Chương 32: Arc 1 - Chapter 11 - System Lecture I

When Thea awoke the next morning from the vibrations of her wristband, she experienced a strange mixture of feelings. On one hand, she felt rested and re-energized like never before. The exhaustion from the previous day, both in mind and body, coupled with the incredibly comfortable bed and pyjamas the UHF had provided for her, had allowed her to sleep like a rock. On the other hand, she felt out of place. Both in her body and in the room she was in.

Thea was not yet used to her new, slightly larger body, so waking up inside of it felt somewhat awkward to her. Additionally, the room was far too spacious for her liking, as she had lived her entire life in tiny, fairly cramped rooms. The large empty space made her feel vulnerable, despite knowing that nobody could enter her room without her consent.

Savouring the comfortable feeling of the bed for one last moment, Thea got up with a deep sigh and prepared herself for the day by jumping into the shower and thoroughly enjoying the hot water. Talking to herself, as she usually did when waking up, Thea finished changing into her UHF uniform, "Haaa... Feels like I haven't had a shower in my entire life—Wait. That's actually true! This body has never had a shower... hehe."

After double-checking that her dirty-blonde, shoulder-length hair was properly bound into a ponytail and that there were no obvious flaws in her outward appearance, Thea took one last look around her room.

"So this is really my home now, huh? Still hard to believe... I wonder if the Old Man was in an Alpha Squad too, back in his time... I can't wait to give him a call; it's been so long since we've talked..." Realising that she was slipping into a more melancholic mindset, Thea slapped her cheeks to refocus and pump herself up at the same time, "Right. Time to pick up Karania and get that System 101 class on the road… I really hope it'll be substantial; I need some void-damned answers!"

As she opened the door to her room, however, she was immediately startled by the sight of Karania standing mere centimetres away. With an apologetic look on her face, Karania quickly said, "Oh…! Hi there, Thea! Good morning! Sorry for the fright; I was trying to listen to see if you were already awake or not. I didn't want to wake you up if you were still resting!" Calming her racing heart, Thea simply smiled at Karania's characteristically kind response.

She walked out the door, squeezing past the apologetic girl, "Let's go get that breakfast and then find ourselves some answers about this whole System thing!" With a surprised expression at Thea's untypical assertiveness, Karania nodded enthusiastically. She fell in line with Thea, and together they made their way to the mess hall. ————————————————————————————————————— Roughly an hour later, the two of them arrived at one of the large lecture halls located inside the housing deck.

The lecture hall was a vast, modern space designed to accommodate nearly 300 marines. The high ceiling and bright lighting created an atmosphere that encouraged focus and learning. Rows of comfortable, cushioned seats with attached desks were arranged in an arc, each ascending slightly in elevation, ensuring that every attendee had a clear view of the stage and the large holographic display screen behind it.

The walls were adorned with the UHF insignia and motivational quotes from famous military leaders, while a state-of-the-art audio system ensured that the speaker's voice would reach every corner of the room with perfect clarity. Since there didn't seem to be any seating arrangements, Thea and Karania simply chose two seats next to each other near the front fifth of the room.

They had spent a good chunk of their early morning eating breakfast at the mess hall and engaging in casual chit-chat about miscellaneous topics. Thea felt very comfortable around Karania at this point and was happy to have found someone she could connect with so well. With a determined expression, Thea observed Karania as she prepared for the System 101 class by pulling out a large number of things from her bag.' I'll definitely make you my friend, Karania. Just you wait!'

Realising that Thea was watching her, Karania stopped dead in her tracks, a concerned look on her face as she turned towards Thea.

"Am I overdoing it again? I really want to make sure I can note down everything! This will be extremely important, so we can't be too prepared, right?" In response, Thea glanced down at her own desk, which featured only her single data-pad and nothing else. Compared to Karania's overloaded desk, which held around half a dozen differently coloured data-pads, recording devices, and even an old-school pen and paper setup, Thea's desk might as well have been empty.

Shrugging with a genuine 'I-have-no-idea' expression on her face, Thea replied, "I'm not really one to judge. I've never had a proper education, after all. My dad taught me at home. I have no idea how these lectures work, aside from what we've seen during basic training over the past two years." Confusion evident on her face, Karania cautiously asked Thea, "Your dad...? I thought...?" Realising what she had just said, Thea's face turned red.

She had never openly called James her father except for that one time during their goodbyes on Lumiosia, after all.

"Ah... I meant the person who took me in..." Thea managed to say in a meek voice, averting her eyes towards the opposite side of the lecture hall. Visibly elated at Thea's admission, Karania enthusiastically replied, "Gotcha! I'm glad to hear you had someone to take care of you! I'd love to hear more about your upbringing, actually. But I understand it's likely a sensitive topic, so don't worry about it for now. Someday, though!"

Simply nodding in acknowledgement, while continuing to be deeply fascinated by the far-side wall of the lecture hall, Thea tried her best to refocus her mind on the upcoming class, as Karania continued to fill her desk with more and more things, beyond what seemed necessary to any potential observers. ————————————————————————————————————— As the clock approached 8am, the lecture hall suddenly fell silent.

Surprised, Thea looked up from her data-pad, on which she had been reading a technical document about grav-chairs she had found in the UHF's internal database to pass the time. At the front of the spacious hall, she noticed a relatively small man, especially compared to the other UHF Marines she had encountered so far. He seemed to have just arrived and was busy inputting information into the large data-screen situated at the main desk.

The man, who appeared to be the professor for the System 101 lecture, had a distinguished air about him, even though his stature was comparatively smaller, standing at around 160cm tall, as Thea estimated from her perspective. He seemed to be in his late forties, with salt-and-pepper hair neatly combed to the side. His sharp, intelligent eyes were framed by a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

Clad in a crimson-coloured, tailored suit that accentuated his toned body and contrasted with the UHF uniforms worn by the assembled Marines, the professor radiated an air of authority and expertise. As he prepared for the lecture, his movements were precise and efficient, giving off a sense of calm confidence that seemed to command the attention of the nearly 250 Marines gathered in the hall.

The moment the clock struck exactly 8am, the professor activated the audio system, which came to life with a deep boom of its bass. He began his lecture with a clear and confident voice, tinged with a hint of dry humour, "Good morning, Marines. Don't bother getting up; I'm just a professor.

"Welcome to the 'Allbright System 101' class. Believe it or not, you will be learning all kinds of things about the Allbright System in today's lecture and the classes going forward. My name is Mykael Pierce and you will refer to me as Professor Pierce, while you're part of my class.

"Before we get started, let me lay down a few ground rules, so we don't immediately devolve into complete chaos the second a question arises, with nearly 250 of you crammed into one place:"First, if you have a burning question: shut your fucking mouth. I'm not interested in your minute-to-minute thoughts and neither is the rest of the class. You've all been given access to this lecture's message board, so post your questions in there.

"I'll be going through those questions during the breaks we'll be taking, and if they're valid questions, I'll have the Sovereign's AI include them in my lecture plan for the day.

"Second, going forward, I'll be your Allbright System expert, meaning that if you have any questions outside of class, you can come to me for answers. The same thing applies as with the first rule, however, don't waste my time with pointless questions. If I've covered it in the lecture and you didn't understand it, do better. I won't repeat myself just because you lack the mental aptitude to grasp basic information.

"Third, I always appreciate a good drink when I'm off-duty. If you have trivial questions outside of class, at the very least, make it worth my time." With that blunt, yet somewhat humorous opening, Professor Pierce walked behind the front desk and projected the data-screen onto the large wall behind him. Thea snuck a glance at Karania, who was intently writing down who-knows-what on two data-pads simultaneously.

Thea was thoroughly amazed by the Finesse and mental aptitude her squad member displayed, and felt a bit out of place, as she hadn't even opened her own data-pad's notes app. Quickly rectifying the issue, she opened both the notes app and the class's message board that Professor Pierce had mentioned. Then, she placed her data-pad back on the desk and refocused her attention on the lecture. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"In order to get a better understanding of how exactly the Allbright System functions, we first have to understand what it even is.

"For that matter, the answer is pretty simple: We don't know.

"With that question out of the way, let's move on to the second most important thing: Sharing what we do know.

"The Allbright System is a near-sapient or sapient program that has existed for an unknown length of time. We have no precise idea how long, but there's evidence to suggest it has been around for tens of thousands of years. Humanity first came into contact with the Allbright System just over 940 years ago, in an event now commonly known as the 'First Contact Incident.'

"And yes, that name is not a coincidence, for obvious reasons. It should be clear to everyone by now that this System is not of human origin. We do not know who created it, but we do know it wasn't us." A murmur of surprise rippled through the assembled recruits as the professor revealed the alien origin of the Allbright System. Thea felt a shiver run down her spine as she tried to wrap her head around the enormity of the revelation.

She glanced over at Karania, who had momentarily stopped her frantic note-taking, her eyes wide with astonishment. Thea could see that Karania was processing the implications of the information, and she wasn't the only one. All around them, recruits were exchanging looks of disbelief, their faces reflecting a mixture of awe and confusion. Some were whispering to their neighbours, while others remained silent, clearly deep in thought.

The room was abuzz with the energy of newfound knowledge, as the recruits grappled with the mysterious nature of the Allbright System. The buzz was cut abruptly by the Professor's voice echoing through the audio system, "Quiet! I can't have you erupt into chaos every time a minor piece of information is offered. Please get yourselves under control and let me continue my lecture." Thea was reeling at the thought of this being a 'minor piece of information' in the eyes of the Professor.

They had just been told that there was, or at the very least had been, sapient life out in the universe! A fundamental question that humankind has been struggling with since they had first gained full-sentience on the singular planet of Terra. Yet the Professor deemed it as a 'minor piece of information' that was not worthy of creating a buzz over?!

The hall fell into a stunned silence, as the rest of the Recruits waited for the Professor to continue his lecture, anticipating with bated breath what kind of earth-shattering reveals were in store for them.

"That's better… Now, the Allbright System seems to have precisely one goal: To create the ultimate warrior. However, our scholars are not entirely clear on what exactly that entails.

"We do know that the System provides incredible powers, as all of you will have undoubtedly realised by now, that fundamentally break every known law of physics as we understand them. How it does this is also unclear. Many believe that the System is intrinsically linked with the plane of the Void itself, syphoning the required energy for all the changes it creates from the infinite expanse.

"Others believe that the System utilises a form of energy that has not yet been discovered by us. Another group of scholars is even pursuing the idea that the System simply does not adhere to the rules of our universe as we know them and might even be an entity from a different universe altogether, not requiring an equivalent exchange of energy to enact change.

"The fact of the matter is, we simply do not know at this time and we may never know. What this lecture will primarily focus on are the things we do know as a result. This will enable all of you to fully utilise the incredible power that the System provides in a bid to win this damned war once and for all." With that, the Professor swiped his hands at the projected data-screen behind him, changing the image from the previous UHF symbol to an empty timeline titled 'The Allbright System'.

Thea briefly caught Karania taking a picture of the screen with one of the recording devices on her desk, before she frantically continued to write down an astonishing amount of information in her data-pads.

"As I've previously stated, the first known contact with the Allbright System was around 940 years ago during the FCI. Humanity received several important revelations as a result of this interaction, which continue to cause ripples throughout the galaxy to this day.

"The first major revelation was, of course, the fact that there is sapient life out there in the universe. Or at least there had been at some point. We've always assumed that was the case, as the odds for us being the only sapient race in the entire universe were vanishingly small, but having the actual confirmation knock on our doorsteps was quite the shock back in the day.

"The second major revelation the System granted to humanity during the First Contact Incident, or FCI for short, was that the Soul was not a mystical, religious idea, but rather a tangible and very real part of the human self that the System could interact with. This sparked a lot of controversy in the integrated space, as many people who believed in ancient religions felt vindicated by this revelation.

"To this day, we're still in a constant struggle to truly understand the nature of the Soul, as we haven't found a way to interact with it yet. The Allbright System seems to be the only known entity that can interact with the Soul, leading many soularionicists to believe that the Soul might not be exactly what we imagine it to be.

"This is a bit above my level of understanding, so if you're interested in that aspect of the System, please consult a soularionicist. I won't be able to help you answer those questions, as much as I wish I could." Karania perked up at the mention of soularionicists, clearly interested in the topic of this new type of science. Thea saw her pull one of the data-pads from the far side of the desk and quickly enter a few important notes into the corresponding app.

Thanks to her enhanced senses, Thea could read the text despite its small size.

'Get in contact with a Soularionicist!' Grinning to herself at her squad member's excitement, Thea returned her attention back to the Professor.

"The third and arguably most important revelation came shortly after the FCI. Three years later, a large portion of our galaxy received a message from the Allbright System, directly transmitted into everyone's minds." With this, the Professor changed the image on the screen, displaying the familiar blue box of the Allbright System messages that they had all come to know. [Your Galaxy has been chosen for galactic integration by the Allbright System, to aid in the search for the Ultimate Warrior.] [In two years' time, your galaxy will be cut off from the rest of the universe to prepare for the integration procedures. If you do not wish to be integrated into the Allbright System, leave the galaxy within the allotted time frame.] [The galactic integration will last for 1, 000 years, after which the galaxy will be opened up to the rest of the universe once again. Please prepare accordingly.] [The Allbright System thanks you for your participation in advance and wishes you the best of luck in achieving optimal results moving forward.]"As you can very well imagine, this message led to widespread panic and countless deaths, either accidental or from the ensuing chaos that ravaged the galaxy. Just as the System had promised, exactly two years later, our galaxy was cut off from the rest of the universe, and the galactic integration began.

"Now, a little over 935 years have passed, and we're still in the same situation – cut off from the universe at large, stuck in our isolated galaxy. The astute ones among you may have realised one major aspect of this whole ordeal that I haven't touched on yet… What happens when the 1, 000 years are up?" Thea's eyes widened as she processed the information, feeling a shiver run down her spine.

The implications of the 1, 000-year timeframe, mentioned in the message, had not truly dawned on her until the Professor's question. She could feel her heart racing, as a mix of fear, curiosity, and anticipation filled her. She glanced over at Karania, wondering if her squadmate was experiencing the same rush of emotions. Karania was looking equally disturbed by the implications the Professor had just put forth, but continued to note down important information after a brief moment with renewed zeal.

Trying to regain her composure, Thea took a deep breath, refocusing her attention on the professor. This revelation only intensified her determination to learn as much as she could about the Allbright System and the role she would play in the upcoming events. The professor continued his lecture after this brief pause, in which a quiet, uncomfortable buzz went through the assembled Marines.

"The truth is, once again, we do not know. However, this time around, we can hazard an educated guess - and this guess is not flattering for humanity as a whole, to say the least.

"We know for a fact that the System thrives on conflict and actively encourages it in order to reach its goal. As a result, the UHF assumes that once the 1, 000-year deadline is up, our galaxy will no longer be hidden and protected by the Allbright System from other integrated galaxies in its quest to find the Ultimate Warrior.

"Since there is no way for us to look outside the galaxy or for anything from the outside to get in, any number of possibilities are equally likely. What we will find inside those other galaxies, or rather, what will find us, is completely up to your imagination, as we have no way of knowing.

"This train of thought is shared by the Emperor himself and serves as the main reason for the galaxy-spanning war we've been engulfed in for the past centuries. You will learn more about this particular aspect during the Galactic Politics 101 class, so I won't delve further into this topic for now."

"What is important for all of you to take away from this are two specific things.

"First, we do not have the luxury to take things slow. There is a potential unknown threat waiting outside the galactic bubble, and we need to be ready for when it strikes. This is our job as Marines - to be prepared for any eventuality. As such, you need to fully understand and be able to utilise the Allbright System's features to their maximum potential.

"Second, you are likely going to be part of the first few generations of UHF Marines to live in a post-galactic integration universe. This is a massive departure from anything humanity has ever known and will likely result in countless problems, conflicts, and deaths. This is a reality you will all have to accept going forward, as you will be at the forefront of this new chapter in humanity's legacy." As the gravity of the announcement settled over the room, a tense silence filled the air.

The recruits exchanged uneasy glances, each grappling with the immense responsibility that had been thrust upon them. The weight of the unknown future hung heavily over their heads, and the uncertainty of what they would face was both thrilling and terrifying. Thea's eyes widened, her heart racing as she considered the implications of the professor's words. The thought of being among the first generations of UHF Marines to face the post-galactic integration universe filled her with both fear and determination.

She clenched her fists, steeling herself for the challenges ahead and resolving to push herself to her limits in order to be prepared for whatever awaited them beyond the galactic bubble. Karania, on the other hand, seemed to be processing the information with a mix of curiosity and quiet resolve. She paused her furious note-taking and appeared to be deep in thought, her brow furrowed as she pondered the possible scenarios that could unfold once the galaxy was exposed to other integrated galaxies.

Though the stakes were undoubtedly high, Karania's thirst for knowledge and understanding seemed to be ignited by the prospect of discovering the unknown. She glanced over at Thea and offered a small, reassuring smile, acknowledging the shared burden they would carry into the uncertain future. Once again changing the image on the projected data-screen, this time to a short list of topics, Professor Pierce continued his lecture.

"With the history and long-term future out of the way, let's get into the actual main part of this lecture. Although we don't have infinite time to get all of you accustomed to every part of the System, as you have likely realised by now, we will be addressing the most crucial aspects. Our primary focus will be on what the System can provide to us for our current war.

"We'll cover the basics of the System, from tiers and levels, to Merit and points, as well as discussing Attributes, Abilities, and some build options for your future System career. We won't delve too far into advanced System specifics, as that would extend this lecture, and the entire class, beyond its intended scope. You'll be able to take additional courses via the System Terminals on board The Sovereign once you've completed this class if you're curious about more information going forward.

"The Allbright System is an incredibly complex construct that intertwines in many different and often unexpected ways. As a result, some of the things I will be talking about might not make immediate sense to all of you, but just stick with me for now. Everything will come full circle by the end and start to make sense." With those words, the Professor took a quick drink from a glass that had been hidden underneath the front desk, before diving into the next part of his lecture…