The Century War

Complications in the System

One of the first developments of a system that can have human consciousness uploaded was being tested, being the 1549th attempt at a successful construction of this system. The test subject walked into the room, fearful of previous tests going wrong and the possibility of him having the same fate. The test subject didn't want to end up like the test subject on attempt 1423, having his entire mind wiped and deleted. The test subject walked up to chair in the middle of a room with mirrors on all sides, knowing that there were people on the other side analyzing and recording his behavior and the future result of the test. The test subject started towards the chair, knowing full well the punishment he would receive for failure to comply. He sat in the chair, and proceeded to put a helmet-like object over his head, noting how uncomfortable it was in his head. 

"Test Subject 1549, do you understand me?" asked the leader of the technological arm of the Progenitor Coalition.

"Yes, Sir," responded the test subject.

"Test Subject 1549, are you ready to proceed with the test?" asked the leader again.

"Yes, Sir," responded the test subject once again, failing to hide a bit of fear in his voice.

The test subject could here the slight whisper of the leader of the technological arm whisper to the employees operating the system say, "Proceed." 

Instantly after the command was received, the test subject was temporarily blinded, seeing nothing except an expanse of darkness. Soon after, the test subject attempted to move his arms, but could feel nothing where he expected them to be. He then heard the leader again, this time his voice rattling his consciousness, seeming to be in his head, if he had one. 

"Test Subject 1549, do you understand me?" asked the leader, this time with a little hope in his voice.

"Yes, Sir," responded the test subject. At the sound of the response from the test subject, many people in the room began clapping and celebrating, excited from the first working test.

"Test Subject 1549, are you ready to comply?" asked the leader, signalling to everyone to start to shush. 

"Yes, Sir," responded the test subject, this time not knowing what the man would command of him this time.

"Test Subject 1549, you will be tasked to analyze an instructional video that you will be given in mere seconds. Failure to do so will result in temporary shutdown of your consciousness. Do you understand?" asked the leader, this time seeming to be more robotic than human. 

"Yes, Sir," responded the test subject. Directly after his response, he began to see a video began to play. It took him a while before he could understand what was going on, but soon he got the hang of living in a digital world from merely watching the video. When he was finished watching and analyzing it, he reported everything that he learned to the leader of the technological arm of the Progenitor Coalition.

"Confirmed," responded the leader to the test subjects results, surprised by how short it took the test subject to relay the information back to the leader, only taking a few nanoseconds. This also was able to catch the audiences attention, this time not having such a verbal celebration as a mental one. 

"Test Subject 1549, you will be assigned a new name to be referred to as. From now on you will be called System Manager 01. We may also abbreviate it as SM01. Do you understand?" asked the leader, preparing SM01's next assignment.

"Yes, Sir," responded SM01, not knowing what would happen next.

"SM01, you have been assigned to a stealth mission to the unknown region. You must locate any colonies that may have been established in the unknown region by The Dark. You may be granted a small army to destroy enemies in you path. From now on, the diplomatic status of The Dark is now 'Enemy'. You must destroy any established or establishing colonies within the unknown region. I am currently granting you access to a small carrier in which you will communicate with the rest of your army," finished the leader, pressing many buttons on his dashboard so that SM01 has access to the small carrier he had been assigned to. "Do you understand, SM01?"

"Yes, Sir," responded SM01, excited about the opportunity to prove himself to the Progenitor Coalition. With their conversation over, SM01 accessed the carrier, which was listed in the ship database as PC-S-CR-S-132468. SM01 then began his expedition into the unknown region, with one thousand ships at his command.