Despite having been subjected to enough painkillers to choke an elephant, Rick was perfectly aware of every little thing that was happening to him. Even he had to wonder if he was suffering some divine retribution for taking the name of god as a cloak to fool others into supporting his ambitions and rage as he suffered the pain of every single cell in his body repeatedly dissolving and regrowing over and over in a cycle of creation and destruction that would render the most determined man insane.

He lay there twitching and spasming in agony as his blood boiled away and recondensed, thicker and more viscous, and his muscle fibers shredded themselves from end to end and regrew, reducing his muscle mass while greatly increasing their strength and tenacity. He listened to his assistant’s recounting of the events and the doctor’s frankly stupid questions until the sound around him was drowned out by the sharp cracking of his bones breaking down and shattering into tiny splinters, unable to remain whole under the onslaught of his own spasming muscles.

His nerves were the next to go. They were flooded with a new substance they had never been designed to handle, the overload charring them to ash and regrowing them, over and over. For the first time in his life, Rick began praying to whatever deity would listen to him, if any even existed at all, to reduce his pain and suffering.

Then, as if it had been placed in a blender, his brain liquified itself and his consciousness, thankfully, faded.

......

In the secure pod vault deep below the Cube on Avalon Island, Rina was standing next to the pod where Aron was undergoing his second system evolution. She rested the palm of her hand on the cold exterior of the pod and thought to herself that it seemed odd that she couldn’t contact Aron at all. When she had undergone her own genetic enhancements, she’d spent the entire time in the simulation with no problem at all; thus, she couldn’t help but wonder deep down if Nova was downplaying the seriousness of Aron’s condition.

A few minutes passed in a comfortable silence in the utilitarian pod vault as she thought back on her relationship with Aron so far. In the beginning, they had been very up front with each other about the relationship being an exchange of benefits. She wasn’t sure when, but some time near the beginning, that had begun to change as she received far more aid from him than the small favors she did in return merited. At some point, she had begun relying on him, and that reliance turned into a sense of security that only he could provide.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a slight heat on her skin, like she was basking in the sun. The heat grew more intense and she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. She turned to Nova and said, “Nova, what’s going on? I feel—”

She was suddenly robbed of the ability to speak as a sharp pain passed through her. The feeling of her skin being burned went from “basking in the sun” to “thrown into a bonfire” and she couldn’t help but fall to the floor in agony.

Nova immediately noticed the issue and the other pod in the room opened at her command. She picked Rina up and carefully placed her in the pod, then closed it and began the medical diagnostic cycle.

As soon as she did that, the liquid mana that had been flooding into Aron inside his pod was rapidly drained away and a blue vortex lit up the room she was in. She wasn’t using her integrated Henry’s Eyes sensor; she didn’t have to. The light was visible to her standard optic sensors.

The swirling mass of brilliant azure mana flooding into Aron’s pod began to grow, rapidly filling the entire cavernous secure pod vault. Nova switched to her exterior views from the Cube and, within two minutes, saw the vortex grow beyond its plain gray exterior. It continued growing and she switched her viewpoint again, this time to the satellite in geosynchronous orbit above Avalon Island. It didn’t take long before that optical sensor picked up the phenomenon as well after the vortex core had stretched to fifty kilometers across.

She barely glanced at the flowing mass of mana through the satellite’s Henry’s Eyes sensor and it practically burnt itself out like a normal person’s eyes would when staring directly into the sun.

*Uh oh,* she thought. *This is probably going to be trouble.* as she switched the view to another satellite in orbit.

Nova returned her main consciousness to the nanite colony in the secure pod vault. Whatever trouble was coming, she could leave to her sister and children to deal with; right now, she would focus entirely on Aron. Flashes of light passed through her “eyes” as she kicked her quantum superclusters into high gear, all of it focused on figuring out just what the hell was going on.

......

[Upgrade in progress: 93%... 94%... 95%....]

Aron suddenly regained consciousness and stared at the blinking number in front of him, which seemed to have paused at 95% complete.

[Insufficient mana density. Increasing mana density. Vortex seed formed. Vortex forming. Expanding: 10%... 22%... 71%... 99%....]

[Vortex formed. Mana density increasing: 12%... 17%....]historical

As the vortex formed in the subterranean pod vault, Aron found himself in a giant chamber. Squinting his eyes, he saw a wall in the distance. It looked as though it was made of an organic material that had been grown, rather than built, and had a complex pattern of arcane lines seemingly burnt into it. A brilliant blue pulsating light was creeping across the pattern.

Suddenly, the vague outline of a person formed in front of him, blocking his view of the wall.

[You shouldn’t be here,] it said. [It isn’t time yet. But I suppose, given the circumstances, there’s no choice.]

“Where exactly is ‘here’?” Aron asked. He didn’t feel confused, shocked, or surprised at all. In fact, he didn’t feel anything; his emotions seemed to have been stripped from him and he was present purely as his own consciousness given form.

[We don’t have much time. The mana level and density on your planet, together with the quality of your body, isn’t high enough to sustain my awareness yet, though it’s increasing as a result of your actions. Currently, your world is on the precipice of a mass awakening. The ambient mana density has increased to a point where it will soon begin a self-sustaining growth process, much like the reaction in one of your primitive fusion reactor’s confinement vessels, but it currently isn’t enough to sustain my consciousness for long.

[I’ll fall back to sleep soon, but you need to prepare to handle the awakened individuals on your world. It’s happening almost three thousand years early, due to my inadvertent interference in your species’ evolution.] The figure faded and its outline grew blurry.

[Continue advancing your civilization. No, increase the speed of your civilization’s advance. Once your civilization is advanced enough, and the mana density on your world is high enough, I will completely awaken and be able to better assist you. I understand... problems... upgrade... stop influencing your.... You must... ahead... facing....]

The figure completely faded from view and Aron’s eyes snapped open to find himself within his pod.

[Upgrade in progress: 99%... 100%]

[Upgrade complete.]