THE MOMENT
"What else?" Marina asked. Captain Marina Stormhold was in her office receiving a report from a mid-ranking field agent. She'd tasked them with monitoring the other corporations and Greta visited with important information.
"But... can they really do that?" Greta asked. She'd only been serving under Marina for a few months, but she'd gained recognition quickly. She was friendly, naturally talented, and slightly absent-minded; which, made her easier to steer. Now she was revealing Sharp Development's plans. And, ever since she heard them, she'd been in a mild state of awe.
"Do what?" Marina asked with genuine confusion. She was paying attention to the report, but she didn't note anything worth questioning.
"Memories, thoughts, feelings, personality... everything that makes up a human can now be extracted, stored, and put into another body. Sharp Development has that technology?" she asked. She was invited to join Marina and simultaneously learned she was something called a Unique Soul. Not only that, there were infinite alternate universes, and a game that used Earth-sized servers known as the AlterNet. It was too much for her to take in when it first happened, and she'd been trying to take it in little by little since she joined. Marina was aware of all that, enough to hold back her laughter. Instead, she nodded with a smile as she reached under her desk. Then, she brought her hand up to show Greta her node.
"We all have that technology," Marina replied.
"OH! Riight, gotcha," Greta laughed and nodded. She'd made her own AlterNet character, which required a node. She was able to choose an entirely new body and soul, along with a class and specialization. She'd had so much fun making her character and exploring the AlterNet since then that she didn't really consider the details of what might be happening. As soon as Marina reframed it for her, she completely understood.
"So, what else did you learn?" Marina asked to get them back on track.
"Just that," Greta nodded. "They announced the new technology, and they were going to start rolling it out in the Summer. I checked what I could, and it's one of their Earths. Once I learned that, it just felt like standard procedure for them."
"I see," Marina sighed slightly. She was annoyed, and didn't know what to do about. It was obvious Greta herself hadn't realized how observant she was. She had enough experience not to have bothered Marina with what was essentially, 'normal things are happening normally'. But, the fact that she did meant she had something to share. It was the reason Marina kept her around and promoted her fast, she had a fantastic intuition. And, the fact that she stopped short of sharing it meant Marina was going to have to dig a bit.
"So, walk me through it. You're walking downtown and you see the ads on TV?" Marina asked.
"Yep. It was a nice day, so there were a lot of people around. And, so a bunch of them were crowded around the electronics store watching the TVs in the windows. And there was a Sharp representative there too, I think," she added. "But, she wasn't watching with the crowd, she was walking by and talking to someone."
"And that seemed weird to you?" Marina asked. It was kind of a leap, but she was trying to speed the process along.
"No, I guess not," Greta shook her head. Then, Marina realized she knew how to speed it up everytime in the future, by just asking what was weird. Because, in moments, Greta continued. "But, you know what was kind of weird...," she said. "I overheard her telling the client to be sure to back up before June. Which, I don't know. It seems kind of weird to make that a point of conversation, you'd think that advice would be everywhere."
"You're sure?" Marina asked as she locked her attention onto Greta.
"Yeah, why?" Greta asked. "Why is that weird?"
"Because, if they don't have enough backups when the universe resets, it would be disastrous for all the Courts, not just Sharp Development. And, it means they're expecting a reset."
"The universe can be reset?" Greta asked, once again filled with new awe.
"Can, has been, and it looks like will be. We can prepare accordingly. This is fantastic news, thank you," Marina nodded at Greta.
"Wait, but what happens to us?" she asked. Marina smiled and wiggled the clear glass node at her again.
"Well, you have a backup, don't you?"