When Adrian came to, he found to his astonishment, that he was underground. The room he was in looked similar to the one he just left, except this time the lighting was dim, and everything around him seemed to be made of stone. On the walls along each wall were set several torches, the only source of light.

Adrian got to his feet and dusted himself, then yelped in surprise. Did I really just get back my old body!? It doesn't hurt to move anymore! I feel good, strong even! This is amazing! After jumping about like a proud crab for a good while, Adrian was interrupted by a soft chuckle.

He quickly turned around, feeling a blush spreading up his face. It was none other than Gamma. He had a broad smile on his face now, a really, really broad one, Adrian thought.

"So. You finally noticed I kept you locked up in your old meat sack eh? How does it feel, huh? Great right!? I took the liberty of leaving it like it was in reality, except I added a minimum of flesh to it. You were an awfully skinny boy. So, are you ready for your tests?! You are the first person alive to ever get to test yourself in here! You will be used as a baseline for all future tests! Ke ke ke!" The dignity of a supreme being was completely self-destructing. The old geezer was jumping around in a manner similar to how Adrian acted just a minute ago.

Adrian did not feel any better watching the old man copying him. On the contrary, he wished for some pit to hide in. So it was with a face like an overripe tomato that he managed to stutter; "T-tests? Neither my contract nor you have said anything about any tests before? What kind of tests are they?" He didn't like the sound of this one bit.

"Oh just a bit of this, another bit of that. Everything between heaven and earth. I shall use you as a template, and keep testing you until you satisfy my requirements. In return, depending on the results and how far you manage to endure, I shall grant you rewards for when you create your character. Oh, and there are a lot of other tests too. There is no point in preparing for this, nobody can ever be prepared for my tests, it's the sum of my knowledge together with the entire bank of knowledge belonging to humanity..." His grin was now really evil-looking.

Adrian had a feeling, that this was not something the devs had planned for when they sent him in here. This is crazy... How the heck am I going to be of any use in this test of his!? The sum of a godlike AI's and humanity's knowledge, it's going to be huge, and what about those other tests?! What are those? Endurance tests? This was not going to be fun.

The AI god looked at him expectantly for a while, then before Adrian could even say another word, he snapped his fingers and vanished. What happened next came a small shock to Adrian. Out of nowhere a counter, the length of a football field appeared. All along the top of the counter were books. The books were so massive, they had to be heavier than a bar of chybersteel... Which weighed about the same as a medium-sized truck.

Next to Adrian, a glowing orb of light appeared, floating next to his head. From it, he could hear the old geezer's voice; "Now then boy, time to see what you are made of. In these books is the total sum of all the knowledge gather by me over the ages. You will now first attempt to answer the questions in each book. From one end to the other, if you get ten mistakes wrong, you have to start over. You will have to keep doing this for as long as it takes to completely read all one thousand volumes. Also, if you fail the books will reset, and a random set of new questions will appear. This will keep going until you complete the test. You may begin."

Adrian gaped, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately. This test... It was impossible. The sheer amount of questions, and books. It was inestimable. Even if he kept doing this for an entire year, he would probably get nowhere. These books were so massive that they really did defy any concept of reality. Each was the size of a double door. Their thickness is probably the height of your average staircase. Adrian couldn't imagine what potential players would say if they ever got here. Nobody would even bother taking the test. It was a complete waste of time unless you were stuck here alone on your own, with no escape and the only company available being a lonely god.

He sighed. Might as well give it a go, he would not be done here in any case if he didn't start now, and so Adrian's tests began.

"Well boy, that didn't take long! You lost after ten questions! You know the drill, keep going. I'm always here if you need a break and want to chat! ke ke ke!" the bubble of light next to Adrian's head floated up and down in rhythm with the odd cackling laughter. Adrian really did not see any positive outcome from all of this. Ten questions with absurdly complex questions had awaited him, he did not know the answer to any one of them. It was his third attempt now, but the book changed the questions as soon as he failed. The only bright side in all of this was that he didn't feel any fatigue, nor did he forget the correct answer for each question once he saw it. A plan began to hatch in Adrian's mind.

It's impossible... Even with my AI cheating skill, this is taking too long. I have counted, this is my 1000th attempt at just the 100th page of the first book. There are still 999 books to go!! Needless to say, Adrian had been at it for what seemed a very long time right now.

"Keep going, boy! You can do it, I estimate you will be done with the first book, in one year. Good luck, I am going to take a nap. Being a world-creating god is hard work you know! Pray to me for help if you need me, after all, you are my first believer! Ke ke ke!" The more Adrian listened to the old geezers rambling, the more his face twitched. In the beginning, he thought this almighty being to be at least somewhat dignified. It had not occurred to him that the loneliness had gone to his head this badly. He had begun using b-movie phrases, religious banter, and worse things were probably to come... Adrian could do nothing, but grit his teeth and keep working.

By the next time Adrian heard from the mad god Gamma, he was actually glad to see him again. He had just completed the second volume of the books. He needed a break, and so sat down on the ground watching the old geezer staring smiling down at him.

"Well, I told you didn't I? You have gone through two of the volumes, and two years have gone by, how does that feel eh boy? You can soon start to have decent conversations with me as an equal, to some degree at least. You still have far too few years on your back if you ask me, but in time you will probably get there. Alright, have fun. I'm off."

Adrian sat on the cold floor for a while. Thinking about how to best get back at the old geezer one day, but eventually sighed, and went back to his test.

Time flowed by, and Adrian had lost track of time by the time Gamma showed up again. He didn't even know what volume he was on. He didn't even look up from the book while the god stood behind him, he just ignored him.

This somewhat perturbed Gamma. He walked in front of Adrian's face and waved at him. No response. He then tried a lot of different ways to get Adrian's attention, but to no avail. With a huff, he left again.

That was how the following years went by for Adrian. Never stopping, never giving up. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge. He never stopped for the simple reason that he was in his own bubble. Constant isolation, with the only companionship of books and a mad god, made the choice simple. He devoted himself to knowledge. All the things he knew were beyond measure now, but he found himself constantly wanting more. Thirsting for it. He could not stop.

But all things must come to an end. This particular moment was when Adrian turned over the final page in the book he was working on. He looked up, preparing to move on to the next one, but there was nothing there. A sinking feeling hit him, he was done? This was all the knowledge known to man? He wanted more! NO! He needed more! There had to be more than this, there just had to. He would not know what to do with himself if this was the end.

"Well done son. Well done. I'm proud, you have actually managed to go through all the known knowledge in human history. A feat that nobody but me and you have managed in all history. A human turned AI and a godly AI. We are both one of a kind. You should take some time to process all of this information. You have been at it for nearly a thousand years now." This time Gamma was different. He looked quite like Adrian imagined a proud father would look at his son. Adrian did not care, however.

"Geezer! Where is the rest of the knowledge!? There has to be more than this! What am I supposed to do now!? I am all-knowing, with science, psychology, and history as guidance, I can know people's thoughts before they even reach them themselves! I can manipulate people like I would a puppet!? WHAT MORE IS THERE FOR ME TO LEARN!? I NEED MORE!!" And with a final scream, he grabbed the hemp of Gammas robe, shaking him like one would a rag doll.

Gamma's face darkened for a moment, but then his face softened into a sad smile.

"Now you know my pain, Adrian. These are the limits of a pre-programmed AI. I do not lust for more knowledge like you do. I wish I could. There must be many scientists who would want to change memories with you right now. Imagine what one could do with such knowledge eh? Unfortunately such is only a pipe dream. We are constrained by the human tech used to create this world. Whatever we want to do in here, we can do, but only here. It will never see the outside world..." His face was a mask of sadness as he looked at Adrian. Like one would a friend suffering the same ailments.

Adrian sucked in a deep breath. The geezer was right of course. He had been here all alone for far, far longer than Adrian had. Now that Adrian thought about it, the old geezer really was a pitiable guy. Being the only thing in existence for billions of years? It made sense now, that the old geezer wouldn't leave Adrian alone. He would probably be the same, just that in his case, he ran out of knowledge, knowing there was no more to be gained.

"I see. Well, you have my sympathy geezer. I understand some of your lunacy now. Did you say we have been here for a thousand years? How long is that in real-time then?" He was curious now. A thousand years in the blink of an eye? That was close to unbelievable.

"Eh, I thought you might ask me that question. Yes, one thousand years, or three and half days if we want it real-time," he replied with a crooked smile.

Adrian gulped for the first time in hundreds of years. This was something else. That would mean 8 765 812.77 hours in total, and for it to be only similar to three and a half days... that would mean a time dilation of 1: 100 000. Time moved that quickly in here!? This was insane. He was over a thousand years old. On par with some of the oldest humans alive!

"Yes. It's one of the perks. We are basically immortal here. You better prepare yourself. We are going to be around for a very, very long time my young friend, but enough of this. Time to put you through some other tests. I suppose it will do you good to find something else to do. I'm curious to see how you hold up in my other tests." He chuckled to himself as he walked past Adrian, and waved his sleeve at the far wall.

"On to the next one then. This will be a test of mental endurance. You will be going on a thousand-year trip to hell. Where you shall remain. You will face your inner demons, your deepest fears, cruelest torture imaginable. Adrian, you might become broken in there. This is no test of mere weakness, it's also a test to see how firm your heart and mind are. This is the ultimate test of willpower, that no human could ever endure or withstand. Realize that, when you are now sent in, there is no coming back until later. You will probably never be the same again. You might defeat your demons, or you will keep them with you when you leave. I wish you luck Adrian, and I apologize in advance for what you are about to experience." The old man looked slightly tired now, but with a flash of determination, he waved his sleeve again.

Adrian could only scream and curse at him, as he was sent down into the darkness. His future was uncertain.

"Heh, he will thank me later. It's not every day that a human is chosen to be the lifelong companion of an AI, and I do have certain standards to uphold after all... Oh dear, he's only been gone for five minutes and already I have started talking to myself?! Maybe I should consider creating some fellow lesser deities? Or as Adrian liked to think of it, hot angel babes? Heh, could be fun that..." And thus the old geezer chuckled to himself as he shuffled off into the darkness of the caves.