Doomsday Wonderland

“No. I don’t want to remove my humanity, but what—what the hell is happening?”

A thought kept coming back no matter how many times Lin Sanjiu shoved it away. Her mind was a mess.

‘Puppeteer never showed up in Sector 9 after he turned into a package of potato chips? Then, does he know that he has relived his memories?’

“Where is Puppeteer? Is he still alive?” Lin Sanjiu asked. “What do you want from us?”

However, this time, she received no response from her counterpart.

Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help but ask again, but her question fell on deaf ears. It was as if the Veda that had been talking to her had already left.

Her brain was in total disarray. Peering at the shimmering white silk that filled the void in front of her blankly, she sank into her anxiety.

‘Have the Veda gotten all my information?’

In other words, Lin Sanjiu was an open book for the Veda. They knew every one of her attacks and body parameters. They could effortlessly add or delete her abilities. With all their information, they could even recreate another Lin Sanjiu that looked exactly like her inside out.

She immediately killed those thoughts, as she couldn’t be sure whether she could accept the consequences if she kept thinking down that line.

The Veda had gotten her information, but they chose to spare her life. Why?

Although she seemed to be in an endless void, Lin Sanjiu could not travel far. She took a tentative step forward, yet she was immediately pulled back by the white silk closest to her. She looked at the other directions, but it was the same.

“Sorry for the wait. I’m back.”

The line came into her brain all of a sudden, shocking her. She still couldn’t get used to this kind of communication method. It was as if somebody had bypassed her shell and physically touched her soul.

“You don’t have a soul,” the Veda said, “At least not when you’re alive.”

‘They can read my thoughts?’

“Affirmative. One thing you may not fully understand yet is that you are now an open book to us. You’re like a public swimming pool, accessible to everybody. All I need to do is take a look, and I can gain access to all the information your body holds. For example, do you not realize that we are now using the language that you did not know to communicate?”

Lin Sanjiu came to a halt, as she just realized this. The Veda did not need language as their communication tool anymore. They could just send their messages directly to the receiver’s brain with clarity and accuracy that transcended the language.

“Where have you been? Why do you need our information?” Lin Sanjiu waited until her emotions settled down before shooting her questions.

“Why does humankind keep exploring outer space? The answer is the same.” It seemed that the Veda had indeed completely obtained her information. Hence, it was getting better at using human activities as an elaboration for its explanation. “The more information we have from different dimensions, the more we know about the unknown dimension. It’s understandable, right?”

‘Dimension. Do they happen to know about the Dimensional Rift as well?’

“Oh, you mean that one. Yeah, from your memory, we can finally prove that the concept of multidirectional existence is real… But that is not important,” the Veda answered the questions indifferently, “What’s important is the choice you will make next.”

“What, what do you mean by that? What choice?”

The Veda turned a deaf ear to her queries and replied with another question instead. “Can you see these white fibers? They are known as cords. They’re our data storage, as well as our connection channel. All of the information we’ve collected, including our own, is kept in here.”

‘Including their own?’

“Affirmative, because fundamentally, we’re data, too. That’s why we can travel through them, treating them as some sort of transmission pathway. As long as there’s a cord, we can transfer our data to our intended destination with speed beyond your imagination.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“We found out that deep in your mind, you treat us as some kind of extraterrestrial life. And your idea roots from the different technologies we possess, and the form and way we exist… am I right?”

‘Are you not?’

“Now, think about it. As a race, how do we maintain our population and keep our species from going extinct?”

‘So the Veda could—’

Something clicked in place in Lin Sanjiu’s brain after a momentary stunned silence.

‘Since they could basically create anything by coding, is there a possibility that they propagate in such a way as well?’

“Perhaps the things that concerned her are different, but so far, Soulsqn has only asked us this one question. I have already told her the answer, so I’ll repeat it to you now. First thing first, the human reproductive process is a Daedalian process that’s too hard to control, so it is not suitable for maintaining the numbers in our group. Secondly, we cannot create a sentient being through coding. The data mapping of every sentient creature is one of a kind, and no matter how meticulous we are in the coding process, the end-product would eventually end up as a defect. I can tell you very straightforwardly that among all of our research, this is the only project that we failed and made no progress at all. Maybe it’s true that humanity is God’s masterpiece, after all.”

Lin Sanjiu listened to the Veda’s explanation in a trance. She had even forgotten to ask about the wellbeing of Soulsqn.

“But that doesn’t mean that our race will slowly die out as the souls do.” The Veda kept calm, speaking at a slow and steady pace and offering a prompt answer. “Theoretically, we’re immortal. However, accidents and things tend to happen when there are too many hours… Hence, we picked the third route to maintain our population.”

Lin Sanjiu tensed up.

“Immigration.”

Although she already had an inkling about it, she was still slightly shocked.

“Immigration?”

“Why do you sound so surprised? In the Data Stream Library, every visitor we have analyzed is nothing but a simple set of open data. With some modifications, we can get rid of the unnecessary parts of you and give you all the knowledge and ideal we have. Then, the moment you come back to your senses, you will have already become a full-fledged Veda.

“Exactly so. This is the choice you need to make: Are you willing to become a part of us?”

For a moment, all thoughts were bumped out of Lin Sanjiu’s mind. The Veda could not get an answer from her in her current state, so it just waited quietly. Just as Lin Sanjiu’s thought process slowly reconnected, she began to feel that the situation was a little bit too unreal and hard to believe.

“This is not a joke. Becoming a part of us… Do you understand what that means?

“We are not omnipotent and omniscient, but if there are any organisms on this universe that are close to “omnipotent and omniscient”, that would be us.

“All of your worries, gone, and all your doubts, answered. Everything you love and hate…” the Veda paused for a moment, “Well, you will not feel love or hate any longer.

“You will learn the true essence of all things in the world. You will exist longer than the stars or even the universe. You will see, learn, and master all kinds of technologies that you have never witnessed in your life. You will be omniscient, you will have absolute dominance over everything, and you will be in the driving seat. The world will be in your hands. Joining us, in a sense, will make you become God.

“You can even ascend out of this loop of world leaping.

“So, it’s your call.”

Lin Sanjiu listened like a deer in the headlights. Her brain was a mare’s nest. She could not think of anything, and she could not help shuddering. She had no idea whether it was due to the fear or agitation. All she knew was that her brain felt as if it was in a pot of boiling water; it was so hot that she could not breathe.

Suddenly, a question slashed across her muddled brain and appeared with sparkling clarity in her mind.

“Puppeteer…” The words came out of her lips slowly. “Where is he now? Did you offer him the same options?”

“Affirmative. Right after he failed the Pocket Dimension, we had gained access to his data pool. When we utilized his memory and trapped you in Sector 9, we told him the same thing as well.”

“Then, what did he say?”

“He said he’s willing to become our immigrant. However, before that, he wishes to see you.”