After Elliot Voss announced to the core Round Table members that he was pnning to—quite literally—donate his body to science, and that his time here was nearly up, he began the process of slowly extricating himself from his many leadership roles.
The story given to the public was that he was simply retiring. At the age of eighty-two, with a lifetime of accomplishments behind him, it wasn’t hard to believe. Over the past week, he had spoken with the boards of all sixty-four of the primary companies under his direct control, expining his pn to redistribute shares to the boards, top leadership, and then the broader employee base. Mallory had set up all the legal documents, so once Voss completed those final conversations, the process could be formally set into motion with little effort.
It had become efficient, almost mechanical. But he still felt every step. With ownership stakes in companies numbering ultimately in the multiple hundreds—beyond the core sixty-four he oversaw directly—it was still, somehow, a deeply tedious process.
On Monday, July fourteenth, Mallory convened the core Round Table once again. The topic this time was the Tutorial. The induction phase was drawing near, and the team wanted to know what to expect—not just for themselves, but for the Peacekeepers and the general popution as well.
And so, with the now-customary spread of bagels, pastries, coffee, and tea id out before them, and the assistants retired from the room, Mallory turned to Ronan to get them started.
Having just taken a sip of coffee, Ronan lit up at the mention of the Tutorial. He and his team had been deep in development for years, believing they were designing a game. It was only weeks ago he had learned that people would literally be living it.
The realization had prompted a massive recoding effort, but because the karmic framework had been under development for nearly two decades, it only required fine-tuning. All in all, the Tutorial—and with it, The System itself—was nearly ready. There would always be bancing work, but that would soon fall to Profession specialists. For now, it was about as close to perfect as it could be.
“Right. So. The Tutorial isn’t just a training module—although it is obviously that,” Ronan began. “Dr. Dra—Elise will tell you that during that first week or two of essential sleep time, the body will be improving in ways that require almost no physical activity. Without exception, everyone will wake up in peak condition. Healthier, stronger, and—hopefully—smarter than before.”
He paused. No one interrupted, so he continued.
“Think of it as a long, detailed dream that you won’t wake up from until you’re ready. That’s intentional. There’s an agenda to complete in order to awaken. And while the stakes may not be physical in the traditional sense… the consequences are very real.”
He gnced around the table, meeting the eyes of everyone there. When his gaze met Elliot Voss, he saw something unusual. Boredom? No—not quite. It wasn’t detachment. It was the look of a man who had passed the torch. Voss was present, but this was no longer his stage. He was watching—not as a leader, but as a father proud of the hands he’d entrusted everything to.
And Ronan was right. Voss observed the group in quiet satisfaction. Only weeks ago, these people had been strangers. Now, somehow, this team had gelled into one of the most cohesive he had ever assembled. No conflict. No ego. Just unity of purpose. The unch of Humanity 2.0. And that told him everything he needed to know.
It was time.
Ronan continued. “We’ll convene in a room on the tenth floor. It’s already been prepped with beds, medical monitors, and a support staff—nurses and a doctor chosen by Elise. They’ll be with us twenty-four hours a day, monitoring vitals and neural activity during the induction.”
“They’ll be bored,” he added, “but we thought it wise to take precautions.”
Elise nodded and added, “Yes, Ronan’s right. All data so far shows the risk of any health issues—especially after taking both compounds—is essentially zero. But we want baseline data for future research, and we want to be cautious with this first wave. Safety and science, as always.”
“Thank you, Elise,” Mallory said, her tone warm and grateful.
Ronan picked back up. “Once inside, we’ll start at Base Camp. From there, we’ll learn to use the System interface—how to bring up menus, check stats, issue commands. Then—without spoiling too much—Vanessa’s teams worked closely with mine to create a one-of-a-kind weapon selection process tied to your chosen css. It’s going to be something special. Right, Vanessa?”
Vanessa grinned. “Oh yeah. I’m just as excited as you are, Ronan. Maybe more.”
Mallory and Grim exchanged a knowing gnce. Everything was falling into pce.
“After that,” Ronan continued, “you’ll go through five dungeons. The first three are solo. The st two are team-based. They’ll test different dimensions—combat, logic, moral reasoning, and cooperative dynamics. Think tactical scenarios, emotional pressure, synergy.”
“There’s no time limit. Your body is safe while your mind is inside. For us, the Round Table, we’ll experience the full Tutorial arc just like the rest of the world will. And afterward, we’ll make whatever tweaks we feel are necessary before the global rollout.”
He turned toward Grim.
“Grim, your Peacekeeper variant is coming along great. It’s based on the same framework but with much more emphasis on combat ethics and real-world enforcement dynamics. Your team will be embedded in the tutorial itself—teaching, guiding, vetting. You’re also pnning to run recurring Tutorial waves for new Peacekeeper recruits, right?”
Grim nodded. “Yeah. We’re not sure how often we’ll need them, but I expect a lot of special operators are going to be pretty butt-hurt they weren’t included in the first wave. They’ll come around. Might do a second wave a year ter. We’ll py it by ear.”
They talked more, lightly at first—testing ideas, voicing concerns. The kind of freewheeling, focused colboration that had become their default over the st few weeks.
Then Mallory spoke again, her tone more serious now.
“As for timing,” she said, gncing quickly at Voss before returning her eyes to the others, “we need to finalize the schedule. Elise, are we on track?”
Elise looked down at her notes. “Three weeks until final code completion. That puts us in the week of August fourth. We’ll need two weeks to correte… data… from Mr. Voss.” Her voice softened briefly. “That takes us to August eighteenth. Later that week, we’ll push the updated nanite programming into the Vitalyx and Rejuvenex formu for us and the Round Table.”
She made another note.
“Let’s call that August twentieth. One week for Vitalyx brings us to the twenty-seventh. Then two weeks for Rejuvenex puts us at September tenth. Which means... the earliest we can enter the Tutorial is September twenty-fourth.”
A hush fell over the room.
It was Grim who finally broke the silence.
“Well,” he said. “Shit just got real, didn’t it?”
Darian smiled. “Yeah it did. I’m ready.”
Laughter followed—light, warm, but edged with anticipation. Everyone in that room felt it.
The weight of the future.Of the world.Of humanity itself.
And all of it now banced—quietly, irreversibly—on their own shoulders.