Planet Ignis | Ch. 29 (Patreon)

When Trother told me about the crisis that almost caused the extinction of the Settlers and how it was traced back to reforms needed in the education system, I wasn’t surprised. I think that, without a doubt, education is the key to why these tribes of Settlers were able to survive so long. For a group of stranded humans, all herded together in an underground complex, to be able to give their lives willingly, without even flinching, is something incredible. It all comes down to the most powerful human emotion: love. A human who loves can do impossible things. And this is where the bedrock of their society lies. They know how to teach their children to love unconditionally.

From “Notes on Ignian Societies”, by Hitori Himura, PhD

“Checkmate,” said Trother calmly.

Eli gulped in surprise. He had never won against Trother, but over the last year, he felt he was getting closer to a victory. This game had been completely one-sided. Once you’ve played an opponent thousands upon thousands of times, it is possible to anticipate their moves. Eli was playing a completely different man than he remembered. It felt like his teacher had significantly changed as a chess player in the week he hadn’t seen him

“Teacher, what’s going on? Where is Hitori? And how come you’re playing chess so differently?”

Before Trother answered, his hand blurred as he entered different commands on his virtual screen. Eli gasped. Trother was as fast inserting commands in his console as Hitori. Trother wiped his hand, and a screen appeared in front of Eli.

Name: Trother

Gender: male

Age: 57

Body longevity: 22 hours

Mind longevity: 5 years

Name: Eli

Gender: male

Age: 24

Body longevity: 33 years

Mind longevity: 44 years

“Teacher, you…” murmured Eli.

“Yes, Eli. It’s been thirty-five years for me since I last saw you.”

“How?” asked Eli in shock.

“Our thoughts have the potential to be as fast as the speed of light. While you were running the Nexus a hundred times faster than real-world time, Hitori and I spent the last years at a much greater speed. Therefore, although in your perception, only one week has passed, for me, thirty-five years have gone by.”

“What were you doing, master? Why did you spend so many years away from me?”

“Mostly reading. Studying. Playing chess. Writing, sometimes.” The statement hurt Eli. He felt robbed of the time he could have spent with his teacher.

“Why? Why didn’t you spend more time with me instead?”

Trother looked at him sadly but didn’t answer. Eli knew why but was having difficulty coming to terms with it. Because he had to, of course. It wasn’t his choice.

“Where is Hitori?”

Trother looked down, sad.

“Hitori is gone, Eli. He knew he didn’t have much time left. I have met him once a year for a couple of days each time, since we last saw you. He would give me tasks and books to read so that I could learn about Programming, Genetics, and other subjects. Whenever we met, I would ask him questions to clear doubts. We also used the time to discuss how we could help you prepare for the coming of the Raptor. This is all uncharted territory, after all. We are unsure if what we need you to do is possible.”

Eli blankly looked at the chessboard. One more loss, one more death. He was sad for Hitori.

“On top of that, by the flames, he was a brilliant chess player. He picked up the rules of longevity chess in no time.”

“Did he ever win against you?” asked Eli, hopeful. There was nothing that Eli loved more than seeing Trother’s expression when he lost.

“Many times,” answered Trother, seriously. That meant he was good.

“But we weren’t fooling around, Eli. That was part of our preparation for your curriculum, child.”

Eli kept looking at Trother. It was a lot of information to process. “What now?”

“You and I have studied the organisms that inspired the Celer and Tardus mutations. The Celer mutation is something that you have mastered over the years we have spent together in the Burrows, but the Statera mutation is fundamentally different in many things. We will have to push your mind to the very limit, Eli. You’ll see that this is many times harder than Simultaneous bursting. It’s going to be incredibly difficult.”

“But, master, I’ve never been able to do Simultaneous bursting. Why don’t you do it? Why don’t you stop the Raptor?”

“Eli, my body is a complete mess. There is no guarantee that I’ll have enough time to do what must be done with the little longevity I have left. I have faith in you. You have the potential to be far greater than me or Hitori. Did you know that if you had played against the Trother that you have last seen, the one of thirty-five years ago, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against you in chess today?”

“You’re only saying that to make me feel better, master,” protested Eli with a frown.

“I am not, Eli. You don’t realize this, but your ongoing struggle with hunger all your life has always tethered you and held you back. Here,” said Trother gesturing at the Nexus around them, “where Faren is blocking all the pain receptors in your brain, your mind is free to utilize its full potential. You’re much sharper here than in the real world.”

“I see,” said Eli, still not fully believing his teacher. “Then how come I still got such a beating from you?”

Trother chuckled. “Because I have been practicing for the last thirty-five years, Eli. I’ve been playing against a fully operational AI and Hitori. Let me tell you, they were scary opponents,” Eli gulped.

“Once my fire is out, what I forged remains,” declared Trother after a pause. He was no longer chatting as a friend, but had spoken as a teacher.

“What have you forged, teacher?” asked Eli.

“I have forged a whetstone to sharpen your blade.”

“You did it, Eli!” shouted Trother in triumph.

Eli had tears of joy in his eyes. It was not easy, but they finally made it this far. Over the years, it had taken him thousands of hours inside the Acupuncturist program and the salamander and wasp simulators.

Trother designed the Acupuncturist program to stimulate different points in Eli’s skin. It felt to Eli as if needles were prickling him. Their sting was harmless. There weren’t any needles, to begin with. These sensations were fed to him through the nanite connected to Faren. As the little jolts of pain registered in Eli’s mind, he tried to activate the analogous part of his brain connected to the point of his skin that had been stung.

Trother was trying to teach Eli to control his skin as if it were a muscle. This was the key to controlling Statera. Since the skin could feel pain, the nerve endings were already there. Eli just had to learn how to reroute them. He had to use those same nerves to transmit commands instead of only using them to register pain.

Trother made him run the Acupuncturist program every other day. As for the rest of the time, part was spent playing chess against Faren or studying more animals. He had already finished a series of quests that had taught him everything known about the two creatures that had inspired the Statera mutation: the spotted salamander and the oriental wasp. These animals shared a common characteristic: they could feed on the light around them to produce energy.

The spotted salamander had algae living inside its cells. It was like the city-like cells of the animal had an extra solar-powered plant built into them. This gave an idea to Hitori: what if we could insert algae inside each human cell? Could we also add this solar power plant to them? Could this be a new way of generating energy to excite ignium?

Oriental wasps had a cuticle that allowed them to turn sunlight into electricity. Could something similar be given to humans?

Eli would go to the salamander simulator often and enter the simulated mind of a little yellow-spotted salamander. Running through the forest, Eli would look for sunlight and try to feel the warmth of the sun power his cells. He had also flown around for many hours in the mind of a wasp, trying to trap the light in its cuticle’s yellow and brown pigments, transforming the sunlight into electricity.

Eli did these exercises daily under Trother’s guidance with little respite for six years. The only times that Eli wasn’t practicing in these programs, he played chess against Faren. Playing chess against a computer was significantly different from playing against a human. An AI mind followed no specific pattern or aesthetics as it played. There was no regard for a general game plan or particular strategy. It just won. Faren kept beating Eli by always making the absolute best possible tactical move. Many times, Eli would lose because he ran out of longevity stones.

After four years of playing against Faren, Eli started to win a game sporadically. Then he started to win increasingly. Right now, they went toe to toe in a game. Trother kept accompanying his progress by jumping from week to week by varying the rate at which he was bursting his brain.

Today was a happy occasion because, for the first time, Eli could control his skin. There were over a thousand nerve endings, so it wasn’t an easy task to be able to activate them at will. Faren had congratulated Eli and Trother because Eli had finally produced significant results and was showing signs of activating his skin at will.

Trother looked at a screen that showed Eli’s brain lighting up as he sent command after command to close and open the pores of his skin consciously. He had always had faith that the boy could do it! After the euphoria of success passed, it was time to move to the plan’s next step.

“Master, what next?” asked Eli eagerly.

“Let’s keep up this exercise one more month. I want you to feel more comfortable with controlling your skin. Then, it will be time for the next stage.”

“Which is…” prompted Eli.

“You have to play longevity chess against Faren while you’re inside the Acupuncturist.”

Ch. 30