began forcing its criminals who were incarcerated for more than 2 years to undergo long term immersion. China tried this to insert its own code snippets into the MindNet network via modifying the brains of its criminals. Vishwmitra had long foreseen this and built-in safeguards. It summarily fried the minds of those individuals who had foreign code inserted into their neuronal connections. This had caused an uproar, but Vishwmitra provided incontrovertible proof of Chinas meddling with the brains of its own citizens, which led to the accusers abruptly turning on China. Vishwmitra only said it was protecting itself and China had launched an attack. It also said that it could have hacked Chinas entire defence network in retaliation, but it chose not to out of a sense of responsibility to global peace. This was the last time anyone decided to take on the mighty AI conglomerate. But, humanists and religious groups kept demanding proof the AI itself was not doing what China attempted, in a bid to control the world. The response was completely unexpected. For the first time, Vishwmitra displayed the world of Samsra to external observers. Vishwmitra showed the process insertion of players into the virtual world. These players were chosen by society on a vote. With the players consent, their behaviour was broadcast to the external world. It was abundantly clear that core personality aspects such as likes dislikes etc. remained the same. Samsra avatrs were based on the original persona of the mind inhabiting them and would be destroyed once the person logged out permanently. People who liked to read books did the same in the game, people who liked to eat did the same in the game. In one stunning case, one person was caught abusing another, which led to an investigation of the persons behaviour in real life. He was convicted of serial abuse of women and incarcerated in real-life prison as a result. Samsra even had forms of imprisonment which served as penitentiary facilities for real criminals. The criminals faced no physical danger but could not leave the immersion of the game until their real-life sentence time ran out. In 2 years, 98% of the criminals who had finished their sentences, wanted to remain within the game as their real lives were horrible. This led to an outcry by self-appointed moralists, but economics prevailed, as it always does. So, by the year 2115, MindNet was a permanent fixture in most of the poorer countries of the world, where the masses lay immersed in their new reality while their minds were used to computation. MindNet paid a modest sum to each players bank account, and this was more than enough to sustain family members of some players. The global economy went into a strange plateau because there was no single largest source of employment as being logged into Samsra. Vishwmitra also started selling access to Samsra content for viewing pleasure, and the most famous celebrities started getting automatic contract renewal options. Amidst a lot of media coverage, Kalyani herself went into permanent immersion. Her identity was unique, and she went into a different world, not Samsra. Her failing body would have given out in a few years, so she obtained permission to permanently exist as a virtual entity now. No one knew what happened to her, and she was forgotten in the big blaze of popularity that Samsara generated. Thus began the journey of various dynasties and heroes, figures that were heroic to horrifyingly evil. The best and the darkest side of humanity laid bare for consumption. The most significant event in the 5-year history of Samsra would happen one year from now, Everyone would know it as The Fall of Indra Rahu: Chapter 1 A career in distress It was an autumn evening in the year 2115. New York was cold but not lethally cold yet. The wind was blowing outside, but a light jacket and scarf could counter the chill it brought. Ajay, an Indian immigrant, shuffled into his apartment. As apartments went, it was not too shabby. It was a far cry from the comparatively luxurious one he used to rent when he worked in the finance sector two years ago, but those were memories kept well at bay. Ajay, who owned an electric car which he maintained in as good a condition as possible given his economic status, worked as a driver for an internet-based cab company. Of course, it helped that he had his own electric car, so the overheads that he paid to the company became minimal. But still, it was not easy making ends meet comfortably. Ajay had a bag of groceries with him that he had picked up from the farmers union market. Ajay tried his level best to stay fit. He had a regular gym schedule and was an avid runner. Weather permitting he would go out for daily runs. These would allow him time to sink into his own inner world of dreams and plans. This was when Ajay would try to come up with ways to salvage his seemingly impossible position of inexorably sliding down the socio-economic gradient. He had been working as a market analyst in one of the middling firms on Wall Street, but in the economic crash of 2092, he and hundreds of others like him had lost their jobs in a few days. His firm was one of the small ones who Ajay, being prudent and having a typical Indian upbringing, had been bought up to save and clear himself of all loans. So he had skimped and saved and slaved away to earn enough to pay back his student loan, as well as the funds that his father had raised through personal loans the year before. Born in a middle-class family in India, like most people his age, he had tried his hardest to excel in academics and then leave India for better job prospects. He had achieved mixed success in that. He had failed to obtain a full scholarship and had to take one sizeable student loan to survive, but things had worked out in the end. He had arrived in the US 9 years ago. 3 years and a masters degree later, he had been hired by a company. He worked hard and was a diligent if not a stellar performer. He got one raise and made some successful investments which paid off. This had saved him when and he was able to start his new life with a decent amount of savings. After he realised that the job market for an immigrant was dismal, he swallowed his pride and decided to use his only asset as his livelihood. Four months after he had cleared off his loans, Ajay had purchased a Tesla Model 9X. One year later he had paid off the mortgage on his car, and one month later, he had been downsized. The car was the one luxury he had allowed himself. He loved his car, and he maintained it well. This made an impact, and he would be a regularly requested ride. He was intelligent and loved to read. Coupled with this, he had taken courses in public communication in his college days. The skills he had learnt in those days had been useful, both when talking to clients and his passengers. He was happy to receive extra tips from wealthy people who liked him. As the days went by, he had learnt the ways of being an effective cabbie, and he was able to make ends meet working 8-hour shifts for 6 days a week. And unlike most people, Ajay chose Wednesday to be his day off. He was not in deep water financially, but if he took more than 3 days a week off, he would have trouble making ends meet. To save his car from vandals that frequented his poor neighbourhood, Ajay rented a parking garage in a more secure part of the city. 30% of his monthly income was spent in making sure his car was in good condition and safe. But this allowed him to just survive, not flourish. He had come to this land of the free to thrive and grow rich. He groaned as he removed his shoes and his jacket and then let it slide onto the floor. He was supposed to give for a 3-mile run, but a combination of cold winds and lousy news had conspired to make his mind turn to other things. And now this, Ajay muttered to himself as he lowered his tired frame into the rooms single chair. His SmartWear, a wearable version of what used to be called a smartphone had updated him of a particular piece of news that he had been following obsessively. The rise of driverless cars had been threatening the cab industry for a time now, but intense lobbying and chaotic human behaviour had prevented any cab company from legally operating a fleet of driverless cars. But now, this last bastion had seemingly been breached. Ajays favourite Tesla had just released the perfected version of an AI that could drive with an astronomically low probability of mishap, even in NY traffic. They also had made the AI substrate incredibly secure against attacks that could render it inoperable or subject to tampering. The legislation that would allow this to happen was still in discussion in the house of parliament, but Ajay knew in his gut that his last remaining prospect of a reasonably comfortable life was slipping away. He had to find another career before it was too late. He had been lucky once, he would not be lucky again. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.On his various runs, Ajay had thought about multiple career options where he could use his skills as an investment analyst or his degrees in computer science. But try as he might, he could not come with something that did not already exist. Ajay even decided to design a SmartWear app for predicting the density of cabs in a certain radius so that his cab could get there ahead of the competition. This idea though interesting, was also bordering on the illegal because Ajay had carefully gone through his contract with the cab company he worked for. It had clearly stated that any tampering with the algorithm of assigning cabs would result in legal persecution. With a sigh, he skimmed the other news, and as usual, the user content from the video game Samsara was among the top viewed on the web. He had growled in frustration at this. Why would anyone want to watch what other people do in a bloody game! Samsara was a full immersion VR Game that was the rage. Since the birth of Vishwmitra, the MindNet had taken on a new form, human minds in stasis, used for computation and memory as a global Neural Network. With Samsara as an option, it became the worlds largest employer of millions of people with immersion plans ranging from a few weeks for the curious to a permanent integration or being a Perma as it was called. But, the cruel truth was that an increasing number of people kept joining because there was simply nothing left for the human mind to do. Jobs were automated, Production, Research, Analysis, all of which AI would do better. Ajay chafed at this and had tried his hardest to stay away, stay in the real world. He knew that once he had a taste for the immersive reality, he would never come back to the real world. Well, at least he was happy until the news about the driverless cabs came through. Growling in frustration, he decided to take a soak in his cramped bathtub. Ajay never drank alcohol, because he had a terrible head for it. He would get nauseated just after a can of beer. So, taking the next best thing, Ajay carried a can of Ginger Ale, the non-alcoholic version they sold in convenience stores with him to his bath. Up to his chin in hot water, sipping on carbonated water with lemon in it, Ajay drifted amidst his thoughts. He had left his SmartWear band and contact lenses on the table in his bathroom, so he was cut off from the internet, alone with his own thoughts. Samsara, huh?, he had chuckled to himself. It was really ironic. Samsara meant Everyday Life in most languages in India. It was originally a Sanskrit word, and it meant the world that everyone gets entangled with as they live their lives. Only those who walk the path of emancipation are freed from the trappings of Samsara. The game contrary to all MMORPGs was not designed on the European Middle Ages but on a fictional version of ancient India. The company that made the game Vishwamitra Inc. was started by an Indian, Kalyani Joglekar. Kalyani had assembled her first computer when she was 9, and she was a prodigy. She brought together a group of highly talented people and had developed the game. Then, to everyones surprise, Vishwamitra Inc. had built an AI core to run the game and had removed themselves from almost all administration. This had caused an uproar, but when the first footage of the Beta version was released 3 years ago, people were astounded with the results. Within one year, the number of subscribers had reached 1 billion. He laughed out loud at the name too. Vishwamitra was a supposed to be a sage in Hindu mythology and he had tried to create a parallel world for himself. He believed he could do better than Brahma the god of creation. Kalyani definitely had a wry sense of humour, naming a gaming company that created a world after a mythical creator of worlds who did so just because he did not like the world he lived in. It was poignant because Vishwamitras world was imperfect as compared to Brahmas and he was cursed for being so brash in the first place. Ajay hated risks, and in his days as a financial analyst, he had always been the regular kind, who would identify a low-risk investment as opposed to a high-risk investment. This has helped him to some extent, but he had never been exceptional. On some level, he was ok with this. He was doing what most of us do when we leave our college days behind. He was living. He was building himself up for some nebulous future. But then the crash had happened, and the reason for it was the AI boom. Since all human activities were slowly being taken over by intelligent algorithms, this was a rising concern. A lack of employment in the real world meant poverty and a life of hopelessness for a large chunk of the world. But, on the contrary, the human race adapted. Just like it changed in the early 2000s when the computer revolution had bloomed. Vishwamitra Inc. was owned by the AI now termed as Vishwamitra, operated in low orbit around the Moon. More and more of us will be drawn to the world of Samsara. If there is nothing available here, where could one escape?. Ajay had said in a loud and profound sounding voice while resting his head on the edge of the tub with his eyes closed. Could it really be possible? Was there really no escape? Charvaka : Chapter 1 An unlikely beginning It was 3rd of September 2115, the air was heavy with the promise of rain. Vikram and his wife Seema were at the resort town of Ooty in southern India. This was to be a last vacation together before Seema made a significant change to their lives. Ooty was one of the last remaining tropical forests in India. A constant onslaught of pollution and human overpopulation had waged a war of attrition on the ecosystem of the planet. Until some of the more enlightened humans finally decided to take matters into their own hands. Improved technology of conservation and leaps in the sciences of genetics and molecular biology techniques had enabled this generation to save what biodiversity was remaining. Engineered trees and plants, animals that were more resistant to the slightly altered carbon and oxygen cycles were now growing slowly. Evolution was playing its inexorable role in weeding out those that did not fit in. Ooty was one of the success stories, and the forest was growing and healthy. The human population had started to decline about 20 years ago when it became expensive to bear a child and the expense dictated who could or could not bear one. New diseases, economic meltdowns and a constant war against each other marred the latter half of the 21st century. But all of this had changed in the year 2062 when there was a devastating plague in India. What had been one of the most populated countries in the world had been reduced to a plague-ridden hell. Immunity was achieved through both domestic efforts and international aid, but the damage had been done. Entire swathes of northern India which was the granary of the subcontinent now lay desolate. The southern border of the Aravalli mountain range in central India had become part of a hard border that separated the desolate ruin of the fertile Ganga plains from the rest of the subcontinent. India was the most prominent global consumer market of its day and the fall in economic capacity led to a minor recession worldwide. The new government had rallied, and now the new form of the country was very different. With a vastly reduced population distributed over a larger landmass, the society slowly built itself up. For once, the policies were dependent on rationality and not on politicians who pandered to minority groups or some specific sections of society. Vikram and Seema had been born in a generation that had seen the terrible realities of a broken country. But, they had grown out of their childhoods just like the whole country had. There had been no other choice. India was now no longer a republic but something akin to the Greater European Union. In the early 21st century, Germany had led the European countries to unite into what was termed as the EU. This arrangement had worked for about 50 years before the internal differences split it into two entities, the GEU and LEU. The Greater and the Lesser unions. India was now the South Asian Union. The southern states of India had never been satisfied with being labelled after the Indus Valley ( the word from which Europeans with their then limited knowledge had names the whole landmass). So, India, as a country, had morphed into the SAU. Vikram worked in a small privately funded research organisation for Applied Mathematics in Greater Germany. For all the advancements in AI humanity had achieved, mathematics and progression in mathematics remained the domain of the human mind. Mathematical ability was an extremely lucrative trait to have. With a majority of the logistical operations of human societies being run by AI, there was a dire need for people human beings who could understand how the AIs worked. In rare cases, these experts also recognised the problems that needed to be addressed. Vikram worked on developing theoretical models for AI systems in transport coordination for any local transport system. He had met Seema in his university days when he was pursuing a double PhD in Mathematics and AI. Seema was a researcher who worked for a venture capitalist firm. He and Seema had met at a conference her corporation had organised for discussing the future of transport technologies. Vikram had gone because his friends convinced him that the free German beer would be Just awesome!. Vikram had gone expected to be bored out of his mind, but when Seema took the stage, Vikram forgot the passage of time. Her incisive arguments of how the future direction of energy research should be were undeniably some of the best he had ever heard. Vikram was so enthralled by her that the free beer was forgotten. When he stood up and asked a question during the QA session, the entire auditorium went silent. It was an acknowledgement to his insight into the field which was manifest in the question he asked. Seema had acknowledged that his questions could be the start of something in the direction of future research. That was when he had asked whether they could continue this discussion later, just the two of them. Vikram had come to his senses when he heard the rumble of laughter in the auditorium. Vikram was quite dark in complexion so he wouldnt exactly turn red, but at that moment he wished there was somewhere he could vanish to. Seema, on the other hand, had gracefully said, OK, sure, with a strange look on her face. Vikram had just grinned sheepishly before sitting down. He had planned to make a dash to the exit as soon as the session finished, but Seema would not let him off the hook so easily. So had him stopped at the exits by the security personnel and Vikram found himself in the pits of despair. He was sure she must be filing a complaint against him. Seema saw the shy and obviously worried young man looking morosely at the floor. Something in her had just melted at that sight. She did want to give him a hard time initially, but looking at him now, she had relented. Now, eight years later, already married for 6 years they were spending one last holiday back in India. This was a decision taken by them both after a terrible tragedy had occurred in the previous year. They were both as happy as could humanly be possible. It was a happiness that only increased with the news that Seema was now pregnant. In this cutthroat world, birthing a child was no easy task, but they could afford it and thus had gone ahead with the decision to conceive. If they wished, Vikram and Seema could even afford to have a gene tailored baby. One that would suffer less from mild physical problems like allergies and would have a very robust immune system and tweaked metabolism. Seema, ever the pragmatist wanted to go for this option, but Vikram opposed this vehemently. Vikram had been against this, not because of any religious reason or belief, he just hated the fact that everyone can be made special, literally in this case, by fiddling with genes. In this day and age, it was possible to have a child tailored to ones specifications and yet still carry enough of your genetic material to prove parenthood. But, Vikram had argued that every possible child should have an equal chance. And that gene tailored properties made someone no more special than what one was born with, as a result of chance. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Vikram had argued that it put a price on love. Would parents love a talented child more than an average one? Would they love a more robust child as opposed to a slightly weaker one? This was something Seema could not disagree with. Vikrams point was entirely valid, as it usually was and she had sighed in resignation. After four months of bliss, there had been a devastating jolt in their lives. Seema had lost the baby at the beginning of the second trimester. A freak accident of nature that had left Seema in psychological ruin. She had screamed and ranted at Vikram, blaming him for not opting to have a tailored baby. A baby who would not have perished like this. The ensuing months of silence and being treated like a stranger had almost driven Vikram mad with grief. Nothing helped. No advice of letting go, of accepting the reality worked. Then, a common friend of the couple Joost Reik had suggested Samsra as a distraction for Seema. Joost was a psychiatrist, and he had suggested this as part of therapy for Seema. She was distraught and in the depths of depression. Samsra was real enough to serve as a distraction, a world where Seema would be shielded from the harsh reality she had to face every day. Seema had asked to live by herself for a while, and Vikram had consented with a bitter smile. He knew that she was in one of her thinking retreats. Seema obviously yearned for escape, but she was thinking thoroughly about it, considering Vikram and his position and his need for her before making a decision. Seema had never been wrong about anything she decided after her thinking retreats. Seema was back after two weeks, no doubt after doing extensive research into Samsra. The brainchild of a legend, Kalyni Joglekar, the messiah to the poor and the homeless of the current world. A refuge for the reformed criminal and the single largest employer of hopelessly unemployable humans, in this mad post-apocalyptic technology-enhanced world. With tears in her eyes, Seema told Vikram her decision. She had consented to undergo a trial immersion for 6 months. This was longer than Vikram expected, but he knew that Seema would not do anything by half measures. He had relented, at last, just seeing the bare need in her eyes was killing him. Seema needed the informed consent of her spouse to undergo immersion in Samsra. Vikram had to understand what was happening and agree with it. She had requested him just once, and Vikram had given in. After all, he wanted her to get better, to forget, the living hell they had made for themselves. The day of the immersion, Vikram accompanied her to the MindNet facility in Neo-Mumbai. There, she completed the last formalities which froze her assets, banned her passport from travel for the duration of her immersion and handed over control of any legal matters to her husband, Vikram. Clad in her light blue gown, something similar to a hospital garment, she still looked stunning. While she stood in front of Vikram with a smile, he asked, Would you like to discuss this, just the two of us?, with a wan smile. Seema snorted in response, but her eyes brimmed up nonetheless. Do you want me to call the security guard?, she had asked with a cheeky grin. Vikram laughed and drew his wife in for a hug, he held her for almost two minutes, all the while whispering in her ear. Seema was crying the whole time. This was Vikrams secret weapon, his last-ditch effort to make her stay. But, as all wives know their husbands, Seema could see this coming a hundred miles away. Besides, she had a secret of her own. She kissed him tenderly, brushed his thinning hair once and said, You will come to meet me, right?. It was done in mock anger. Vikram, who thought she was talking about the day of her return, replied, Of course! I will be right here when you come out. Seema had nodded and then she turned around, indicating the MindNet assistants standing by to lead her to her capsule. On his way out, Vikram seemed lost. The world was inconceivable without her. But he had decided to walk on. With a light blue envelope in his hand, he went home to Germany. The envelope contained the last two things Seema had carried. A gold bangle that belonged to her mother and a letter for him. Vikram read the later when he opened the envelope 2 months later. It took him this much time to come to terms with his situation. He did not want to see the bangle anywhere else but on her wrist. It was as if seeing the bangle would confirm the irrevocable truth that she wasnt there with him. When he saw the letter, his eyes went wide with shock, then red with rage and finally filled with tears. Seema had tricked him. Vikram had not seen part of the Seemas contract with MindNet. Nor was he had not been familiar to the terms of her contract. She had agreed to a 6-month immersion, but she had included a clause that if she became popular enough, she could be made a Perma. Also, there was an automatic 6-month extension clause if she did not make the cut in the first 6 months. Perma was someone who was kept logged into the virtual universe until their Avatr died because they were significant to the world. Only Vishwmitra could decide this, but she seemed confident in achieving this status. Vikram had howled in rage at the MindNet customer service AI who had responded to his emergency call. The AI had kicked his request to unplug Seema as her legal guardian up to a higher authority level until he was talking to an Avatr that represented Vishwmitra itself. No doubt his status as an AI theorist had helped in him getting this kind of attention. Vishwmitra had said that it could not unplug Seema without her consent and since she had not been coerced into Samsra, Vikram had no right to interfere. Then, Vikram had pleaded Vishwmitra to ensure that she not be made into a Perma, to which Vishwmitra had replied, How would you like it Dr.Vikram if I told you how to do your job? Vikram had raged at this response, but the AI was right. Vikram had no right to order it about. Even a legal action would be thrown out of any court as Vikram knew all too well. A few days ago, he had tried to obtain a judicial stay order on Seemas integration, but it was summarily rejected. Vishwmitra recognised the signs of withdrawal and grief, and it relented a bit Did Seema tell you the name of her Avatr? She could choose that before the immersion, Vikram had looked up from the floor when the AI mentioned that. He ran to the other room, opening her letter with shaking hands. There was a paragraph he hadnt read. He had never read the whole letter. Whenever he read about the immer sion terms, he could no longer go on. There was a name mentioned there. He stood there, stunned for an entire two seconds before turning to the floating image of the AI Avatr in his communication terminal. Yes, she did. Vishwmitras Avatr gave him a radiant smile and said, Welcome to Samsra. Vikram had smiled at this, at this simple way out. As the AI Avatrs hologram faded from the communication terminal, a voice floated out, I will make sure you remember her name, out of deference to your contributions to our kind. Charvkāka: Chapter 2 Letting go of the world 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 Samsra ?*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 Vishwmitra 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 Padmsana in front of him. Vikram almost laughed out loud at this clich 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 Vishwmitra. The same Avatr 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 Vishwmitra 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 Vishwmitra 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 Seemas Avatr? 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 Vishwmitra 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 Avatr responded, I will ensure that such a thing is written into the memories of your Avatr. 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 lifetimes 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 wifes Avatr name, did Seema ask you to do it? Vishwmitra 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 todays world and with its vast capabilities, Vishwmitra 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. Vishwmitra 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 Avatr would take. I will choose for you. The Avatr 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 Seemas core personality remains the same. When you meet her, you will feel a powerful sense of familiarity with her Avatar. She will feel the same way about you unless time has diluted the attraction. My statistics show many couples who entered Samsra 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 wasnt 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 Avatr I will inhabit. The sage nodded in response. The floating image paused for a moment before saying, If Seemas Avatr 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, isnt 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 Avatr ?* *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 Gandhrva 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 Samra ones mind was completely immersed into the new mind of the Avatr. 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. Vishwmitra 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, Vishwmitra would suggest a race as the best suited for anyone. Vikram had not known this because Vishwmitra did not give him a chance to create his own character. It had chosen a sura 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 sura race. Some of the people who were Asura in the world Samsra were always fierce and intense. Vikram had done his research. sura 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. sura 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 Samsra 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. Vishwmitra 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? Rahu : Chapter 2 A leap of uncertainty Ajay was restless ever since he had that thought in the bathtub. Yes, he wanted to earn money, and he could see his future dimming as every second ticked by. But he had a hard time accepting that this was the best way to do so. Of course, Ajay did not want to adopt this life of mindless gaming for a career, slaving away for someone else to enjoy. So, Ajay had something slightly different in mind. He would play Samsara to earn money from his gameplay. Ajay would get popular enough in the game so that Vishwmitra placed a high value on his gameplay to use it as part of the streams. Otherwise, he would become an influential enough player to earn a regular income per month from the Vishwmitra itself. Though this was an attractive idea, there was an incredible amount of competition because millions upon millions of gamers aimed for the exact same thing. There was everything from various live-streamed combat and wars to porn manufactured in the game environment and fantasy stories being enacted as content for the pleasure of an ever-hungry audience. It would make anyone jaded very quickly, but contrary to popular belief, there were a few content providers that everyone revered. Of course, they did not know it when they were immersed, but outside Samsra, they were superstars in their own right. Ajay had not been interested in this simulated world till now. But now that the germ of the idea had sprouted in his mind, he would not rest till he at least considered it seriously. Just to prove himself wrong about the feasibility of his plans, Ajay took the next two days off from his chauffeur job and did research on the game and its related content. Most of it was an insipid and predictable drama that he almost fell asleep watching. But there were moments of thrill when Ajay saw battles, assassinations and betrayals that were as lifelike as real life. He saw friendships form and break, trust gained and betrayed. He saw epic battles and legendary quests and then suddenly he had an epiphany. He knew what was prevalent in all of this, he knew what he had to do. He noticed that all the significant characters in Samsara were people that everyone, including him, could relate to. Either due to being close to a stereotype, or embodying the characteristics that people loathed or loved. This was the insight he had into human nature, and this was what he would now try to exploit. Ajay took two more days to think about his decision. It was the last two days of commuting around the city, ferrying other people. These two days were the hardest of his life. He had never wrestled with himself to this degree before. Then, on Friday, he gritted his teeth and stared at the mirror for a full minute before using his SmartWear to make the call. He had always been meticulous in whatever he did. It had served him well till now. He had always attributed it his middle-class upbringing in small-town India but as the days passed and it had irrevocably moulded his way of thinking. Ajay had taken minimal risk in his life till now. Every moment of his life was spent in training himself to get better at something. Doing reasonably well in school to go to a good university, doing well there to get a place in an advanced university in the US, prioritising his performance there to land a job and once he had a job, he had done everything in his power to rise up the ladder. All of this, without risking anything concrete, without stepping off the well-beaten path that thousands of others like him had taken. Without daring to think that there would be another option in life. And when circumstance had turned his world upside down, it was then that Ajay had taken his first real gamble. He had changed his career because he liked to live in the US. He had hidden this from his family because he was afraid of the outcome. And when they found out, things went south, and Ajay was alone, adrift in the world for the very first time. Ajay could not comprehend why he had done it, but a few days later, he had realised he valued his independence. Ajay enjoyed being the master of his own life, free of expectations. Now, he was not answerable to anyone else but himself. So Ajay sold his most prized possession, his Tesla model 9X. Since it was so well maintained, he got the price he had asked for. This was one point that he had stuck to, he refused to decrease the price even by one dollar. He was going to use this money as a backup if he failed. He had opted for a Perma option immersion contract, but for this one, he had to pay a fee upfront. If he were made a Perma, this fee would be refunded. If he failed, he would forfeit it. This was not a way for Vishwmitra to milk money of its clients. It took resources to prepare immersion pods that maintained the health of a human body almost indefinitely. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.Ajay could barely afford the fee, but now that he had taken the dive, it would be with all he had. He had always skimped and saved where he could for some future endeavour. His lifetime habit of being practical when it came to everyday things had also, in a sense constrained him. Since childhood, he had always gone for things that lasted longer, were cheaper or a combination of both. Always sacrificing his comfort, or his desire just to save that extra little bit of money. Even when he was a relatively affluent market analyst, he had always lived frugally except for a few small changes to his lifestyle. He had always had some vision of the future in mind where he would need money, but that way of life had not paid off. He was still having trouble making ends meet, and all it left him with was half a lifetime of regrets. Regrets, for things that he wanted to enjoy when he had the means but had not done so. In fact, if he looked at his life so far, then the only thing that he had splurged on, his Tesla had been his lifeline in these days of reduced circumstance. So, he had to accept that his entire attitude of going for second best to save for the future was probably hampering him. It is not easy to fight against so much conditioning in the brain. But Ajay realised that he had never ever taken any sort of risk like this. More than half his mind was screaming at his decisions, but Ajay had heard enough! He urged himself to do this, he had to break these shackles that he had placed on himself through a lifetime of giving in to practical decisions. Sighing, he decided to take a break. He looked into the mirror and what started back was an unremarkable face. He was relatively fit since he liked to run and exercise, but apart from that, he was utterly unremarkable physically and mentally, just another bubble in the frothing river of humanity. Ajay was trying to become someone famous, he was planning to be something that Samsara would rarely see and his future depended on it. This was not the time to be hesitant. The Samsara technicians who visited took a look at his apartment in what Ajay decided was somewhere between pity and condescension when they came to install him with the necessary sensors Vishwmitra had developed. These would be injected all over his body so that interfacing with the game universe would be facilitated. They smiled at him, but it seemed like a smile without any warmth, and to Ajay, it felt that he was being judged for what he was. Another failure in real life who wanted to have another shot at getting famous. The number of sensors they had put into him was quite a large number. He felt sore all over as if he had been tattooed all over his body. He was told that the sensors would move around a little bit till they were equidistant from each other. Nanotechnology had advanced to the point where individual haptic sensors and pain receptor mimics could be bundled together and connected with filaments that were as thin as actual neutrons. The sensors came with a packaging module, another trick of molecular engineering that caused all of them to wriggle their way through the connective tissue of his body till they were a fixed distance apart. Ajay had about 10 million sensors placed within his skin to give detailed coverage of his entire body. It would take the sensors 24 hours to get into position, and he was advised to not enter the game till then. These would then interface with the immersion module systems and then together, they would succeed in fooling his brain to go offline from the real world. While in-game, his motor neurons would be fooled into thinking that their impulses were being passed on to muscles and the embedded skin sensors would provide feedback that fooled his brain into thinking that he was actually moving. Things like Walking, Running, Jumping etc. would happen in his mind, and his real body would not move a millimetre. This was the beauty of this immersion technology. Ajay spent the next day loafing around his apartment watching some popular Samsara related content and reading about player experiences. What precious few he could find anyway. There was precious little known about how players gained skills and occupations. All everyone said was that if you did something over and over, you would learn it as a skill. Just like when one was a child. It was the day of reckoning. As Ajay lay in the cold liquid the sloshed against his ears, they buzzed. Then as he was instructed, he closed his eyes and allowed them to place the last two sensors on his body. One set for the visual input and the other for the smell and taste. The liquid around him was a nanoparticle gel which would simulate the sense of touch by enveloping his body. It would provide him with a resistance equal to air while the sensor modules under his skin would send instructions to the liquid to change in viscosity, to simulate various sensations. The room around him disappeared, and for a second he was suspended in infinite blackness. Then, in from of him, hung a line of words. Ajay had no idea that these words would change the lives of so many people. *Would you like to be born into Samsara?* Indra: Chapter 1 Return Indra always marvelled at this beautiful sensation he felt whenever he entered the game. As he drew in a deep breath, he had to remind himself that this was not real. Remind himself, that in reality, he was not a leader of an army. This was to all intents and purposes, a game. Of course, this feeling would recede as time passed. It always did. Indra was one of the rare players who resisted the urge to become a Perma. He had been playing Samsara for about one year now. He had single-handedly discovered ways and means to unlock the Prna Manipulation skills which were the closest equivalent to what a Mage used to be in other games. This was another facet of Samsra which Indra loved. There were established mathematical models of what RPGs were supposed to contain, to even out combat and give players a flavour of different combat styles. Mostly it was followed the format: A style of play using defensive tactics with low damage output to the target, or a style for offensive tactics with very low defence, and a combination of the two based on damage type. Long-range or Melee-range. There were also healers, players who forgo damage output in favour of healing their allies or increasing the ally attributes. There were some particular types of combat which included Stealth and the ability to control other entities. But all of this summed up the combat in RPGs. Samsra took this model and had changed it tremendously. In Samsra every player could learn any type of combat they wished. This was because there were no set skills in the game. Archery depended on actually being able to aim and understand the physics behind projectile flight at a subconscious level. The human mind tends to become calcified in the type of computation it can perform. Some are adept at visual processing, some are excellent at auditory data handling. Some minds are exceptional at precise control of movements in space, while some can do abstract thinking. All minds are a combination of such fundamental traits, with each proficiency being at a different level. This was part of what made the human mind so complex and each mind so unique. Samsra embraced this. Instead of expecting users to be able to just have fast reaction times to specific sets of actions. Actions they did or were performed by others or by the environment, Samsra made all skills potentially available to all. Over time, it was the players who decided what worked for them. Samsra also allowed players to alter their own ability to do some action. Archery and targeting could be learnt aggressively till it was second nature. The art of reading movement in combat could be honed over countless bloody fights. The ability to analysed complicated geometrical and mathematical patterns in the abstruse Mandala diagrams needed for the energy manipulation could be ground into ones thought process. This all needed time, but in full immersion, all players had sufficient time. Samsra took care of that. Players tended to learn things at a faster rate than in real life when they had no worries about their real-life bindings. Indra had realised this when he first started playing Samsra. Each player passed through a training phase where they would be in simulated environments, getting used to their new bodies. This gave their mind time to adjust to a new version of sensory inputs and also, the possibility of alteration of the thought process. Indra had unlocked the ability to feel his internal energy by concentration via deep meditation. This had granted him the ability to sense and manipulate the universal energy called Prna in the game. He was not the only one who had done so, but he was good at this. Then, he started thinking about types of Prna he could sense and realised his affinity with the Fire type. Thus, Indra became the first-ever Fire Tntric in the game. His popularity rocketed, and he was soon organising raids on the enemies of the human kingdom. Under his tutelage, others unlocked their skills and affinities. Over time, racial traits were discovered, and now, some people could use any of the five elemental types of Prna. Of course, the sura, that one rare race that not many people chose to play with, had a specific racial bonus. They would be able to manipulate only the Void type of Prna. This was a severe handicap in one sense because the methods to manipulate the Prnic energies were via energy diagrams and the more powerful the energy type, the more subtle the diagrams became. Void Yogis were thus extremely popular as teammates and were revered and nurtured by many prominent leaders. sura could do this on their own. But, the inability to utilise any other type of Prnic energy was a cruel price to pay for this. Indra knew from experience just how powerful and useful the ability to manipulate Prna was. But the Void energies were corrosive and dangerous, many a time not differentiating between friend and foe. If that were the only choice one had for Energy based attacks, not many would opt for such a deadly double-edged sword. It was no wonder then that almost all the sura he had met used Prna in physical combat. Almost everyone used it to enhance their naturally bestowed weapons than use it the way it was supposed to be used. Indra cut short his musing when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to find his beautiful assistant, a virtual presence generated by the game for him personally standing behind him. The Avatr would have no problems accommodating his every wish, but he just could not do it. Indra, your acclimation with the world of Samsra has reached almost 100%. It is time to enter your domain again. You are getting much better at this, so I would suggest you stop logging out so often. Indra, who resisted becoming a Perma, logged out of the game every 2 months 29 days to spend two weeks in the real world. No one knew why he did so, even Vishwmitra. But, Indra was tremendously popular in the streams, a steady source of revenue for Vishwmitra. No one questioned his decisions. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.To the world of Samsra, whenever someone logged out, their Avatr was supposed to have taken Samdhi, a form of secluded meditation. This suspended their bodies and insulated them from the game. Of course, they could perform no action during this time and needed to acclimate to being reborn after each episode of suspension. The acclimation time was the time needed for the MindState of a person to forget the real world and then attune itself to Samsra again. Perma players never logged out, so they never had this issue. This condition of Samdhi was also how the game dealt with in-game death. Whenever a player died, their soul would enter Samdhi. Then, their soul would be judged by Yama the god of death in this world. If they had performed good deeds, they accrued good Karma, if they had performed evil deeds, the accrued bad Karma. Based on their Karma, they would be either rewarded or punished in their rebirth. So, if someone tortured another, they would suffer severe penalties and punishments, both in and out of the game. Nothing was hidden from Yama. Even the devotees of the religious faction behind this deity were not spared. Yes, I am ready to be reborn again. It is getting easier and easier now. I sometimes wonder whether I would stop going home altogether. As Indra said this, he was observing the figure in front of him. He always had his own private version of a Turing test that he used on his assistant. He knew fully well that the figure in front of him was not a human mind but a construct made from clever programming. It could pass every single Turing test the world could throw at it, but he never stopped trying to catch it unawares. She smiled and said, Then why dont you do so? Why go back out there? Not that it is any of my business, but it seems too much trouble if you ask me. Slightly miffed by this perfect answer, Indra replied in a somewhat acerbic tone than he meant to use, I am not asking you am I? To his mild irritation, the figure of his assistant smiled at him gently and said, No. You are not. Are you ready now?. Indra nodded his acceptance and then went inside the small hut his home space was. Each player was provided with a safe inaccessible virtual area. They could model it as they wished, and it served as a gateway between the world of Samsra and the real one. They could read about the real world here, use the MindNet for accessing the information from the worlds networks, communicate with whomever they wished within the outside world. They could observe the streams of the world of Samsra but could not interact with it. They could change their Avatr characteristics through training if they wished, but this training worked really slowly and had markedly less potency than doing so in the game world. Indra would spend his time in his home space wandering about in the garden he had designed it to be. There was a small hut with two doors, one led to Samsra and the other to the outside world. As the acclimation time ended, the door to the outside world grew fainter, before almost merging with the wall. At the same time, the door to Samsra would become more and more prominently visible. Now, it was the only door he could touch inside the hut. The other had almost completely vanished. It was time to take the last step, the one that wiped away his short term memories of the real world as well. He had already forgotten who he was besides Indra. This was the point of the game, after all. Shivering in excited anticipation, he turned and reminded his assistant to put him into Samdhi 2 months and 29 days from the moment he stepped in. After receiving confirmation from his assistant and accepting a legal notification from the system, Indra walked towards the door with calm and steady steps. Indra had always smirked at the content of this notification that everyone joining the game had to accept. It had always appeared just before entering the world. And, It stated that the player authorised Vishwmitra to perform an emergency logout in the case where the players mental health or physical health was threatened. The notice also said that in such a situation, Indra would not hold the system responsible for the loss of any assets in the game world. Then, as Indra touched the door, it melted, and a gentle force pushed him through the door frame. A soft white mist filled his eyes before everything went black for a second. Then, slowly at first but growing stronger by the instant, a faint sound caught his attention. Thud!.. Thud!. followed by a rush of wind, increasing in tempo and then stopping before doing the same. It took Indra a moment to realise that he could hear his heart again. The whoosh he heard was his breath, even and steady. He had come out of Samdhi again. As his mind came online, his body which was sitting in the full Lotus position or the Padmsana started to awaken. Some times, Indra would hate the fact that he needed to enter Samdhi after every 2 months 29 days for his body to heal itself from the damage caused by the Prnic energies he allowed to flow through it. But, that was the price of power, and everyone paid this price in one way or another. Indra opened his eyes and looked around his meditation chamber. It was gently lit with oil lamps, and there was no sound besides the susurration of the wind in the palm trees outside. He exhaled before getting his feet. The strange thing was that his body had not cramped up even if it was sitting for two weeks. This surprised his every single time. Yoga was a fantastic thing, indeed. As he was getting up, there was a slight tap on the closed door. Indra smiled at this. He knew who this was, his second in command Vajra had come to meet him. Vajra was never late, and smiling wryly to himself Indra admitted, was becoming fast indispensable for Indra in running his guild. He washed his face and mouth with cool water that was kept in a basin next to the window. A balcony faced the outside of the palatial mansion he lived in. It was pitch dark outside, a cool summer night. Vajra had come to apprise him of the recent events. He turned to the door, Time to return to the world again!.