Once the thought flickered into 'Calypso's' mind, she couldn't suppress the urge to give it a shot.
It was that classic itch of curiosity, you know?
A long time ago, 'Calypso' had toyed with the idea of making Herta Space Station "stand up"—metaphorically speaking—and eventually, she wanted the Simulated Universe to do the same.
However, a string of past events meant she'd ended up crafting the Simulated Universe with her own two hands.
Consequently, the plan to give the Simulated Universe its own "legs" had been gathering dust on the shelf until today.
Finally, 'Calypso' had fished this old, mothballed idea back out.
But let's be real for a second. Nous was originally a supercomputer created by Zandar using his own "slices" as a foundation, allowed to evolve, iterate, and eventually ascend to Aeonhood.
If Nous could achieve divinity through self-iteration, what kind of existence would the Simulated Universe become if it first mastered the Erudition Equation and, by extension, the power of Erudition itself?
For a fleeting moment, 'Calypso' even considered creating a special interface so she could input the complete Erudition Equation directly into the Simulated Universe, using the Path of Erudition itself as the baseline for its calculations.
She had a feeling it would result in something truly peculiar.
However, her rationality quickly shut that down.
A complete Path Equation was far too dangerous—especially if it were housed in such a glaringly obvious vessel.
If a third party found out and managed to intercept even a fragment of those equations, it would be absolute chaos.
To prevent the brain-dead move of accidentally creating her own "overlord," she decided that only a heavily simplified version could be integrated into the Simulated Universe.
That said, given the current state of the Simulated Universe, even a simplified version of a Path Equation would be a heavy lift.
It wasn't for lack of potential; it was just that the Simulated Universe already consumed nearly all the available power. Adding more weight to the scale meant they'd need external hardware—maybe even a total system overhaul.
The technology capable of housing a Path Equation currently resided with Screwllum. He had spearheaded that project's development, so the results were naturally in his hands.
Thus, 'Calypso' chose to pull Screwllum into the fold.
[Nameless: Screwllum, you there? I want to talk to you about the Simulated Universe.]
[Screwllum: I am here, Madam. Shall I come over?]
[Nameless: It's better to talk in person. Remember to bring that storage device you were researching.]
[Screwllum: Understood, Madam Bai Ming. I shall arrive at the Space Station within one system day.]
[Nameless: I'll be waiting.]
Chatting with Screwllum was always efficient—not a single wasted word.
'Calypso' glanced at the chat interface, then clicked on the message windows for Herta, Divine Herta, and Ruan Mei.
She sent a message to all three, informing them that she and Screwllum intended to upgrade the Simulated Universe.
Predictably, Herta didn't respond; there was only an automated reply from AI Herta. Ruan Mei's side was equally silent. Her auto-reply stated she was in the middle of a critical experiment and was unavailable for visitors.
'Calypso' shrugged, understanding the situation. Still, she figured she'd go check on Ruan Mei later; the woman had been a recluse for ages, but lately, she'd really taken it to the next level.
Meanwhile, Divine Herta expressed interest but mentioned she was tied up and could only provide remote assistance for now, promising to visit in person in a few days.
And so, after waiting about half a day at the Space Station, 'Calypso' saw the arrival of a ship from Planet Screwllum.
The ship was spat out by a blazing Phase Flame, and following the guidance system, Screwllum soon located 'Calypso'.
"Screwllum, you're here already?"
'Calypso' waved him over and patched in the comms for Divine Herta. Only then did she reveal her absolutely unhinged plan with an air of mystery.
Initially, Screwllum thought this was just another one of 'Calypso's' sudden whims—something that would result in a quirky but technically impressive gadget. But as she continued her narrative and mentioned the "Erudition Equation," even his mechanical brain suffered a momentary lag.
"Conclusion: You have mastered the equation representing Erudition and wish to simplify it to optimize the logic of the Simulated Universe?"
"Exactly. But why did you feel the need to repeat it?" 'Calypso' looked at him, puzzled.
His repetitive summary seemed odd. As a mechanical lifeform, Screwllum usually avoided such redundant, circular statements. But clearly, this was not a normal situation.
"You've certainly got guts," Divine Herta joked over the comms. "Aren't you afraid the Simulated Universe will follow in Nous's footsteps and iterate its way into Aeonhood?"
She didn't actually think it could go that far, but even if it only iterated to the level of Irontomb, it would be ridiculous enough.
A mechanical lifeform that develops self-awareness and then evolves a pocket universe within itself? What would such a thing become over time?
It was hard to say. It might be a thankless effort where nothing happens at all, or it might trigger some strange Path and lead to ascension. In this world, anything was possible.
Screwllum nodded. His thoughts mirrored Divine Herta's; the project was bold. With the precedent set by Nous, it was nearly impossible to predict the future outcome.
"It's not that dramatic. If the simplified version even makes Nous look twice or acknowledge it as a 'genius,' I'd consider that a huge win."
"Not that dramatic?! Including me, just how many geniuses are you planning to manufacture? You're about to pull off what even Aha couldn't manage," Divine Herta huffed, refuting 'Calypso''s casual attitude.
Screwllum, meanwhile, was more curious about the latter half of the statement.
He had brainstormed numerous scenarios on his way over, yet never once did he imagine Erudition would be the focus this time. And 'Calypso' wanted to stuff it into the Simulated Universe!
Dangerous as it sounded, Screwllum was—to put it bluntly—intrigued.
To what heights would an equation meant to define Erudition take the Simulated Universe?
What changes would occur?
What characteristics would this simplified equation manifest? A flurry of ideas sparked in his mind.
"Conclusion: I am astonished, Ms. Bai Ming. I envisioned countless possibilities on my journey, yet I did not anticipate a surprise of this magnitude."
After a brief pause, Screwllum raised a question that weighed on him: "Question: What is the probability that this equation will cause the Simulated Universe to evolve self-awareness?"
"Hmm, honestly, I'm not sure. I'm just guessing that there's a chance it might catch Nous's attention, which could indirectly spark the birth of a consciousness. Like Amphoreus."
'Calypso' simply felt that if a place like Amphoreus could birth a machine soul like Demiurge, adding this code to the Simulated Universe might just do the trick.
"Then here's the problem: if it really does wake up, won't that mess with our research project?" Divine Herta remained skeptical.
Setting aside whether this new consciousness would just go on strike, the mere prospect of it having goals that diverged from theirs sounded like a massive headache.
"Isn't that what makes it interesting? Think of all that data, the Aeon prototypes, and the Path data. What kind of being would that consciousness become?" 'Calypso' looked at Divine Herta with a grin. "My point is, it might help us understand this world better."
"Stop with the high-and-mighty talk," Divine Herta huffed, clearly unimpressed by 'Calypso's' cryptic theorizing.
'Calypso' didn't mind. "So, you in or out?"
"In! Of course I'm in. How could I say no to something this fascinating?"
Despite the skepticism and concerns, the project was exactly the kind of thing that hooked Herta's curiosity.
Screwllum also tipped his hat with his usual gentlemanly grace. As geniuses, their curiosity might not always align with 'Calypso's' vision, but they certainly found their own points of interest.
"However, what about Madam Herta? Given her personality, she shouldn't be ignoring this."
"She already went to pick a fight with that woman, Kakamond. She left not long ago—probably in the middle of a heated spree right now."
Hearing this, Screwllum gave an enlightened nod. It seemed they wouldn't be seeing her for a while.
Herta had mentioned going after Kakamond more than once; both he and Ruan Mei knew she'd been planning it. He just hadn't expected her to move so fast—setting off almost immediately after 'Calypso's' return. He had assumed Herta would at least spend some time with her first.
"Anyway, don't count on Herta, and Ruan Mei's gone silent. Looks like it's just the two of us doing the heavy lifting this time."
At this, Divine Herta let out a teasing smile. "When the 'other me' finds out she missed out on this, she's going to give you an earful."
"Well..."
'Calypso' gave an awkward but polite smile.
It wasn't hard to imagine.
Then again, getting Herta worked up just to go and coax her back into a good mood was practically a tradition at this point.
It almost felt wrong not to ruffle her feathers once in a while. Even if it wasn't intentional this time, 'Calypso' had to admit she was enjoying the chaos just a little bit.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL