SWNOVELXO Chapter 56: Chapter 56
"Initiate."
As the final command echoed in Paul's consciousness, the world didn't shatter as he'd expected.
No roar of current, no torrent of data, not even the slightest physical sensation.
Only a profound silence.
Then came an ineffable sense of expansion.
It was as if his consciousness had broken free from the confines of his skull, expanding from a single point to instantly fill a boundless expanse of pure darkness.
He had no body, no eyes, no ears.
But he could "see" this darkness, "hear" this void.
He had become the space itself.
[Brain-Computer Interface connection stable.]
[Consciousness digitalization preliminary phase complete.]
[Welcome to the 'Deep Space' virtual core, Paul.]
Cold, white text materialized in the dark void. It was Baymax's voice, yet it wasn't. The soft, gentle tone was gone, leaving only the purest form of information.
"This... is the inside of the server?" Paul's consciousness sent out the query.
[You could understand it that way. The current space is 'Space Zero,' with no environmental parameters and no physical laws. An absolute 'nothingness.']
This was the canvas upon which he would create his divine kingdom.
A blank slate.
Paul "felt" around. In this void, there was nothing, not even the concepts of "cold" and "hot." If a living being were to truly enter this place, they would likely be driven to madness in an instant by the sensory deprivation.
"First step, construct the sensory system," Paul issued the command. "I need the most basic touch, sight, hearing... and for all of this, I need a data source."
[Select data source?]
"My own memory."
The decision was almost insane. To use his own brain as a data source was equivalent to dissecting his own soul, slice by slice, and analyzing it under a microscope. The risks involved were something no supercomputer could fully predict.
But he had no other choice. To create a world infinitely close to reality, he needed the most authentic "sensations" as its foundation. And he himself was the best source material.
"Baymax, prepare for data acquisition. Target: memory fragments. Filter criteria: high sensory intensity, low emotional fluctuation. Start with the simplest ones first."
[Command confirmed. Searching memory database... Filtering complete.]
[Target locked: Age seven, Malibu beach, feeling the sea breeze for the first time.]
Almost at the instant the text appeared, Paul's consciousness shuddered violently. An invisible force seized him, and a rift was torn open in the dark void.
He "saw" the golden sand, "heard" the rush of waves crashing against the rocks, and "smelled" the salty, fresh scent in the air.
The clearest sensation was a cool breeze.
It brushed against his cheeks, ran through his hair, bringing with it a faint, ticklish feeling.
He could even "feel" the slightly loose T-shirt he had been wearing at the time, the wind slipping inside and gliding over his skin.
Everything was incredibly real, as if time had turned back.
But Paul did not indulge in it.
Here, in the core of "Deep Space," he was both the experiencer and the observer.
The other half of his consciousness, like a cold, detached surgeon, was dissecting this memory while it was still alive.
[Analyzing tactile parameters...]
[Wind speed: 3.2 m/s.]
[Temperature: 24.7 degrees Celsius.]
[Humidity: 78%.]
[Skin pressure sensor data... Pore contraction response data...]
A stream of data, so complex it was dizzying, flashed rapidly through the void, precisely captured, categorized, and encoded by Baymax.
That ethereal sea breeze was completely digitized, transformed into lines of code that could be called upon.
"Success..." A trace of excitement tinged Paul's thoughts. "Log the 'sea breeze' parameters into the core database. Name it 'Tactile Template 01'."
[Log successful.]
"Excellent. Continue. Next, taste."
[Target locked: Age eight, secretly drinking Tony's prized whiskey for the first time.]
The burning sensation of the sharp liquid sliding down his throat, the rich aroma of the oak barrel mixed with the sting of alcohol rushing to his nostrils—the feeling swept over him instantly.
Paul could even "taste" the salty tears he had coughed up from choking.
[Taste parameter analysis complete...]
...
One by one, memory fragments were retrieved, only to be mercilessly broken down into the most fundamental data.
The sweetness of ice cream, the fresh scent of a lawn, the warmth of the sun...
Paul's "divine kingdom" was being enriched at an astonishing rate. Like a greedy predator, he plundered his own past, seizing every "sensation" that could be turned into a cornerstone.
The process continued for an unknown length of time.
In the virtual core, time had lost all meaning.
Until...
[Basic Sensory Database construction: 97% complete.]
[Warning: The remaining 3% involves high-intensity emotional fluctuations. Continuing acquisition may lead to a drop in consciousness synchronization rate, risk of psychic contamination present.]
Baymax's warning text was tinged with a faint shade of red.
It was time.
The most critical, and most dangerous, step.
A world with only physical sensations would be dead. It needed emotions to come "alive."
Happiness, sadness, anger, fear...
These were the true codes that constituted a "soul."
"Continue," Paul said without hesitation. "Target: high-intensity positive emotion. 'Happiness'."
The void fell silent for a moment.
[Target locked: Age thirteen, Baymax's first activation, when he said, "Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."]
In that instant, a colossal, pure joy and satisfaction, like a volcanic eruption, completely submerged Paul's consciousness.
It was, across his two lives, the first "creation" that was truly and completely his own.
It was a sense of accomplishment that surpassed wealth, surpassed everything the Stark name had brought him—the purest achievement.
This emotional torrent was so violent that the void itself began to distort violently. Countless chaotic blocks of color and lines appeared out of thin air, as if the entire system was on the verge of collapse.
[WARNING! WARNING! Emotional data stream overload! Synchronization rate dropping! 95%... 90%... 85%...]
Baymax's warning text turned a blinding, blood-red and flashed frantically.
"Hold it steady! Analyze it! Take it apart for me!"
Paul's consciousness roared.
He forcibly extracted himself from that overwhelming joy, ascending to the role of a god, looking down dispassionately at his own precious memory.
He saw the secretion of dopamine, the intense firing of neurons, every illuminated region of the cerebral cortex.
What he wanted was not "happiness" itself, but the recipe for "happiness"!
After an unknown amount of time, the surging emotional torrent was finally tamed, transformed into docile streams of data, and integrated into the core.
['Happiness' parameter logged successfully.]
[Synchronization rate stabilized at 75%.]
Paul "panted," feeling his conscious form had become somewhat faint and unstable.
This level of mental exhaustion was far more terrifying than any physical fatigue.
"Next... 'Sadness'," he commanded.
Once again, the void fell into a long silence.
This time, Baymax did not execute the command immediately.
The blood-red warning text hovered silently in the void, a seemingly silent dissuasion.
"Execute the command, Baymax," Paul's thought was cold and unquestionable.
[...Command confirmed.]
[Target locked: Age four. Mother, Lina Li.]
BOOM—!
If the "happiness" before was a volcanic eruption, then what swept over him now was a cold, dark abyss deep enough to freeze the entire universe.
He "saw" it.
A strange, dimly lit room.
His young mother held his younger self, her body trembling uncontrollably.
He could "feel" his mother's tears, hot and scalding, falling onto his face.
He could "smell" the suffocating scent of despair in the air, so thick it was tangible.
He could "hear" his mother whispering over and over in his ear in Chinese.
"Baby, I'm sorry..."
"Mommy can't hold on anymore..."
"Forget Mommy, and live a good life..."
This wasn't a memory; it was a scar branded onto the deepest part of his soul.
Even after crossing over, after merging with Hiro Hamada's memories and possessing a mind far beyond that of an ordinary person, this scar had never healed.
[WARNING! WARNING! Fatal-level psychic impact detected! Synchronization rate in rapid decline! 60%! 50%! 40%!]
[Emergency interrupt sequence initiated! Brain-computer link will be severed in ten seconds!]
[10... 9...]
"No! Don't stop!"
Paul's consciousness shrieked amidst the violent emotional storm.
He couldn't back down!
He knew this wasn't just about building a virtual world.
He had a strong premonition that the truth about his mother's death was hidden somewhere in a corner of this very memory!
"Show me! Let me see more clearly!"
His conscious form, risking being torn apart, rushed madly toward the core of the memory's image.
He "saw" his mother gently place him on the bed, covering him with a blanket.
He "saw" her look at him one last time, the love, reluctance, and pain in her eyes... and also a trace of... fear?
Fear? What was she afraid of?
Just then, Paul's "gaze" inadvertently swept across a corner of the room.
There was a small television, its screen on.
It was playing a news report.
On the screen, a charismatic man with a signature goatee was speaking eloquently to the camera.
Tony Stark.
And below the news headline, a line of text scrolled across the bottom of the screen.
[Stark Industries finalizes ten-billion-dollar arms deal with military, Chairman Obadiah Stane states...]
Obadiah!
The instant Paul's consciousness captured that name, the image of his mother in the memory shuddered violently, the trace of fear in her eyes instantly magnifying to its absolute limit!
This was a detail he had never noticed before!
[3... 2...]
"Baymax! Analyze it! Analyze all of her physiological reactions the moment she saw the name Obadiah! The data! I want all of it!"
Paul roared the command with the last of his strength.
[1...]
[...Command received.]
Connection, severed.
Paul's consciousness was violently ejected from the virtual core by an immense force, slamming it back into his body.
Inside the stasis pod, he snapped his eyes open, gasping for breath, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.
The sound of his heartbeat was like a war drum, thundering so loudly it made his eardrums ring.
"Warning: Anomaly in Stark Industries core database access—Unknown AI intervention detected."
That warning, which had once flashed by, now exploded in his mind like a clap of thunder.
Obadiah... his mother's fear... the unknown AI...
An invisible thread, and at this moment, it felt as if he had just grasped its end.
Just then, Baymax's familiar, soft voice came through the stasis pod's public channel, but this time, it carried an unprecedented gravity.
"Paul, the analysis of the memory data just now has revealed an anomaly."
"Within the data packet for your mother's 'sadness' emotion..."
"I have detected... a third-party, encrypted data signature that does not belong to you."