Switzerland, Castle of Regnum

Hashim Osmani hated security checks with a vengeance, feeling that someone of his importance should never submit to such humiliation. If anyone within the territory he controlled even suggested such degrading treatment, it would be akin to courting death. But this was not his territory, this was a place of the ‘High Council’ meeting, and security was paramount.

To him, these amounts of preventative measures seemed designed by someone who has dived to the deepest depths of paranoia. His bodyguards were forbidden to cross a one-mile perimeter around the castle, even phones or any electronic devices were confiscated at the first checkpoint. He had to pass two additional checkpoints to enter the castle, which was ridiculous.

Hashim did not see the point of it all, who would spy on them? Who would attack? In every aspect that mattered, the ‘High Council’ ruled most of the world.

He still remembered the day when his father introduced him to this secret world. It was on his 16th birthday when one of the servants summoned him to his father's office. There, his father explained to him how the world really worked.

The ‘High Council’ could trace its origins to the dark ages, calling itself different names at different times. In essence, it was the same organization for the past thousand years. Created by those who craved power more than anything else; Kings and warlords, cardinals and slavers, it did not matter where they came from. Their race and religion were also irrelevant, only their ambition and an insatiable hunger for power. In the end, that was the real purpose of the ‘High Council’… to control. The scope of all their operations was hard to believe; governments, politicians, drug trade, slavery. In fact, there was not an aspect of human existence that was exempted from their area of influence.

Nobody outside of the organization knew about it, secrecy was one of their most sacred creeds. His father used an analogy of a spider puppeteer; the ‘High Council’ was at the center of the web, pulling or loosening the strands, and in that way harnessed the lives of billions.

They outright owned a big chunk of the planet itself. Corporations, banks, real estate… behind the thousands of familiar names, ultimately stood the ‘High Council’. Their wealth could be measured in trillions, and the biggest part came from the profits made on the darker side of the economy.

Lastly, his father said that he was one of the members, a position inherited from his own father; and it was time for Hashim to take the test and prove he was worthy.

He was led to a small groundskeeper’s house on their property, waiting inside was something that made the sound of his heart thunder in his ears.

The man’s name was Nazim, and his family lived and took care of the grounds as long as Hashim could remember. Nazim’s daughter, Almira, was a few years younger than Hashim, and she used to follow him around all the time when they were younger, wanting to play. In time, they became friends; one of very few he was allowed.

Now, they were all tied with rope and lying on the floor.

He looked, uncomprehending, at his father.

“This is your test, that’s why they were hired all those years ago.”

“I don’t understand…” Hashim said.

“You are given a choice, and it will decide your future. Their lives are in your hands.”

His father pulled out a big knife from the back of his waist and gave it to him. It was old but well maintained, gold and precious stones adorning the hilt of the knife. The warm summer sun shined through the windows and reflected from the well-honed edge.

“If you allow them to live, you will have a common, mundane life. I will give you enough money to live comfortably, but I will disown you. However, if they die, you will be my successor in the ‘High Council’. One of the rulers, making decisions that will have an impact on the entire world.”

Saying that, his father turned around and exited the groundskeeper's house, closing the door behind him.

Hashim’s gaze fell down on the bound and gagged family; their fear almost tangible in the small room. Almira’s eyes were begging him to let them go…

Sometime later, he exited the cozy little house, leaving a bloody smear on the doorknob. Hashim’s face, hands, and clothes were drenched in red. The innocence that could be seen in his eyes when he woke up that morning was forever gone. Any vestige of it was lost behind the small house doors. His father was waiting for him in front of the house, with an approving nod and a smile on his lips.

“You never intended to let them live, didn’t you?” He demanded from his father.

“No, they were insignificant, their lives meant nothing,” his father answered, with an unemotional face.

Hashim nodded, for the first time seeing deep into the soul of the man that stood before him. He lifted the hand with the bloodied knife and offered it back.

The older man shook his head. “From this day that knife belongs to you; it is the most treasured family heirloom. Your actions today proved that you are worthy enough to be my successor. You have earned that knife, the same way I did, a long time ago.”

That knife was now one of his most prized possessions; it was the knife that got him a seat at the ‘High Council’, and the same knife that ended his father’s life, when Hashim felt that he was ready.

He made a decision that day, and he never regretted it.

***

Hashim snapped out of his reminiscence, as he entered the chamber where the meeting was to take place. Deep underground, away from prying eyes of the satellites and of the most sophisticated listening devices. The decorations in this room were worth hundreds of millions; great works of art that were lost to the world in the abyss of time; gem-encrusted gold treasures that were pillaged and taken from the weak. Only the rarest and the most expensive objects were used to adorn this chamber, which would make any museum curator faint at the sight of them.

A massive round table dominated the center of the room, more than a century old, perfectly preserved. On its surface was masterfully carved map of the world, with no borders since the ‘High Council’ had an ultimate goal—to be in control of it in entirety. He always thought it was funny that they sat like the Knights of the Round Table, except there was nothing knightly about those who earned their seat here.

Twenty chairs for twenty rulers, each wearing a black mask with a golden Roman numeral on the forehead, to hide their identity and to display their position in the hierarchy. It was more for the sake of tradition, but it also served a purpose, Hashim knew the identity of only five other members, and that is only because he recognized their voices. The voices of very powerful people, their faces were known by millions; maintaining a false public image of admirable philanthropists, but their souls were just as black as Hashim’s was.

He looked around; by now, all the other members took their seats. Gathered here was such an immense accumulation of power, even the world leaders’ summits could not come close to it.

They decided who would live and who would die, where new wars would begin, and how many innocent people would perish. Most of the terrorist organizations were ultimately controlled from here, but that information was unknown to their members of course. The ‘High Council’ considered them nothing more than disposable tools.

Each of them had their primary areas. For Hashim, it was North America, specifically drug trade, slavery, and organizing terrorist attacks, as needed.

Personal names were forbidden, each member was addressed by the Roman numeral on their mask; the lower the number, the higher position in the hierarchy was. It took Hashim a long time to rise within the ranks; he was much more influential than his late father was. If someone were to speak to him, they would refer to him as Secundus, the second from the top in the power structure of the “High Council”. His father was only Decimus, a 10th from the top; the same position Hashim inherited in the joining ceremony. It took a lot of maneuvering, money, and a river of blood for him to reach his current position. The last Secundus died by his hand, still proclaiming his innocence in the assassination attempt on their leader, despite all the incriminating evidence.

Well, he was innocent, but only Hashim knew that, since he was the one to plot and execute the entire thing. Then, after theatrically thwarting the plot, he took the reward of replacing the position of his victim. Still, what Hashim Osmani really craved, more than anything else, was to become Primus, the ultimate ruler.

The meeting went as expected, each giving reports of their activities and achievements, since the last time they were gathered. How plans were developed and implemented, how much money they earned for the ‘High Council’.

When his turn came, Hashim gave everyone a positive report. One of the big projects he was in charge of was progressing by the schedule, there were no problems whatsoever. Inside of himself, he was seething. This was no place to show weakness, it would have been most certainly exploited by those below him and those above.

The truth about someone attacking part of his organization was deeply disturbing, especially at such a critical junction. Everything needed to be in its exact place for the ‘High Council’s plans to work. The fact that one of his lieutenants, Ariz Rama, was most likely dead, did not bother him so much, there were many others eager to take the vacant job opening. Loss of over $50 million was annoying, owing to the fact that he had to cover the disappearance of all that money from his personal accounts. That needed to be kept a secret; the ‘High Council’ would never condone a failure, especially this close to the project’s deadline.

The thing that alarmed him the most was that he didn’t know who did it. All of his government and law enforcement connections turned up nothing. To someone in his position, not knowing was unacceptable. He deeply suspected that one or more people sitting around this table were ultimately responsible, making a play for his position. Nevertheless, he could not be sure, and it was beside the point. By the ‘High Council’ standards, the culprit would get a commendation, not condemnation. He needed to act on his own, all his actions concealed from the others.

Before coming here, Hashim gave orders that every piece of evidence needed to be rechecked, every clue investigated. There was no doubt in his mind that he would find the culprit, and when he did, there will be hell to pay. Everyone who had any knowledge would die, their families too. Those at the top, who gave orders for this attack—he would finish them himself.

His knife would be bloodied again.

***

Ozark Mountains

The Spaceship

Michael opened his eyes to a familiar sight, a bright white ceiling that he was getting used to. The alarmingly different thing was… he could not move a muscle.

"Don't try to move, I'm suppressing all of your implants and keeping you still," Max said, after registering Michael’s conscious state. His hologram appearing in front of the platform that everybody was lying on. "Besides installing all of your new systems, the old ones were also slightly improved. And all of them need to be calibrated and synchronized with your CEI. On the positive side, you have the distinct honor of being the first human to go through the extensive calibration process for a full implant suite. Don't you feel lucky?”

"I wish I wasn't so lucky, go ahead, and do what you need to," Michael said, suppressing the instinctual panic that came with not being able to move his body.

“It will be much quicker for the others, once I have baseline parameters. I will just need to tweak them a bit to reach full synchronization."

For the next hour he went through a series of annoying tests. He had to flex his muscles, one by one, which got pretty boring in no time at all. Right about the time that he was fed up with all that, it was over.

"So, are we done?

"Not exactly, there is still a series of tests we need to perform outside."

"If you try to put Tyron through this, he is going to pull out your circuits."

“I had the same thought, that’s why I’m using you as a guinea… I mean the prime subject. I estimate that for others, calibration is going to take less than five minutes." Max said with a reassuring smile.

“That just great, I’m being used as a guinea pig by an AI who would put Dr. Frankenstein to shame." Michael murmured into his chin.

“Don’t be like that; you're taking one for the team, man up,” Max replied reproachfully, but the tone of his voice did little to hide his amusement.

“You can stand up now."

Michael could see the others were still peacefully sleeping in their opaque sterile field cocoons; he could barely make out their silhouettes. It took him no time to get outside of the ship; it was a beautiful bright morning.

"Okay, now what?"

"Bring up your HUD."

The familiar display appeared before his eyes, in the lower right corner was representational his body, colored gray.

"When you're ready, I will activate all of the systems."

"Max, waiting is really not my thing, go ahead and do it."

The feeling was nothing like he had ever felt before; as if every part of his body was brimming with endless energy. The constant pull of gravity that every human took for granted and did not notice… disappeared. Michael felt as if his body was light as a feather, and wondered if he jumped upwards, would the Earth still pull him back?

All of his senses, which were greatly improved by the last time he spent in the AutoDoc, were now by orders of magnitude more powerful, sharper, and clearer.

“Let's start with your hearing. You can increase and lower the gain, or concentrate on a particular sound, isolate it, and amplify it.” The AI instructed.

After mentally clicking the indicated icon, all the sounds he could hear had a graphical representation on his HUD. Out of that cacophony of sounds that the forest provided, he selected one, which was a distinct rhythm of a woodpecker. It was as if he was suddenly beside it; that rhythmical beat sounded like a pounding of a big drum. Mentally clicking again on the amplified tone, his hearing returned to normal. Michael had experienced this sense of improved hearing once before, when Max first activated his CEI. Nevertheless, this was a thousand times more precise. It was impressive as it were, now, that would be like comparing a cheap knockoff stereo to a high-end surround sound system.

"Hearing seems to work fine, now I want you to concentrate on your vision. There is an icon that looks like an eye in your drop-down menu, go ahead and activate it."

Picking the icon opened a new menu, with clearly defined options for zooming and magnification. Playing for a while with the commands, he realized he could see objects that were really far—in perfect clarity, comparable to using a pair of binoculars. His eyes could now even magnify things as if looking through a microscope.

“Your eyes now have an additional layer over them, similar to a contact lens. It is not removable and is now a permanent fixture to your ocular anatomy. Aside from the additional protection it provides to your eyeball, it has some extra features, as you can see.”

It was quite fun just messing around with it, and he looked at grass, stones, and trees in a completely new way. He focused on a tiny ant that was going on about its own business and for a second, and under great magnification, it seemed as if that ant was looking right back at him.

"OK Michael, you can play with your eyes some other time. I want to test your strength and your skeletal reinforcements. There are a few boulders some 150 feet north-west from your position, try to pick one up."

He quickly jogged to them, amazed at how easily his body moved. There were three big boulders at that location, different in size and weight. Michael chose the middle one, doubting that he could ever make it move. He squatted before it, put his hands around the rock, and pulled with all of his strength. There was considerable resistance at first; part of the boulder was underground. For all that, after that initial resistance, the rock detached itself from the ground and Michael stood up holding a big boulder in his hands. It was such a surreal thing, to be able to accomplish something that his brain perceived as impossible. He felt that it had some weight to it, but not that much, if needed he could hold it for a long time.

“How much – “

“Michael, that boulder is close to five hundred pounds,” Max announced proudly.

“That’s impossible!"

“For an ordinary human it would be, but your skeleton is a lot stronger than it used to be, combined with composite fibers in your muscles, your strength is far above the norm. Imagine how much stronger Tyron will be, with his mass and muscles I had far more space to play with… I mean to improve. He could lift that boulder with one hand. And now for one more test, run as fast as you can toward the cabin."

Michael dropped the rock from his hands and felt the vibration it made when it hit the ground. In one corner of his HUD was a small compass that transformed into a scalable map of the surrounding terrain when he mentally clicked on it. He chose the direction of the cabin and started running.

Moving at his top running speed was a new experience, his feet were striking the ground with the force of engine pistons. Improved sight allowed him to see exactly where his next step would fall, so he could precisely position his foot before it touched the ground. Before he realized it, Michael was already in front of the cabin.

"Your average speed was around 45 mph, and on that last stretch of flat terrain, you were running at 50 mph. Congratulations, you just beat a world record," Max said and played a little victory jingle from one of the video games Michael used to play.

“These upgrades are amazing; I feel like a superhero. Max, you have outdone yourself."

“Let us not get too ahead of ourselves, there is still room for improvement. Nonetheless, all things considered… I’m a freaking artist." The AI boisterously declared.

Most of the day Michael spent testing his new abilities. From climbing trees and lifting heavy rocks, to free running through the mountain forest. The whole time feeling, and acting, as if he were a little kid again, infinitely entertained by an amazing new toy. He only stopped when Max reminded him that it was time for others to wake up.

He was there waiting for them, as the energy fields around them turned off, and they regained consciousness.

As Max said, full activation of their implants took no time at all, and soon they were all eager to try out the new abilities. Before long, they were all behaving like schoolchildren after the last bell signaling the start of summer vacation. Max was using their implants to talk to everyone simultaneously, guiding them through options, and explaining all the settings of their CEIs.

“Do you feel all that different?” He asked Elizabeth when they managed to grab a few moments alone.

“I feel pretty amazing,” she answered with a smile. “I was always trying to stay in shape, and during my FBI training was in top physical condition. But that all fades in comparison to how I feel now… as if I could run forever, and never get tired.”

“You probably could.” Michael smiled back at her.

They were interrupted by a loud sound of rocks hitting the ground, so they went together to see what was going on. While some were exploring their new abilities with composure and the sense of dignity, others were completely on the other side of the spectrum.

Pete and Al made a game of throwing boulders as far as they could, then even managed to convince Tyron to join them, which was a mistake since he doubled the length of their best shots. The big man could not keep a smile away from his face at the newly regained depth perception and lack off an eye-patch.

Jack was enjoying the simple fact that he could walk again, doing Army exercises he learned as a young man, with a constant grin plastered on his face.

Anna was preoccupied with the new ability to surf the Internet in her head. The CEI could emulate any known operating system, and run all of the apps. When Michael first heard about it, he was afraid that the implant could be infected by some of the millions of computer viruses on the Internet. Max laughed the whole idea off, explaining that protective measures he implemented would destroy any malicious program in the same way a fly would be incinerated if it came close to the Sun.

Alice was using her silenced gun for target practice. She placed the targets at various distances and was now testing how much more accurate she become with better eye-hand coordination, and the ability to calculate exact trajectories of her bullets. It was amazing, and somewhat intimidating to see her hitting a small little red circle, every single time.

For the next few hours, all they did was have fun. Michael looked at them all, happy and carefree, and could not help but wonder about all those difficulties they would be facing. Deep inside he felt responsible for them; ultimately, he was the one to set them on a path that had changed their lives…hopefully for the better.

The sun has already set behind the mountains, and it was time to head for the cabin. They walked together, telling jokes and still goofing around, the entire group feeling much closer than before they went into the AutoDoc.