EGO-PROXY 001

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The spacious hall that was once desolate the first time I stepped in this struct was now as lively as a grig. Co-trainees were discussing, sharing their speculations, and trying to figure out whether the other person near was nervous or not, just so they could improve their composure. I stood at the sideline listening to their words and observing their expressions while they spoke with airs to themselves.

A beautiful lady, probably in her middle age, dressed in a dark Ash shrink-wrapping space suit like everyone else seemed to be not above herself as she went about conversing with other trainees and wishing them good luck. At first stance, she looked confident, considering the big grin on her face but in fact, she was just as nervous as anyone in the hall from a closer perspective.

"Good luck" She approached and said to me.

"Same as yourself" I replied with a gentle smile that I knew was only seen as nervous by others, since I could feel the corners of my lips twitching.

But then I was consoled at the sight of several in the hall that were having it worse than I did. A laconic indication was how everyone else arrived before the designated hour. Only a guy who had a fierce and wild appearance arrived a minute past 8 AM and he seemed exempt from the shared intuition.

We all met an aged man clad in a white single-breasted suit, a hat, and a Retro cyber monocle along with his gray mustache. Seeing that we were all gathered;

"Welcome, I hope you all have been enjoying your stay here?" murmurs flew around, and most faces flushed as he stopped to observe everyone. For a moment, I thought he was a straightforward and stern scholar judging by his apparel and the way he stood indifferently ever since.

"I am your coordinator, Space- Master Jeremiah Brentwood. The training that you have all long-awaited will begin this moment"

"Please, follow me" SM. Jerry- a pseudonym I 'granted' him- announced and turned to steadily approach the huge mechanical door straight ahead and of course, every one of us hurried behind him.

The door slid open and SM. Jerry stepped into the lit room that seemed to be nothing but a blank room. I entered the room just as everyone else did and I noticed SM Jerry standing in a more distant zone. I looked about in awe wondering what this place was, lost in the curiosity of how the tests would be conducted.

Clap!

Following SM Jerry's handclap, The walls of the hall broke and cracked into several pieces, leaving only a dark space behind. A single armchair that had a curved S-shaped frame in a horizontal position with an almost transparent seat cushion, and a lowered top backrest emerged from beneath an open space on the floor, right, in the center of the dark room. The silence indicated quite enough that I was all alone. Although, I was only impressed at the designated advanced technology employed as I wasn't a bit surprised.

U-Neuroid.

An amazing and a cut above Technology that safely alters the brain function and neurons in such a way that one's conscience and sense of existence becomes sole. It entails the mind hypnosis by technology, in the sense that one becomes the sole existence in a given space. More like 'blinding the mind with science'.

"The training shall start once you equip the Extended reality device" SM. Jerry's unmistakable voice echoed through the darkness. I approached the chair that had a slightly breathable luminescent armrest that illuminated the room dimly.

I sat nervously as a holographic sphere appeared around my head.

"Welcome... Fetching data... Initializing Training phases" The Extended Reality Device- ERD- warned in a monotonous tone and I subconsciously lay myself to comfort on the backrest.

"Training phase 1... Test Engineering..." Following the AI announcement, I stood in a desolate spaceport, facing a launch pad that had a black Spacepod with cut-edge designs that made it look more like a Shuttle lodged in it.

Glick!

"Scan complete!" A hologram detailing the analysis of the Spacepod and the status of the launchpad projected right in front of me.

Glick!

"Objective. The user is required to infuse the Space pod with necessary parts and test-launch" The uneventful voice of the AI rang through the space again as the sky glitched to display the characters of the words of the AI.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before gazing upon the Pod. It took no genius to infer from what the AI implied that the Space pod was likely to be nothing but an empty junk of Carbon nanotubes.

I placed my hands on the hologram and immediately began working on the Pod. I wasn't certain if there was a timer, however, I knew to be careful. I held and removed every part of the Pod from the holographic screen projected in front of me and the robotic cranes did the physical process.

"Hah!" As expected, the pod was an empty vacuum with only the payload system installed. But there was no use barking at the moon.

I started with the thrusters engine which was practically a Magnetoplasmadynamic reusable thruster using the newly discovered model imparted in the new age. The improved Lorentz electromagnetic force mechanism is employed to ensure recycling since the quantal matters were abundant in space leaving the only deposition of the construct being the combustibility of materials from over-radiation. Though fifty percent of this problematic occurrence regarding the construct model breakdown from over-radiation can be solved by bringing the necessary equipment, materials, and space engineers on board to maintain the thrusters.

Nevertheless, the model's current over eighty-five percent efficiency was fully sufficient for short-term space traveling and standard for long-term space expeditions. That alone is more than outstanding as only fifteen percent was left to practically surf through space- an almost impossible feat.

Completing the construct was easy since the mechanical tools automatically did the physical labor by the laid down format in which I just have to input the command for things to go smoothly. Simply put, the whole process seemed like an objective test.

Next, I built the control and navigation system using the software designs which were already provided and fused it with the thruster engine for easy access to its acceleration and propellants. I installed several space travelling tools such as the radioactive sensory and the particle detectors; magnetometer and plasma wave detectors. I also installed spectrometers for spectrums observation purpose. Then I included a soft bed pod in the payload system- that was just me being pragmatic, that wasn't necessary since this was just a test and wouldn't last for me to feel the need to go to bed, however, I've learnt to always be prepared for any outcome. I added a few more finishes and then it was done.

'Ego-proxy 001' I named the space pod.

I held my waist with extreme pride looking at the finished space vessel in front of me, I had basically just built a spaceship even though it was mainly with the help of automatic mechanical tools. Nevertheless, I wouldn't celebrate yet until It launched as that was what mainly indicated success in a spaceship.