"Upon regaining consciousness, I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in a comfortable armchair in a luxuriously furnished room. This time, I had gotten the body of a human, a middle-aged man dressed in some kind of uniform. I wasn't given a chance to look around further before the voice of the Being arose in my mind.
"So, the rules. Figures are forbidden from killing other figures. There are four of you in the game. The winner is determined by the Council of Sages. The rest will be explained to you on site."
As soon as the voice fell silent, a door in the side wall opened, and a man in some strange suit walked out. However, without going into details, it was a standard set: shirt, trousers, jacket.
"Mr. Samael Tamuz, please follow me." The guest bowed. "Everything is ready for the presentation."
I decided to go with the flow for now, so I followed the guide, who quickly walked through the corridors. Judging by the absence of windows, we were in some kind of underground bunker. After a couple of minutes, we entered a hall where I was offered to sit in a large red armchair, surrounded by simpler black seats. There were four such special chairs in the hall, so they were most likely intended for the other game pieces.
Ahead of us rose a podium, behind which was a large screen, currently displaying a screensaver with the incomprehensible acronym ICOCOS. The small seats were almost all occupied by various intelligentsia, while I was the only one sitting in the red one so far. After a couple of minutes, the other figures appeared. I saw nothing remarkable in them. People were just people. Although one was somewhat sluggish. Apparently, he had found himself here unexpectedly. Or some kind of savage.
"So, gentlemen. Your attention, please." I was so engrossed in examining my competitors that I didn't notice the people who had appeared at the podium. There was one human individual of professorial appearance, now beginning his speech, and two fat individuals of overfed bureaucrats. Those are always easy to identify. "For those who don't know, my name is Adolf Rigertstein. We have gathered you here to entrust you with a task of utmost importance. I am talking about, I am not afraid to say, the salvation of all humanity. I will now bring you up to speed, and then the esteemed Nikos Papadopoulos will address you on behalf of the Council of Sages."
What followed was a thorough four-hour lecture, from which it became clear what I would have to deal with.
This world was quite technologically advanced. Suffice it to say that interstellar space travel was completely commonplace here. Another important factor was that many intelligent races inhabited the galaxy. The funniest thing was that these weren't some strange monsters, but very 'familiar' elves, orcs, centaurs, kitsune, and other creatures.
It can be said with certainty that all the mythical creatures ever mentioned in my world lived here. And as if that weren't enough, all these races were also technologically advanced. And on top of that, they were also magically advanced. So much so that purely technological civilizations wept with envy.
As you might guess, in such a 'multinational' world, wars were constantly raging between different civilizations. The situation could be described as 'all against all and every one for themselves.' This situation had been going on for hundreds of years, and a very unpleasant fact was gradually becoming obvious: humanity was losing.
Humans could boast neither strong magic, nor godlike technology, nor even special combat talents. That is, in each individual discipline, they were far from the worst, but upon comprehensive assessment, it turned out that the ranking of human civilization was among the bottom ten of nearly a thousand races in the galaxy. And only thanks to the incredible efforts of the Council of Sages were we somehow still managing to survive. Looking at Papadopoulos's face, I had an alternative opinion about the reasons for this situation, but I didn't voice it.
Currently, humans controlled twenty-three planets. At the same time, seven of them were in the zones of interest of other civilizations and were therefore constantly subjected to attacks and attempts to lay siege to them. According to analysts' forecasts, the complete destruction of humanity as a species should occur in about 10-15 years. And the time to turn the situation around was even less.
Then Nikos Papadopoulos began to speak, stating that within the next three years, we must find a way to save our race. The four of us were the best minds of humanity. Each of us was allocated an entire institute with thousands of scientists, engineers, mages, and other specialists. And after three years, we were to present our projects – fully completed research that would allow humanity to leap from rags to riches and crush the entire galaxy.
After the event ended, I was sent along with my escorts to a spaceship that was to deliver us to a research space station, lost in the vastness of the galaxy. Only maintaining absolute secrecy could allow us to complete our research and not be destroyed by enemy forces.
On the ship, I got to know my entourage. They turned out to be leading scientists with whom I was to work for the next three years. After discussing global issues and the current political situation with them, I secluded myself in my cabin and pondered how to save humanity.
To be honest, I didn't care about the local humanity. How were they better than, say, the kitsune? Personally, I prefer girls with fox ears. Well, what can I say? I'm that kind of fetishist. So saving a dying race was my least concern. However, I was interested in local technologies and magic. In the spider world, I sorely lacked a normal computer on which I could perform calculations for spell parameters.
Thus, it turned out that I needed to focus on my own elevation, while simultaneously solving the local problem. The decision was to be made by the Council of Sages, which introduced an additional uncertain factor into the game. However, I had an interesting idea.
I got up from the bed and went to the communications room, where I requested a secure communication channel with Nikos Papadopoulos. According to my companions, he was one of the most important bigwigs on the Council.
"Samael Tamuz? What prompted you to contact me?" Judging by the dissatisfied look of my interlocutor, I had pulled him out of bed. And he wasn't sleeping there at all.
"Mr. Nikos, I have an important question regarding the task you set before me. When you talked about saving humanity, did you mean saving us as a species, or saving us as individual living beings? In other words, what is more important to you, the immortality of the race or the immortality of its most gifted representatives?" The bureaucrat frowned and tried to read my thoughts. Alas, he wasn't a mage, so this trick didn't work. But the glances he threw eloquently indicated that he understood my hint. "Which of these options do you think would better suit the Council?"
"I think the Council, like you, cares about preserving the best representatives of society." He finally offered his expert assessment. Genuine interest appeared on Papadopoulos's face. "Do you already have any ideas in this regard?"
It seemed the fish had taken the bait. Now I needed to plant the right thought in his head, which in three years would penetrate the consciousness of every member of the Council of Sages.
"Yes. I believe that achieving personal immortality will simultaneously solve the problem of societal immortality. As for specific solutions, I think we should discuss them when I have something to demonstrate to you."
"Many have tried to achieve immortality."
"Of course. But I think you perfectly understand that I need success in this endeavor no less than you do. Unfortunately, I have no hope for the other chosen ones. So I can only rely on the wisdom of the Council and its best representatives, who will be able to dispose of the fruits of our labor accordingly."
Nicholas nodded in agreement, then turned and looked at something off-screen. Judging by his suddenly bored look, what he saw interested him more than talking to me.
"Do you have any more questions?" He addressed me.
"I wouldn't dare disturb you further. I'll let you know when I have good news."
With that, I ended the connection and began to ponder our conversation. I think my flowery words were clear enough for the overfed bureaucrat to realize that I was promising him personal control over the future method of achieving immortality. And therefore, there was a real chance to influence the outcome of the vote in my favor. After all, the pursuit of personal gain in such people always overshadows all arguments of reason and conscience. Well, here I did everything I could, and now all that remained was to solve the problem at hand.
Speaking of immortality, one should distinguish between the immortality of the body and the immortality of the spirit. The body is mortal by definition, and the issue of its destruction is only a matter of applying sufficient force. With the soul, things are a bit more complicated. Destroying it is possible, but in any case, this destruction will only be partial. Most likely, it cannot even be scratched. Influencing the soul requires energies far higher than humans can wield. Even I, when creating my tails, did so indirectly, using Bahion, which had been accumulating in the domain for millennia. And it was only enough for me alone.
Thus, the immortality of the soul can be taken as an axiom. Then, achieving immortality requires three things. First, to organize the continuity of memory. Second, to ensure the rebirth of souls into new bodies. And third, to make these bodies much more resistant to external influences than human ones.
In other words, I was going to save people, not humanity. After my modifications, the new beings could be called anything, but certainly not humans. But at the same time, I was going to give them the very immortality that people of all worlds dreamed of. I already had almost all the necessary information to develop a suitable solution. I just needed to organize it, develop optimal spells, and then test their operation in practice.
The first problem on the path to immortality is the destruction of the physical body. As soon as the mind is disconnected from the body, the body turns into a useless piece of meat. And even much lesser damage could lead to the same result in just a few dozen seconds. The body is a mechanism that ensures the soul's attachment to the material plane of existence. Therefore, this body should be made as durable as possible. The solution was simple and had been used by me repeatedly in the past – the soul needed to be encased in a magical crystal.
During my time as a spider, I studied two types of crystals: those in which spiders stored their knowledge and energy, and those in which demons held enslaved souls. By combining these technologies, I could create a perfectly protected body that would hold the soul and provide it with the most basic spiritual shells. The size of such a crystal could be small. After all, even fairies have souls, yet they are no taller than ten centimeters. And the smaller the vessel of the soul, the easier it is to preserve its integrity with magic. Where to get magic when it comes to ordinary people? Well, demons solved this problem long ago. Almost any person can become a mage if placed into a suitable body with the necessary energy shells.
Of course, existing as sentient crystals is not very convenient. Therefore, a spell needed to be embedded into the crystal that would allow a body to be created from any available material. Mud golems are an excellent example of how a humanoid can be created from whatever matter is at hand. Of course, for full existence, the body must be sufficiently complex, but that is easily achieved by developing an appropriate set of artifact enchantments. We don't need to create a body comparable in structural complexity to a human one. It will be enough to organize the desired appearance and emulate the functioning of human senses – touch, sight, smell, and so on.
One could even program reactions such as sexual satisfaction and enjoyment of physical exercise. On the other hand, there is no point in feeling pain or discomfort. Therefore, the new life form would not suffer from the problems of the material shell. After all, this is just a material projection, so restoring it after taking damage will require minimal effort. Instead of healing wounds by multiplying the slow cells of the human body, one could slightly reconfigure the available building material, which lacks any complex internal structure. After all, the shape of the body will only be determined by magic.
By the time our ship reached the research station, the first version of the plan was ready. All that remained for me was to compile a list of primary tasks, hire subordinates to perform subtasks of my plan, and monitor its execution. Of course, I first had to teach people the basics of spider magic. But for them, it was still only theoretical information, because the local mages used some magic previously unknown to me, and I had no desire to delve into its problems. After all, humans had had hundreds of years to figure out how to use their magic optimally. And if they hadn't figured it out, then I shouldn't bother with it either. Especially since I only had three years, which needed to be spent with maximum efficiency. Recalling my previous research into magic, three years might not even be enough. After all, I needed not only to understand what needed to be done but also to figure out how to specifically solve hundreds and thousands of problems.
Two and a half years later, I stood in my personal laboratory, holding in my hands the result of my labor – the body of a perfect life form. As I had planned, it was a small, transparent red crystal into which a soul could be enclosed. Even in the form of just a crystal, this life form possessed magical abilities. And as soon as it gained access to the most common chemical elements (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, silicon, aluminum), it could use them to create any body for itself. I named this life form Vritras, derived from the name Vritra, meaning 'The Primeval Demon with No Fixed Form.'
The last two dozen experiments on death row inmates were completely successful, so I was thinking of moving to the pilot operation stage. When I planned the development of the vritras, I immediately included three levels of implementation.
The first was a civilian configuration intended for anyone who wanted it. It allowed one to live in a new body, use magic, and... reproduce. The latter capability was provided by an automatic system for creating crystals into which the soul residing in the afterlife would be placed. Essentially, it was an analogue of a soul reincarnation system, but with the preservation of memory. Moreover, if desired, one could attract a specific soul if the parent had its energetic imprint. Another function of the crystal was the ability to die at will. This was supposed to solve the problem of captivity and the fatigue of eternal life, should it ever occur.
The second configuration allowed the use of a more advanced 'filler' for creating the body. This could include strong metals, making such a vritras more resistant to physical damage, stronger, faster, and so on. In addition, the user gained access to a set of combat spells embedded in the crystal's structure. This allowed magic to be used in battle with greater speed.
And finally, the third modification was intended for me alone. I invested in it all the functions I could think of but decided not to give to the locals. This crystal existed only in my head and in the form of calculations saved on an encrypted drive.
I examined the crystal covered in magical symbols once more and tossed it into a small box with the others. These were the soul vessels from the second batch, which I had just finished synthesizing. Closing the box, I shoved it into my pocket and headed for the lab exit, simultaneously pulling out my phone from another pocket.
"Kirill? Gather the team and come to laboratory number forty-one." I gave a short order.
Over the past time, I had gathered a few security personnel loyal to me personally. This turned out to be the right approach, because only thanks to them was I able to survive to this moment. Three assassination attempts in two and a half years – such was the statistic of being on the most secure and secretive space base of humanity. The first time was an embedded vampire agent operating according to a pre-programmed directive. The second time was an agent of another game figure trying to sabotage my project. And the third case was the most dangerous. An ordinary scientist attacked me, out of envy deciding to get rid of the unworthy me and take all the glory of my inventions for himself.
So now I always moved around the station accompanied by two bodyguards. Exiting the laboratory into the corridor, I found my two escorts there. A quick mental scan showed they were not under any compulsion and were in full possession of their faculties. A couple of weeks earlier, there had already been an attempt to zombify one of the guards. It ended in nothing due to the defenses I had installed, but the organizer of this event couldn't be identified either.
Arriving at the meeting place, I found the rest of my support group there. A total of eight people had passed the rigorous screening. After all, I primarily assessed people based on loyalty to me, reinforced by promises of immortality, power, authority, and so on.
"Good afternoon, Kirill, how's the situation?" The group's leader was a man of Slavic descent, Kirill Dubrovich, with the call sign Dub (Oak).
"Good afternoon. So far, everything is fine. Our surveillance targets are at their workplaces." After the last incident, we decided to compile a list of potential spy-saboteur-saboteurs, whose activities were now tracked in real-time.
"So, we've talked about this a lot, but today the moment has arrived. I am ready to make you immortal mages, who will become the leaders of the new society in the future."
"Is everything ready?" Frank Joseph Stalin, despite his last name, hailed from French clans, among the first to break into the galaxy and begin its colonization.
"Yes. You observed the test subjects and spoke with them yourselves. The death row inmates are completely satisfied."
"Of course they're satisfied." Frank exclaimed. "They live like lords, having sex for two hours a day..."
"Don't be jealous." Mark Tri, the youngest member of our team with the strangest last name, interrupted him.
"Enough of the clowning." Dub brought down the hammer, surveying his comrades with a heavy gaze. "Continue." It was for this ability to instantly restore order that I had made him the head of the station's security service.
"In short, I have created crystals for the warrior caste. Anyone who wishes can undergo the conversion right now. Or you can wait, observing the lives of your bolder comrades."
"Will there be crystals for the Brahmin caste?" Narayan Bhagavan Singh, from a cultural perspective, was a typical Hindu, but outwardly he looked like a true Aryan – the ideal of the Third Reich. In fact, he was an Aryan. In this reality, the wild dark-skinned tribes of the Mlecchas and Yavanas had not managed to conquer India and replace its true masters. Narayan considered himself a direct descendant of Balarama and a Brahmin – a representative of the highest caste in Aryan culture.
"There will be." I nodded in agreement. "One. Only for me."
The Aryan sighed and volunteered to be the first.
"What do I need to do?"
"As if you haven't seen it?" I was surprised. "Sit in the meat grinder."
This was the unflattering word the guards used to scare the death row inmates sent to us for experiments. The name stuck for the apparatus, although in official documents it was called the "System for Extracting Informational-Energy Shells of Consciousness." But there was nothing scary about the device. It looked like a dentist's chair with a slightly strange headrest. And a limb restraint system – of course, where would we be without that in our line of work?
"No need to undress?"
"No. You'll get your clothes back later."
Narayan sat in the chair and tried to relax. I walked over to the adjacent apparatus and inserted one of the crystals from the box into it. Then it took a couple of minutes to activate the equipment. Essentially, the main piece of equipment here was the crystal. All this bulky machinery just provided a channel to move the soul from one body to another.
The lights on the control panel lit up green, indicating the equipment was functioning normally, and the first victim went limp, losing consciousness. While the artificial reincarnation process was underway, I walked over to the stacks of boxes in the corner and used telekinesis to move one of them onto a special stand. Then I removed the lid and checked the contents. These 'coffins' contained a set of chemical elements necessary for creating a body. It looked like a mixture of water and sand.
The device beeped, and I moved to the patient, using a spell to monitor the state of his former body – one hundred percent dead. Even cellular activity had completely ceased. Using telekinesis to avoid touching it, I removed the crystal from its holder, carefully scanned it, and then tossed it into the coffin. Everyone present immediately crowded around to witness the process of creating the new body.
The crystal clinked into a thin layer of water and settled onto the sand. Within a second, grains of material began to stick to the base, simultaneously fusing into a single amorphous mass. The process accelerated, and the lump began to grow, extending tendrils throughout the box. After a couple of minutes, all the matter was absorbed, and the process of forming a human body began.
Theoretically, a vritras could take on any form. But for this, it needed to consciously control the process or entrust the maintenance of its shape and appearance to a special program. The crystal initially contained several standard programs to give the reborn individual a human appearance. In the future, the program's parameters could be adjusted, or one could even write their own. I decided to speed up the process even further by sending the donor's appearance model to the crystal. All I had to do was select the necessary file on my phone and transmit it to the crystal via a 'magical' communication channel.
The body took on a humanoid form without a face or muscle definition, and then, within a second, it assumed Narayan's appearance. A few more seconds were spent forming fine details like skin pores or hair. And then, the naked man opened his eyes and looked around.
"Well? Did it work?"
"Get dressed." Kirill commanded.
"With what?" The commander just rolled his eyes at that question. "Ah, right."
The vritras closed his eyes for a second, after which the image of a security uniform appeared on the surface of his body. It was eerily reminiscent of the liquid terminator's transformations. Narayan examined himself, climbed out of the box, and began to stretch, getting used to his new body.
"Damn, I feel like I've had a massive dose of stimulants. Nothing hurts, nothing aches anywhere, and the comfort is... at that, his gaze fell on his former body. "So that's what I look like?"
"Yes. Already want to get plastic surgery?" Frank replied.
"It's worth considering."
"You're handsome as it is." Kirill reassured him. "Who's next?"
That day, six out of eight people underwent the transformation. Mark Tri and Mateo Idalgo decided to wait. That was understandable. Especially since, right before their eyes, six bodies were sent to the organic waste incinerator. Even I, with all my preparation, found this sight disturbing. However, human emotions did not influence my decisions. I planned to turn myself into a vritras in about a month, when all preparations were complete. I could fix minor issues after becoming immortal.
There were still six months left until the agreed date, but the station's population had already begun to get agitated. Some were discussing what the Council would decide. Others were trying to figure out how to become immortal before our research was banned and the entire station staff was executed. Chaos reigned in people's minds, which inevitably affected their work results. Although the main project was already complete, there were still many ancillary ones that were supposed to increase the comfort of the new life form's existence.
For example, we were still working on the concept of deriving pleasure from sex. If no restrictions were built in, vritras would have sex non-stop 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which would quickly lead to the complete degradation of consciousness. But completely depriving people of sex was also unacceptable. Who would agree to become immortal if the only joy in such an existence was watching others suffer?
In short, there was still a sea of work to do, and people were panicking. I had to introduce strict discipline, limit communication, and, most importantly, promise the desperate the immortality they so craved. Quite naturally, my closest supporters and opponents were first in line. Almost the entire leadership of the institute was intriguing against each other. Some wanted more glory, some wanted to become immortal immediately before their aging body gave up the ghost, some sincerely wanted to save humanity, while others were equally sincere in wanting to destroy it. Of course, there were also those who didn't care about anything, only concerned with conducting research and performing experiments.
The peak of madness was the conversion of several scientists into vritras in secret from me. This conspiracy sought to, no more or less, overthrow me before I myself achieved immortality. I didn't bother explaining to them that I was under protective spells 24/7; instead, I used the control key embedded in the 'prisoner' models, turning the imbeciles back into a set of inorganic substances and a lifeless piece of glass.
In short, crap was hitting the fan from all directions like a giant geyser. Working in such an atmosphere was very difficult, so in the end, I initiated the process of converting willing individuals into civilian model vritras, locked myself in the laboratory, and delved into the development of the final version of the Vritras.
I wasn't naive enough to believe that I would be able to keep my Vritras body after the game ended. Twice already I had lost my body due to the Entity, and it was unlikely anything would change in the future. All I had was my soul. And it was there that I planned to hide a special information module that stored the image of the crystal with its entire structure on the physical and magical planes. Just as memories of past lives are preserved in the inner shells of the soul, I planned to preserve the knowledge of how to achieve immortality. And to prevent any busybodies from meddling in there with their cunning hands, this memory region was located on non-standard mental frequencies. I chose the characteristics of my personal 'flashbacks' by scanning the multidimensional surrounding world and selecting the least inhabited range, where nothing ever happened.
Another ace up my sleeve was a body modification that allowed energy to be generated through cold nuclear fusion. After all, I hadn't forgotten my favorite way to solve all problems – the thermonuclear bomb. So I thought, why let good things go to waste? As long as I wasn't blowing anything up, lithium deuteride could be used as an energy source for the body's functions and the application of magic. Although I already had two tails, an extra reserve wouldn't hurt. Ordinary vritras were limited in their output power by the parameters of their magic source. But my power was to be limitless.
And finally, I brought my immortality almost to the Absolute by developing a strengthening spell that made the main crystal of the soul practically indestructible. This was achieved through the extreme specialization of the spell. In fact, it could only be cast on a crystal of a specific composition, fixed internal structure, and shape. But according to calculations, the crystal should maintain its integrity even while lying on the surface of a neutron star.
Work on the final details dragged on, so I completed it just three months before the date of the presentation. And literally an hour after that, a member of the Council of Sages contacted me, informing me of the imminent arrival of a special commission that would verify the results of our work. Time was short, so I had to urgently complete all preparations.
First, I checked the statistics of problems arising with the artificial bodies and the soul stones themselves. Surprisingly, there were very few. Moreover, the scientists themselves had developed solutions to these problems, promptly replacing the crystals and moving the souls from the defective versions into new ones. I took all the improvements into account and incorporated the changes into my project.
Next, I called all my guards and assigned them to provide enhanced security for the laboratory over the next 24 hours. I locked myself inside, though after so much time spent alone, this no longer surprised anyone. Inserting the memory card into a computer isolated from the station's network, I initiated the final calculation process for the crystal's parameters. After a couple of hours, the process finished, and the action program was fed into the synthesizer. This was my masterpiece, allowing me, through a combination of magic and technology, to synthesize crystals with atomic precision while simultaneously applying a multidimensional artifact spell to them.
Finally, six hours later, the manufacturing and testing of the crystal were complete. With trembling hands, I placed the crystal into its holder, sat down in the 'meat grinder' chair, and activated the transfer process. A few seconds later, I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I was already inside a trap for souls. A very unusual state.
The next stage was the most important. Forming a telekinesis spell, I picked up the crystal and moved myself to another apparatus, in which the impact program had already been set. Here, I lost consciousness again, so as not to interfere with the delicate procedure of recording information into my soul.
I woke up feeling like mincemeat that someone had decided to put through a meat grinder in reverse, hoping to get chunks of meat. It took me almost another day to recover, refraining from any magical or mental activity. Finally, the equipment showed that my condition had normalized, after which I moved the crystal to the open box containing the materials for the body.
I watched the formation of the outer shell with interest. So far, it was the standard program for creating a copy of my previous body. Finally, I took a breath, opened my eyes, and listened to my pulse. The simulation of an ordinary human body was complete. Even an autopsy or X-ray would show the presence of internal organs. Only a chemical analysis of blood or flesh would reveal a very strange result. My body was one-third titanium and two-thirds carbon-silicon organic matter.
I climbed out of the coffin and looked at my previous body. I must say, Samael Tamuz was not particularly distinguished in terms of looks. When this whole game was over, I would need to give myself the appearance of a true macho. I then dressed in ordinary clothes and disposed of my corpse. 'My corpse' – a very unusual concept for a human.
Leaving the lab, I encountered my already nervous guards. I had indeed been delayed considerably.
"The transport with the inspectors arrives in four hours." Dub immediately brought me up to speed.
"And what about our brains?" I asked, hinting at the scientists. Engineers, being more down-to-earth, and mages, being more trained in self-control, had rebelled far less.
"They're freaking out. But not actively yet. Everyone's gone quiet, waiting for the commission's arrival."
"Anything known about its composition?"
"No."
"Well then, let's go prepare to welcome our dear guests."
The arrival of the ship at the station was a problem in itself. To prevent our destruction, the station teleported to a random location about once a day. To meet a ship, a special beacon-scanner was sent to the designated location. It verified that the meeting point was safe, waited for the ship's arrival, and then gave us a signal. The station moved to the agreed spot, took the ship aboard, and teleported again in a random direction.
Cargo ships arrived about once a month, but this meeting was unscheduled. Finally, we received the signal, made a short jump, and a diplomatic courier – a special class of ship with serious protection and the ability to teleport at any moment – flew into the hangar. A few minutes later, the ramp opened, and three people in civilian clothes descended, followed by four in combat suits. Papadopoulos was not among the arrivals, which disappointed me somewhat.
"Welcome, gentlemen. My name is Samael Tamuz, and I am the director of this station."
"John Doe, plenipotentiary representative of the Council of Sages." Introduced one of them. The others remained silent, generally acting like pieces of furniture. "Where can we talk?"
"Please, follow me. A high-security negotiation room is at your disposal."
Making our way through the station's corridors, we entered one of the most secure, yet simultaneously most useless, rooms. Its only advantage was its luxurious furnishings. There wasn't even a computer, as it could be used for espionage. Seating ourselves according to protocol, I suggested we get straight down to business.
"As I already mentioned, I am a plenipotentiary representative of the Council of Sages and one of its members. I know that there are still three months left before the deadline, but the situation is very serious. We cannot wait any longer. Just four days ago, we lost five planets simultaneously. All populations on them have been destroyed or are being destroyed as we speak. Only ten worlds and twelve inhabited planets remain under our control. My task is to assess the results of your research and, if they are promising, to organize a demonstration of these results to the Council."
It seemed my first obstacle in the final stage would be to make the right impression on this man. If he decided my developments were 'unpromising,' I would automatically lose the game. And I really didn't want to find out what the Entity would come up with in that regard. I could only hope for the impartiality of this individual.
"In principle, our project is already complete. We have some minor improvements planned, but they can be carried out in parallel with implementation."
"And what is the essence of your project?" It seemed secrecy was maintained at a sufficient level, as even members of the Council of Sages didn't know what I was doing here.
"In short, it's about giving humans immortality and making them mages."
"Is that all?" John Doe's voice dripped with disappointment. "I was hoping for some kind of weapon."
"This is better than any weapon. If you didn't hear me, this is about immortality. That means you can send soldiers into battle who cannot be destroyed."
"The outcome of battle is decided not by soldiers, but by spaceships."
"No. Spaceships decide nothing. Because without the planets that support them, without supplies of food and ammunition, they are simply flying coffins. We just need to send one fighter to an enemy planet, and within a month there will be millions of our soldiers there – immortal, capable of fighting on equal terms with mages and robots, needing no logistical support or infrastructure. No race in this galaxy will be able to handle our army. Just as they won't be able to conquer any of our planets. Yes, they might fight back for a while, but within a hundred years, there will be no trace of them left."
John listened to my impassioned speech with interest.
"So soldiers will be able to reproduce?"
"It's not just soldiers who will be able to reproduce. We're talking about a new life form. It's an almost immortal body that contains a soul preserving memories of past lives. You can draw the soul of an experienced warrior from the afterlife and immediately get a soldier capable of performing all kinds of assigned tasks. As I said, the body will be almost invulnerable. But if it is destroyed, the fallen's comrades can summon his soul and give him a new body in just a few minutes."
"Hmm... can you demonstrate what it looks like?"
"Certainly. Let's go to the proving ground. We conduct experiments on those sentenced to death. We have several working specimens that can demonstrate all the advantages of the new life form."
"Let's go." We left the room and again began to wander through the station's countless corridors. "You mentioned that this is a new life form?" The envoy asked me along the way. "Meaning, nominally, this is not the salvation of humanity."
"Nominally, it is not the salvation of a biological species, but the salvation of each of its individual representatives. People will change bodies but remain themselves. They will gain a better life. And all sorts of xenoses will be destroyed by us and turned to dust."
John Doe nodded in agreement with my words and continued on, looking pleased. Mental scanning of his consciousness showed that he was very partial towards all non-human life forms inhabiting the galaxy. Meaning, he hated them with every cell of his body. However, the idea that humans might change while remaining beings of a 'higher order' did not cause him to recoil.
We stopped in a room separated from a large hall by a glass wall. According to my instructions, one of the official test subjects and three ordinary guards, laden with various weapons, were already there. I wasn't afraid of rebellion from the prisoner, because for him, this was already a stage he had passed. He had learned from personal experience that he was firmly hooked, and any rebellion would only worsen his extremely comfortable position.
"Before you is a specimen of the new life form. We call it vritras. Now we will demonstrate how the specimen withstands an attack from personal small arms."
I gave the signal, and one of the guards raised a kinetic rifle firing ordinary bullets. Despite all the progress, a piece of metal flying towards the head was still a perfectly effective weapon. Except that the bullets were now accelerated not by gunpowder, but by gravity. A long burst rang out, and the prisoner's body was literally riddled. Scarlet blood gushed from the wounds, and the mutilated body hit the floor with a dull thud. Brains were visible in the shattered head, and a large pool of blood quickly formed beneath the body.
"So?" John asked, bewildered.
I frowned, walked over to the communication device, pressed a button, and said:
"Martin, if you don't stop fooling around right now, I'll deprive you of sex. For life."
Hearing the last phrase, the figure twitched and immediately stood up. The wounds healed, and the blood was absorbed back into the body. Even the 'prison uniform' restored its original appearance.
"Can't even joke anymore." The test subject grumbled.
"Another burst." I commanded.
The guard raised his weapon and emptied the rest of the magazine into the target. This time, the bullets could barely leave marks on the body, which healed immediately. The tester switched to a blaster and continued the demonstration.
"Prisoners, what can you expect from them? No trust whatsoever." I explained the situation.
"You mentioned something about sex."
"Yes. We decided to keep this function. People need a way to get pleasure. So we took several women, transferred them to new bodies, and then gave the prisoners a chance to relax. All on a voluntary basis. The duration of sex is limited to a couple of hours a day. This is a temporary solution, as the issue is very complex. But as you can see, the prisoners like their situation, and the threat to deprive them of sex is a very serious one."
We watched as kinetic and plasma weapons, a flamethrower, and even an anti-tank rocket proved powerless to cause any harm to the target. A triple shot from their grenade launcher tore the test subject to pieces, but within five seconds he had reassembled and was standing by the wall as if nothing had happened, whistling with a nasty smirk.
"That's... impressive." The guest admitted.
"This is the model for prisoners. Military models can be equipped with built-in magical artifacts that will turn a person into a heavy assault infantry unit."
"But to do that, one must be a mage?"
"Any person who receives this body will become a mage. Perhaps not an outstanding one, but more than sufficient to be a serious combat unit on the battlefield."
"And how would this affect civilian life?"
"Well, for each other, such shots would amount to little more than a slap in the face. This weapon poses no danger to vritras. We can devise a model of social regulation after the imminent threat of destruction is no longer hanging over us."
"Can you demonstrate all this to the Council?"
"Of course. But for the demonstration, I would prefer to use a soldier loyal to the command. Prisoners aren't suitable for this. Here, they are under strict control, and I wouldn't want to trust them more than necessary."
"Yes, I understand you. I have four assault troops under my command. You can use them."
I turned my gaze to the four figures encased in metal.
"Only with their voluntary consent."
"We agree." Answered one of the four. "If we could demonstrate this on the battlefield, the enemies would already be begging for a truce."
"Then we need to prepare. In an hour, I can demonstrate how an ordinary person can become immortal."
With that, we parted ways. The advisor and his escorts went to rest, while I had to organize a spectacular show. Of course, I wasn't going to give these men the military version. The civilian version would suffice for them. Perhaps it was worth embedding the ability to use a dozen spells. Let's call it the police version.
The rest needs little description. I turned four people into vritras and arranged another demonstration of their new abilities. After that, it was decided to take me on the courier ship to the planet where the Council of Sages was currently in session. I had already gotten everything I could from this station, so I agreed. However, I insisted on being accompanied by my bodyguards. Finally, I boarded the ship, taking with me a 'field kit' of equipment and a hundred crystals, and we set off.