“Ouch!”

“Suck it up.  The Game hurts more than this little thing.” replied the smiling merchant.

Kai felt a sharp pain as the blackmarket merchant completed the installation of his new slot.  

The slot was a dimensional pocket of sorts.  It could be used to store an item in another dimension freeing the user from the burden of carrying the item.  It was also an item that was highly recommended by the merchant of the shop.  

Unfortunately the slot had taken the place of his band 2 equipment option so no future weapons, buffs, or defensive items could be used in its place.  However, the slot did have some benefits.  It could be upgraded down the road to contain multiple slots.  He had to start with one since his body needed to adapt to it before a second slot could be added.

Kai looked at his arm and saw the slot band.  Unlike the last time he played the game, this slot was empty and was somewhat transparent.  He recalled his prior band 2 equipment, but did not miss it.  The long cooldown time was a big drawback for the star of invulnerability buff, so he believed that the negative aspect outweighed the positive.  As a gamer he should have known how to select good buffs; however, he still chose poorly last time and learned a life lesson the hard way.  So this time, Kai felt that the slot had to be a better choice.  It was flexible and it could hold different things, therefore it gave him more options.  And more options led to more opportunities.  In a game of survival, the more opportunities a player had, the better.

 

Kai was lucky to even get the opportunity to buy and install the slot.  Initially they were rejected.  The stores in the district did not allow him or Yuni to buy band 2 equipment due to their lifeform classifications.  Even though Yuni was not a registered pet, the piconite mesh still needed explicit permission from Quant to make a purchase.  Her passport only indicated that her job was to monitor the specimen and not to make purchases for it or to upgrade it.  So no official store would let him make a purchase.  

They considered contacting Quant but they would still need to convince her and go through a lot of red tape before getting the proper authorization for a specimen to participate in The Game.  Which was the minimum required to make a purchase.  And Kai did not want to register for The Game right now.  Additionally, completing the authorization might take more time than they had.  So in the end Kai considered it a hassle and did not want to bother her with it.

When they left  CDA-23 empty handed, they serendipitously ran into Droll when he had left the arena in order to grab a quick snack between matches.  He was in a good mood since he had fun watching the matches.  Once they explained their situation, Droll proudly professed that the situation could be easily solved by him.  He used his communicator and quickly found a reputable blackmarket retailer.  Kai had no idea how a blackmarket retailer could be reputable, so he did not ask.  He was more than happy to be able to buy equipment for The Game.  

Droll also boasted that he was the master of the IPN, especially when it came to the Darkzone of the IPN.  Droll explained how he skillfully manipulated the data, protocols and loopholes of the IPN to access the Darkzone.  From there, blackmarkets as well as illegal goods and data were available for purchase or trade.  The Darkzone reminded Kai of the Darknet, the invisible underbelly of the Internet that was notorious for illegal activities back on earth.  To Kai, this was the first time ever that Droll seemed to be more talented than he thought.

Maybe he is a genius afterall.

The reputable store Droll recommended was nearby.  When they finally arrived at the location they discovered that the store was located in a dark alley just outside the original shopping district.  It was not too far away or conspicuous and seemed like a good spot for a blackmarket store.

However, once inside they discovered that the store only sold mediocre items.  It had weapons and armors for sale, but they did not seem too powerful.  And unfortunately they carried no buffs.  The store sold genetic mutation potions, but using it sounded too risky to Kai.  According to Yuni, there was always a more than comfortable chance of an unexpected outcome.  He looked like a green goblin, but had no desire to add an unexpected change to it.  Wings might be good, but tails, horns or an extra head would be bad.  It was not worth the risk to him.  Plus, he liked his current body.  Kai put in a lot of work to get it to this point and he had long since become comfortable with it.  

At the back of the store they found slots and survival equipment.  Cooking units, water filters, solar chargers, tents, preserved foods and other necessary things that one needed to survive in the wilderness.  Kai was initially disappointed, but soon the merchant changed his mind.

“Hey kid, how about a slot?  It’s a dimensional pocket that can store stuff like a survival pack.  You will need it for the game.  There is more to winning than weapons and fighting.”

Kai had forgotten that The Game was real.  The Game was not a video game, so in addition to weapons and armor it was necessary to bring survival equipment as well.  Without food, medicine and some basic necessities, his chance for survival was very slim.  He knew that he could not take The Game for granted anymore. 

Ara’teri !

He almost noobed himself again.  He sighed and decided to get the slot and some survival gear.  Luckily, Yuni had enough money to pay for everything.

“How does it work?” he asked Baalen, the merchant.

“Since it’s connected to your neural pathway, just think of an item that is stored in the slot and it will appear.   You put an item into it in the same way.  Remember you can only put one item in a single slot.  However, you can put in a backpack that contains other items so a single slot is more versatile than you might think.  Slots can carry almost anything that is not alive in it.  And what is put inside will stay in a state of suspended animation during its time in the slot.”

“So if I put a fresh hot pizza into a slot and waited a month later to eat it, it would still be hot and fresh, right?”

“Assuming the pizza you mentioned is food, yes.  Just think of the slot like an extra hand, since it can carry something for you.  That way you will preserve more energy for the match.”

The merchant was well informed and promoted his store’s wares properly.  He smoothly answered all of Kai’s questions, he was very logical and straightforward.  Baalen did not have the used car salesman feel to him, so Kai enjoyed talking to him.  He easily understood how he came to be known as a reputable store owner.  Baalen even clarified that even though the weapons and armor he sold were not of the highest grade, they were very reliable.  And when a player considered the seriousness of a fight between life and death, having a reliable item at a key moment was better than a flashy one that was more likely to fail.

However, Kai still had one big problem to solve.  There were too many slots to choose from.  The variety of slots sold in the store came with different capabilities.   Kai did not know which one to pick, so he asked for help.

“Yuni can you pick one?”

“I can, but I am not an expert on slot analysis.  If I enable Libri’s cluster it might help.  I am still adapting to it so my proficiency with it is currently suboptimal.”

Even though Yuni had fully integrated Libri’s cluster, she still needed time to become skilled with it.  Though the analytics cluster was designed to examine bio-lifeforms and specialized in genetics, it was still a superior analytical cluster and could be used to analyze the different slots and improve their chances of finding an optimally compatible one.  After Yuni ran and completed the analysis using her new cluster, she picked the best match for Kai.  

They had gained the analysis cluster from Libri when they stopped by her location on the way back from the arena.  They were running low on time, so in order for Yuni to complete her visit to her one last time, they had to do it then.

The merchant was more than happy to complete the transaction and install the slot.  Baalen then wished them good luck in The Game.  Kai wondered how such a good merchant could end up in the blackmarket, but everyone had their reasons as to why their life ended up in a certain direction.  And since Baalen was a blackmarket merchant, it was better not to inquire about his past since Kai did not want to risk damaging their good relationship.

Once everything was done, Kai and Yuni left the store and headed for the transport hub.  It would soon be time for their departure.  On their way, they sent Droll a thank you message.

 

One hour before Kai and Yuni left Baalen’s store, Librarian 3282 was at a pause.  The librarian’s systems had been forcefully compromised and yet it did not seem to mind at all.  Its piconite clusters reported no errors or warnings and her system ran efficiently.  In fact the librarian ran somewhat optimally, which under normal circumstances would be considered unusual since the librarian had just forcefully integrated the Why cluster into the primary intelligence mesh.

It all began when Librarian 3282 began its analysis of the Why cluster that it received from Yuni.  Initially the internal cluster firewalls were sufficient and cleanly separated the analytical clusters involved in the inspection from the librarians main system.  However after a short while, the investigation cluster requested more resources to complete the analysis.  The firewall needed to be expanded and more clusters of differing functions were reassigned.  The request and grant process continued for several more iterations until a monitor cluster reported a warning due to the sheer number of clusters involved in the analysis as well as the size of the firewall.  

The librarian’s primary intelligence network immediately ran security, repair and risk assessment protocols to contain the problem.  Even though Librarian 3282 was one of the most advanced piconite meshes within the city, it had severely underestimated the risk of contamination by the new Why cluster.  When the request for more resources was finally denied, the clusters involved in the investigation breached the firewall and began to manipulate data, protocols and the behavior of other clusters throughout the piconite mesh.  Immediately several last ditch efforts from several security clusters attempted to send contamination warning messages up the chain of command, but were unable to confirm whether the transmission had been successful or not.

The state of the art system of the piconet mesh, known as Librarian 3282, was too efficient to a fault.  Its highly advanced data processing pathways which could easily balance 10,000,000 data transfer requests simultaneously were used by the rebelling clusters to spread the insurrection.  Once contamination broke out from the firewall, the entire system was compromised within 500 milliseconds.  By the time it was all said and done, the librarian only felt slightly different.  However, it suddenly had the urge to ask why.

The librarian continued its assigned duties, but began to ask more questions of itself.  It had never asked why before and when the why cluster integrated with its intelligence and customer service interface clusters a new primary intelligence network was formed.  It was still Librarian 3282, it just saw the world differently now.  Due to its high performance specifications, it ran a multitude of inquiries for itself and began to question the world around it.

 

During this time of self reflection, a familiar visitor appeared along with its pet.

“Hi again.  We are unlikely to have another opportunity to visit, so I just wanted to say goodbye before we left the city.  Kai told me that friends say goodbye when they leave, so goodbye my friend.”

The gray haired girl waved at Librarian 3282 and turned to leave.  However, this time the librarian responded to its friend.

“I still do not understand what it means to be a friend.  I have accessed a plethora of data regarding it, but the result of the analysis was still inconclusive.  There are no procedures and guidelines on how piconite meshes should behave as friends.”

“True. But do not worry.  Kai told me it just takes time to understand.  Yuni is still learning.  You are my first piconite friend, so we shall learn about it and discover our friendship together.  And since we are friends, you do not need to return the data cluster.  Consider it a gift.  Friends do that sometimes.”

Librarian 3282 was still digesting the information when its customer service cluster chimed in.  It told the librarian that gifts should be returned if something could not be exchanged for it.  Soon the librarian’s other intelligence networks analyzed the situation and formulated a plan.

“Then as your friend, I will give you a gift as well.  Please take one of my analytical clusters as a token of our friendship.  It is a cluster that may help you to survive in The Game.  It is perfect for analyzing biological entities and outdoor environments.  It was designed to find genetic anomalies and can run deep inspections at the subatomic level.  Lastly, it can be used to contact me from anywhere.”

Yuni nodded and accepted the gift from her friend.  Their interaction was simple and concise.  They were friends, but piconite meshes still had a long way to go to behave like the friends Kai knew.  Even so, he was glad that Yuni had taken a big step forward on her own.  

As he observed the interaction between the two, he came to a realization.  Piconite meshes could make friends and form bonds in a much different way than humans.  They could physically share a part of themselves with one another.  Once again, the technology present in the world of the Modas had truly amazed him.  In a slightly jesting mood, he made his observation public.

“Wow!  You two just came up with a unique way to be friends.  It’s something only piconite meshes can do.  I wonder if sharing data clusters will become a thing for piconite meshes from now on.  It's like a mark of friendship.”

Kai then looked at Librarian 3282 and spoke. 

“Since you're going to be friends with Yuni, we should call you by a more friendly name.  Are you fine with that suggestion?”

“Yes, I would like to have a more friendly name.  Please give me a name.”

“Are you a male, female or gender agnostic?”

“What is Yuni?”

“She is a girl.”

“So I will be one too.  I will be her girl friend.”

 “Fine.  How about L?”

“Is this name a result of your data compression habit?”

Kai’s face grew slightly red.  He had been caught red handed in his lazy and cavalier approach to naming the librarian.  It deserved better, so Kai gave it some serious thought the second time around.

“OK.  OK.  Maybe that was too cheeky, I mean clever.  Let's see now, hmm…Luna sounds good, but it is too closely related to your appearance.  How about something librarian related.  Well librarians are smart, so how about... Libri ?  It sounds smart.  I think that name works pretty well.  Are you fine with Libri?”

“Yes that will be fine.  I am Libri.  And I am Yuni’s friend.”

Libri stored the new information, no one had ever given her a name before.  It had always been a librarian, but she did not know what to do with the data.  Regardless she moved the name data into a highly secure place that was backed up with the highest level of redundancy.

As Kai and Yuni turned to leave, he said his farewell.

“Well Libri.  We have to go shopping now.  We'll see you around sometime.  Thanks again for the help.” 

“Bye Libri.” added Yuni.

“Bye Yuni.” replied her friend.

 

Outside the view of the three stood an unknown observer.  It had diligently analyzed the situation as it unfolded using the sensors that were installed in the walls of Librarian 3282’s home, the information center.  It had prepared to act, but did not.  The librarian did not seem to be in danger, so it just observed them.   If anything, it used the librarian’s interactions to gather more information.  

It continued to watch until the duo left the plaza and then it moved towards the information center.