Hardcore: Qi Worlds Chapter 47: Qi Worlds Project

 Ben arrived back in his apartment and flopped on his bed. "Ah fuck," he exclaimed, "how did that happen?"

 Huineng sat in the corner in a meditative pose, crossing his legs, back straight and closed his eyes. 'If you want to talk, we should talk like this, have you ever heard of bugs?'

 "Oh crap," Ben said, sitting bolt upright on the bed.

 After a few minutes sweating, cursing and generally feeling sorry for himself he sat on the bed and pretended to meditate as well. "You are right Huineng, we should meditate on the upcoming mission before discussing," Ben said playing along for any listening device that may be in his apartment.

 'How did I get railroaded in the end? I couldn't say anything lest I alert them to the importance of what they call QW6, what do you call it by the way?' as was customary, when agitated, Ben fired off rapid-fire questions before waiting for the answer to the first.

 Huineng sent a reply, 'I have always called it QW6, remember I have been around since QW1 which was called Gaia, in the end, it wasn't a Gaia though. Why don't you and I name QW6..,' after a minute passed, 'hmm Basal would fit.'

 'Why Basal, what does it mean?' Ben asked.

 'It means fundamental, essential,' sent Huineng.

 'Fitting!' Ben sent back, 'I like it. Basal it is, can we register that name?'

 Huineng ignored the last question.  'As to your other concern. You need to be patient, you did very well. Buxiu would not accept any outcome where the VIPs were not healed. Some are ageing, some are dying, they have been waiting for this for a long time. Which means either you have to heal them or train a replacement or a combination of both. If you simply ran to Basal now, they would follow you with everything they had, they would unplug you here if necessary. There is also no way they would send VIPs to Basal, it is far too dangerous, especially now.' Huineng sent.

 'But there is a portal in the domain, it is not dangerous!' Ben sent.

 'Ah, but do they know that?' Huineng sent.

 'No! Because you advised against it and it wasn't in your damn report.' Ben sent back.

 'It is likely most VIPs could not open the portal anyway,' Huineng mentioned.

 'There is so much you do not know,' Huineng sent, 'I have no idea how the powers that run the company, would react to what we have discovered with Land Cores, control over extra-planar beings and increasing Core strength through merging. Some of this may have been discovered without my knowledge, but if it has, it is top secret it is not in any information disseminated to the Masters or below.'

  'We?' Ben asked.

 'Ha, do not forget who advised you boy. I suspected you could terraform, as this is similar to how a plane is constructed in the first place using a massive amount of qi. The main problem with qi on Earth is, it is hard to come by, compared to the higher planes. Of all the worlds QW6 is on the highest plane, that I know of, making it the most abundant in qi, but that obviously made it more dangerous too. The portal spawn we saw was the largest by far in any QW that I know of. I suspect that QW9 is closer to earth, in terms of planar level, thus the company has more control, can easily send people back and forth and it is safer. The downside is, it will likely have less naturally occurring qi in terms of Land Cores.'

  'So there is no way out of this,' Ben asked.

 'Not in the short term. I suggest you find someone to train and you learn as much as you can about portal creation and closure. If they do not need you and you disappear...well.. they won't look as hard compared to if you were irreplaceable. But this will be a fine line you tread.' Huineng sent.

 'That reminds me,' Ben sent, 'you mentioned once, back on Basal, that you could let your Earth body die and escape into your lump permanently. Is this something you can teach me?'

 Huineng was silent a long time, 'it is not something I can teach, as it is only a theory. You would have to sever the link back to your earthly body.'

 'How do you know it exists?' Ben asked.

 'We know it exists, because, how else are you and I healed? How else do we travel back and forth?' Huineng sent, 'not only that, you have to ensure your qi core is entirely in your lump as well as your conscious.' Huineng answered.

 'Why can't I just take this body through the antechamber,' Ben asked.

 'Ben, remember, I have been studying and researching this for decades. Why do you think we use antechambers and lumps if we could simply take our body through?' Huineng answered.

 'How were all these created, the antechambers, the lumps?' Ben asked.

 With that Shiyan Shi entered the apartment.

 "Sorry to interrupt Masters," Shiyan Shi announced.

 Ben would have to get used to being called a Master, it had a nice ring to it, but he certainly preferred Protector of the Alpine Forest. Ben unhitched his legs from beneath himself and hung them over the end of the bed. His body was still extremely tender, he would need real rest soon and more food.

 "The next-gen pod is here to be installed. This is our third generation and the model only VIPs possess, however, Buxiu insisted you have the very latest as your mission is of utmost importance to the QWP (Qi Worlds Project) and its VIPs," Shiyan Shi informed them.

 "Shiyan Shi, sir," Ben said, "when you say VIPs what do you mean exactly?"

 Shiyan Shi responded while waving in the technicians to install the pod. "VIPs is just a shortcut term for the group of individuals who are either large shareholders of QWP or its parent, leaders in the communist party of China, extremely wealthy individuals, from anywhere, who pay enormous sums to QWP for services of one or more of the following healing, immortality, qi training, escapism and entertainment." He made it sound like he was quoting a memo.

  "I see, saying VIPs is so much easier," Ben agreed, "while this is being installed I am getting something to eat and then I need to rest. Can we do the induction tomorrow?"

 Shiyan Shi was lost in thought for a minute. "No, it is imperative you get to QW9 as soon as possible, we have some VIPs who have been waiting a long time and invested huge amounts of capital into the project. They have been informed of the advances made and if we kept them waiting I fear I may be castrated by tomorrow morning. How about this, get something to eat now. Rest three hours and then we complete the induction and send you to QW9 tonight. Once there you will have more time, as the time dilation has been reversed to a large degree. One day on Earth is like five on QW9, once there you will have five times as much time to work, recover, study and practice. If we delay here for one hour, we just lost five on QW9, so it's best I get you there as soon as possible."

 Ben just glared daggers at Huineng.

 "Old man, show me where we can get some food," Ben asked Huineng in a disrespectful tone.

 "I was a master before you were born young Ben," Huineng responded dryly.

 As they left Ben said, "lucky you lived long enough for me to heal you then."

 Huineng snorted his derision and showed Ben the cafeteria assigned for their level in the organisation. Huineng was the founder,  a former lead researcher, now he was considered a chaperone and a master. Ben had basically the same status. Well paid, a measure of respect and virtually no power over their own destinies.

 Shiyan Shi had the pod installed and allowed Ben to rest for three hours, coming back to wake him on the dot, not a minute longer. Ben was already awake, the anticipation and anxiety had him wound up tight. His life was out of control again and although he the power to change its direction, he was afraid to. 

 "Good you are awake," Shiyan Shi began, "Huineng will join us in a moment. As planned he will accompany you to QW9, at least for the initial period, and will report back to me and in turn Buxiu."

 "What about his other duties on QW6?" Ben asked.

 Shiyan Shi arched an eyebrow, but after a moment he responded, "do not worry, he will be your handler, you are too important to the QWP organisation to be left unguided. There will be others on QW9 who are masters and even more elevated in the hierarchy than Huineng, however you two have an established relationship. My only concern is that in saving his life, he may feel indebted to you."

 Ben waved that statement away, "oh do not worry about that, it is obvious to me that the QWP is more important to him than anything."

 Shiyan Shi nodded, "that may be true, but there will be no chances taken as far as you are concerned. I am telling you this, so you are aware because if you fail, I fail and I will do everything I can to assist you to succeed."

 "I think you should be sending me someone to train, that way even if I came down with some rare deadly illness or a meteor fell from the sky on my head, you would have someone ready," Ben suggested.

 Shiyan Shi nodded again, "that is already underway. We will be giving you two tasks in the Temple at Dawnharbour. Your first task is to qi heal the people sent to you by the Grandmaster Huan. He will set a schedule at the fastest possible rate for the tier one recipients. Between him, you and Huineng you are to managing healing these VIPs as fast as possible. The only reason to delay is fatigue or lack of qi. Grandmaster Huan is also the keeper of the Qi Core at the monastery. From what you say, that the Core is necessary, he can ensure access."

 Shiyan continued, "we will also send you candidates to train. These talents will be from different backgrounds and you will train them as you see fit. If any are unsuitable, reject them, they are not to impede progress. I have arranged that you are solely in charge of the training, this has offended many of the powers at the temple. But the success of this project trumps all egos. I am trusting that you will perform better if given free reign."

 "Those are your two directives. Is it clear which takes precedence?" Shiyan Shi asked.

 Ben nodded, "healing of the VIPs will take precedence, I assume that once the backlog has passed more time will be available for training."

 Shiyan Shi agreed, "I expect so, the priority list is not that long, there are five tier one clients who are in urgent need after they are rehabilitated the schedule can be freed up. In this, you will follow Grandmaster Huan's direction."

 "What role is Huineng playing if I am following Grandmaster Huan's direction?" Ben asked.

 "Mentor, to assist you in social dealings, to report to me and to ensure your success. Like you and I, he will rise with your success, after all, you are his disciple in a sense. Do not underestimate the need for his assistance when you are dealing with VIPs, you will do as he directs. We cannot afford failure for any reason, and offending the wrong person could lead to your, my and Huineng's failure." Shiyan dispensed advice and orders in the one breath.

 Huineng arrived at Ben's apartment.

 "You are late," Shiyan Shi scolded.

 "My apologies, I am almost a hundred and only recently healed from death," Huineng spoke in his broken English and smiled his toothy smile. Ben wondered how their qi communication was perfect yet when Huineng actually spoke English, in the real world, it was at a rudimentary level. Ben concluded it must be that telepathy was thoughts, not spoken language, and those thoughts were translated somewhere, where that was, he wasn't sure.

  Shiyan Shi sighed patiently, "No matter, we have spoken of nothing you will not know without common sense. It is time to explain some aspects of QW9 before you depart. I do not wish you distracted in the slightest when you arrive."

 Shiyan Shi continued, "you will be travelling to Dawnharbour, a large city in QW9, there should be no need for you to leave Dawnharbour. This city is massive compared to anything on QW6 and was fully constructed by our deployment team, not by the inhabitants. QW9 is extremely close to earth in terms of planar travel, as we discussed earlier, this allows more convenient travel with less risk. It was developed with the initial goal of training and entertainment for VIPs, their families and guests. However, it suits our purpose excellently as well."

 "Due to its characteristics there is a lot less portal travel from other planes, this adds to its security. Due to its closeness to Earth, we have been able to introduce a much higher level of controls and populate the world with ai lumps. These AI lumps are known as NPCs. This world will be much different to QW6 Ben, and even Huineng has experienced nothing like it before. When something doesn't make sense, please remember, it was developed with qi training and entertainment in mind."

 "Can we tell the difference between NPCs and VIPs easily? That could be a real problem." Ben asked.

 "Yes, that will not be an issue, all players are either masters like yourselves or VIPs, so act accordingly. You will learn of the masters in due course. For example, Grandmaster Huan is a master." Shiyan Shi answered.

 "He is not a Grandmaster? That doesn't make sense" Ben stated.

 "Titles in Dawnharbour have little do to with titles in the QWP, the monastery has multiple tiers. It is of no consequence Grandmaster Huan will ensure that you are not impeded in your duties and he has sufficient rank to effect compliance. Anyone who outranks him will not interfere and if they did, Huineng will report it immediately."

 Shiyan Shi finished by asking, "it is almost time to go, any important questions?"

 "How do I open a portal to QW9?" Ben asked.

 "Your pod has been pre-programmed with the Dawnharbour portal, it should appear in your antechamber, if it does not return immediately," Shiyan Shi answered.

 Shiyan Shi looked at Huineng, "any questions? Is there anything Ben needs to know?"

 Huineng smiled, "I only understood half. But I work it out, no problems."

 Shiyan Shi nodded. "I will give you a quick rundown, in Chinese next time, before you enter your pod in your apartment."

Huineng smiled, "very wise Shiyan Shi, very wise."

 Shiyan Shi opened the pod door and motioned for Ben to enter, "this is orders of magnitude superior to the gurney you were on for all those years. I think you will find no discomfort."

 Ben stripped down naked, as instructed and entered the pod while Shiyan Shi expertly assisted him with the connections as he relaxed in the water chair. Ben thought of it as a water chair, but it was more like gel. Shiyan Shi fitted a breathing mask over his nose and mouth and closed the door to the pod. The pod then filled with gel. Ben felt like he was underwater, or under-gel to be more precise. It was warm enough to be comfortable, as Ben wondered how it worked, he slipped into unconsciousness. 

 After an indeterminate amount of time later Benzhi was back in the pool of his antechamber. He swam to the edge and proceeded to look for the new portal to QW9. 

 He looked longingly over at the inactive portal to Basal. He stood, for an inderterminate amount of time, contemplating opening the portal to Basal. Without his conscious effort, qi slipped out of his core and into the portal frame. Benzhi engaged qi sight, it streamed to a portal to the right of Basal. This must be because of the pod and how people who are not experts, like Huineng, were able to travel to QW9, it was on autopilot.

 The portal to presumably QW9 flared. Benzhi now had his sword and shield in hand, he had brought them with him through the portal from Basal.

 With one last look at the impermeable portal to Basal, Benzhi stepped through to Dawnharbour.

Chapter end