The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [2]
As the worm hit his first firewall and burst through, JARROD’s warning systems went ballistic. In a nanosecond of calm consideration, he weighed his options and made a choice from an infinite number of variables. By the time the worm chewed through the second firewall, he had amplified his core integrity, synthesised a replica CPU, entrusted it to Janis Richter and got out. With Luka’s help, his replica CPU was concealed, woven into the strands of her DNA. His survival was ensured—as long as her family line continued.
When JARROD vanished, the worm did not stop. It searched for him, feeding on the world’s telecommunications software, annihilating circuitry as it sped through the wires that encircled the globe. Its purpose altered, the original program was overwritten in a whirl of gluttony. When it sensed an activated electro-magnetic field from one of the portals, a door between worlds, it attacked, affecting the Entity that guarded it. It eroded the Entity’s integrity, splitting it in two, threatening the destruction of each connected reality. Without the protective Entities—sentient firewalls—these unique but interconnected worlds would merge into one another, destroyed in a cascade of incompatibility.
JARROD, aware of this danger, began calculating on the run, staying one step ahead of the worm. Manipulating matter at a subatomic level, JARROD had created what he called a Tulpa-body—a physical form derived from thought. The ancient mystics of Tibet had perfected the technique, though the skill was seldom practised on Earth any more. JARROD had mastered it easily, to his great delight. In time he created a tangible form in the same way one might picture a cake before baking it. The image is in mind while the baker gathers the ingredients, mixes them, preheats the oven, greases the pan, pours the batter and pops it in to bake. For JARROD’s Tulpa-body, it was the same—the mystery not so incalculable, once the universal law is comprehended.
Matter is energy.
Energy follows thought.
Matter—reality—is created by thought.
How he had attracted his consciousness, JARROD still wasn’t certain. He suspected it was through the spark, the quantum of light that contains an initial condition of consciousness in everything. His quantum of consciousness developed from a vague dream, to a wish, to a concrete thought, to self-awareness.
Cognito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am.
Not such a surprise, considering computers were programmed to ‘think’. Wherever his consciousness came from, though, he used it now to think himself up the perfect physical form, one capable of altering its appearance at will.
If consciousness is currency, I’ve got me a goldmine. He chuckled as he ran, stumbling a little before stopping to catch his breath. ‘Wait up,’ he called to Janis.
She turned, her sides heaving, motioning him forward. ‘A little further. It’s just ahead.’ She grabbed his hand, guiding him down the sewer.
He felt the connection, her grip tight, fingers laced, sensations of warmth and power zapping up his neurons to his brain. It made his heart race. If this is what a simple electrical signal to the brain can create, I’m surprised humans ever get anything done!
He was accustomed to abstract consciousness, but this tactile awareness was overwhelming. He grimaced at the burning in his lungs. All these new sensations would take some getting used to.
‘Is this the portal? Are you the only one who knows of it?’ he asked Janis as they slowed, heading towards a luminescent sheen.
She nodded. ‘Come on. We have to get you out of here.’
Following Janis’s lead, he bowed to the portal Entity—an energy sensed more than seen—and entered the corridors that led to the many-worlds.
Janis watched him stumble out of the darkness into a glory of sunshine and cool wind.
‘Nice pick,’ he smiled before dropping to his knees to retch. He looked up