Technologically Impaired [CWIS]

Exiting his assigned apartment due to a desperate need for fresh air, Lucian stretched and took in the reality around him for what must’ve been the hundredth time since his arrival. It was rather ironic, seeing how the president of the United States went from living in the white house to sleeping in a modest, beige house of slightly-below-middle-class design in under a day (or, well, in a month, if you want to get technical about it). He had no reason to object, however; it’d be a nice experience in humility, something to let their blood come back down away from their heads. He couldn’t speak for Alice or James, but he felt they would’ve thought the same. At the very least, they were all still living together, and their house wasn’t outright lacking any basic resources – in fact, they’d even gone so far as to give each of them a room.

Still, this new reality… despite the week or so he'd spent in it, he didn’t feel like he was quite ready to face it head-on yet (having pent 90% of his time at home since his arrival definitely wasn't a beneficial factor either). With a resigned sigh and a final deep breath of the outside air, Lucian returned to the confines of his new home and walked up to his room, slamming down against the bed once he got there. He stared at the ceiling for what must’ve been ten to fifteen uncomfortable yet comforting minutes of thoughtfulness. It was hard to believe everything he knew and had worked for was just… left behind now. America, the liber gene rebels, his hopes of freeing the people, the Horsemen… none of it was his concern now. This should’ve been a source of relief, like a burden being lifted from one’s shoulders, but instead… it was a source of regret. What would happen to Earth without him? The Horsemen would likely continue to rule as they saw fit, and people would never see free will again once the carriers died out. His neutral, resting expression grew into one of melancholy and sadness as tears threatened to form in the corners of his eyes. He was alone, it would’ve been completely fine if he wanted to cry, but… in the end, he decided not to. It would’ve been a sign of disrespect to the world he’d left behind.

As he blankly stared at the walls of his own room, Lucian spotted a bizarre computer-like machine suited against the eastern wall. Slowly getting up – being careful not to rub the back of his neck against any of the pillows or sheets – Lucian walked over to the mysterious machine and inspected it. Was this a personal computer? He figured a city such as Junction would have technology much beyond what his people had achieved, even counting the experimental technology he’d seen as the POTUS, but this was still a provider of cultural shock. He tapped at it a few times to see if it reacted in any way

And just like that, the mood took a complete 180 degree turn as Lucian reared back and fell on his butt on the floor, tangent to his new bed. To say the absolute least, this creature looked… positively phallic. He’d told himself he would try his hardest not to let the shock from stumbling upon new species show, but how could he not when this cr- ahem… this individual suddenly phased out of the computer like that? “Uh… hello?” Lucian replied to its greeting, not even sure if he was supposed to be talking back to him/her/it. “…Who are…?”

It was when CWIS bowed apologetically that Lucian’s own rudeness had begun to dawn on him. He still believed his surprise was reasonable, but staying on the ground was just insult to injury at this point, since she was clearly a sentient being. He picked himself up and quickly dusted off the underside of his pants before sitting on the edge of the bed he’d been leaning against. A city-wide information system? So, this CWIS was basically a super-advanced version of Earth’s Internet? Not really a hard claim to stake, considering how early and unrefined the internet in Scarred Earth was, but it was still quite the technological feat on its own right, much like CWIS here. A sentient internet, though? “Wait, you’re not organic?” Had Junction already achieved artificial intelligence? He’d seen a robot or two on his way here from the slums, but he’d just assumed they were working automatons. This place kept getting more and more impossible by the second.

Then, Lucian realized he was talking to what qualified as a person without having introduced himself and having been rude since the start to boot. “I apologize… I’m still not used to meeting people outside of my own species. I’m Lucian Clarke, a pleasure.” He formalized this, but some stray logic told him maybe this CWIS, being what she was, probably already knew his name. It never hurt to be polite, though.

Questions? Too many to count, surely, but he wouldn’t want to drop a bombshell on someone and overwhelm them with inquiries. He supposed he could start small, then slowly escalate into more pressing concerns. “If you insist…” He took a second to ponder what he wanted to ask first. “You mentioned being developed by… Toga Heavy?” A very odd name for a brand, all it brought to mind was the idea of a heavy man in a Greek toga, which was… not a pleasant thought. “I haven’t been awake for more than a few hours and I’ve already heard their name a couple of times. Who are they?”

“No, I got here two jumps ago, but I’ve been… hospitalized since, and only recently been discharged.” Lucian tapped the wound on the back of his neck lightly as he said this, making sure it was still there. Yep, it didn’t vanish or anything. Shame, that. “Now that we mention jumps though, I’m curious. How many people got on and/or off at my homeworld?” Even if that was all in the past, he still couldn’t help but be concerned. Those who’d gotten on at his stop… he’d have to make a priority to check up on them, see the effects of the sudden absence of Cerebral Rescription. Those who’d gotten off at Scarred Earth… he wished them the best of luck; Scarred Earth wasn’t the best place to take a vacation if you didn’t look human, unless you fancied a nice trip to the inside of an FBI interrogation chamber. “Huh? No, it’s not an offense at all, I was just… curious. My world’s people have been trying to make something like you for some time now, but we’ve had little luck.” Granted, not quite as phallic, but details, details.

So this Tog- Toha Heavy was a private company? Lucian wasn’t sure how he felt about one single company having a monopoly in a place such as this.

“Well, I’d like you to backtrack a little, if it’s not too much trouble. ‘Nodes’? ‘Under’?” If someone was in charge of giving him a Junction crash course, clearly he’d missed the appointment while stuck in the hospital.

‘New Citizen Orientation’? Lucian understood that being hospitalized wasn’t exactly a common circumstance, but you’d think for something so important for living in Junction that someone would have jotted down a private showing of this for him, or told him upon awakening that he should ask CWIS for one; at the very least they could have had him attend the next showing, considering the next ‘jump’ was supposedly soon.

Only three? That would be him, Alice and James. Well, somehow that managed to be relieving and disappointing at the same time, at least until CWIS made her following comment, at which point it just became concerning. “Before we begin…” Lucian interrupted the artificial intelligence “Would it be possible to notify me if any more inhabitants of Scarred Earth are registered? It’s… lightly important.” He just hoped he wasn’t overstepping his boundaries with what CWIS was able to offer. Now then, time for the orientation video…


Lucian felt more than just a bit confused with the choice of presentation for such an important factor of citizen registry, but… at least he was finally getting the introduction he needed. Deciding it was better than nothing, he sat back and watched for now.

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"The city of Junction is split into several Wards, the one you find yourself in now is known as Middle Ward, or The Core. It houses over 90% of junction population in a monolithic tower of residential homes. Below you is the Lower Ward or the Sl-"

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"The Node system was developed to help store large amounts of information in a relatively small device, however it was recently discovered that when attached to machinery or clothing, certain nodes would imbue the items with unique properties that-

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"--Splicing their DNA with that of other species for cosmetic or health reasons, splicers may look somewhat alarming from time to time, but it is important to remember that they are citizens just like you or the person next to you-"

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"-is the standard currency in Junction, all vendors will accept the Vit Chet and you will be awarded Vit Chets equal to the value of your current currency in raw resources. However for your first year in Junction you will be awarded a living stipend to give you time to adjust and find gainful employ-"

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"But Miss.Cwis, how dose Junction get to new worlds?"

"That, Little Billy, is a question that... We just do not know the answer to."

“You seem awfully nostalgic.” Lucian commented, having (just barely) finished processing all the information that was spoon-fed to him. It did somewhat ease his journey into complete acceptance that Junction had such an intricate yet seemingly effective governmental structure; being able to see it as an actual functioning city rather than just an anomaly that happened to travel between realities and space-time like a certain fictional telephone box he knew definitely helped in grounding it as a real concept in his mind. “So nobody knows how long Junction’s been around… what about the government? Does that trace back a countable number, or has that too been lost?” At this point, Lucian’s need for answers had begun to turn into genuine curiosity. Dreadful as his situation might have been, the mere fact that this existed was still a source of amazement. Had his visit to Junction been had under any other set of circumstances, he probably would’ve considered it the best event of his life (as an avid fan of the science-fiction genre, at least).

Hmmm… “There’s something I still don’t understand.” Lucian’s left leg folded itself over his right leg as his chin found a resting place on his fist. “What about you? You’re a city-wide system, correct? I wouldn’t imagine you’d be taking time out of your packed schedule to specifically talk to me, so then how are you? Are there multiple iterations of you, or…?”

Two point five billion years?! Lucian wasn’t usually one to resort to profanity, but his thoughts couldn’t be summarized in any other form than ‘Jesus fucking Christ’. How does one even maintain society for more than a millennium without a change in government?

“I see…” While CWIS’s description of how her presence worked made sense from a purely logical standpoint, the implications it established about the level of technology Junction had was beyond even what Lucian had estimated from his time there. If CWIS’s terminals were widespread and frequently used possibly billions of times every day for several millennia, then considering these packets of data to be stored were full-fledged memories including maximum-detail video, audio, and every other sense (plus possibly more)… it meant that Junction’s data storage technology must’ve simply transcended data storage as his own species knew it. At this point, the only thing that kept Lucian from feeling inferior was his pride as an individual. “No, not right now, at least. I… think I need some time to let all of this sink in. Thank you for your time.”

Once CWIS had left, Lucian would throw himself backwards onto the bed again, staring up at the ceiling for a few more minutes before standing up and grabbing his coat. It was time to explore the city.

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