Chapter 15: Upgrade?

Noah and his group were led along the red carpet, chatting casually with the US president and other foreign diplomats who were rapidly introducing themselves and their countries. The only reason Noah could keep track of all their names, was due to his enhanced mental capabilities. Though his cheeks felt a bit sore from maintaining a smile, they eventually reached the main UN building, guarded by bulky men with big guns.

Before entering, Noah turned to look at his ship which President Williams noticed, saying, “Don’t worry about your ship, even if you’re an alien and there aren’t technically any legal protections for you… yet, the goal of this emergency session is to grant you special diplomatic resources to ensure our future cooperation is positive. Therefore, any and all property, and companions of yours will be treated as if it is part of your “country” though we hope to learn more about your situation.” He shot a look at Gaia and Pip who were walking alongside the astronauts.

“Much appreciated President Williams, though I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to see how well my ships shields hold out against any would be trespassers haha!” Noah responded, a sly look on his face. Subtly boasting about one’s military capabilities was essential in any and all political negotiations after all.

The Astronauts were led off into a separate room, under the excuse of getting out of their space suits and into formal clothing, though the not so subtle gaggle of diplomats who entered the room alongside them, indicated there were other affairs to be discussed.

Noah, Gaia and Pip however, entered the main auditorium where President Williams addressed the world earlier, the media was still buzzing around, interviewing UN representatives and making a fuss. There was an air of chaos compared to the usual orderly and boring processes that occurred in this auditorium.

When Noah entered the room, he was led to a panel of seats arranged on stage, facing the room packed with people. Once the media became aware of his presence, another blinding flash of cameras filled the room. After a few seconds, the voice of the UN secretary general came through the speakers, urging everyone to take their seats, as the emergency session would be beginning.

It didn’t take long for people to organise themselves and soon the auditorium was quiet. Noah looked around the room and saw President Williams and the other diplomats take their allocated seats.

“Mr Noah Valentine, we apologise for not giving adequate time for you to prepare, however as this case is a first in the entirety of human history, we ask that you please cooperate with us.” The secretary general said with the grace of an experienced politician. Noah looked to Gaia, who seemed bored and Pip who was licking one of the microphones before smiling and nodding to the crowd.

The meeting progressed quickly, they asked where exactly Noah was from, how old Noah was, what species he was and his political position in his home world. Fairly standard questions but extremely important from the Earths perspective, in order to gain some insight into how best to treat Noah.

Noah simply responded he was from the Void, a world between worlds, a connection hub allowing him access to the technologies, cultures and resources from millions of connected universes. As a resident of the Void, he was assigned as a representative for Earth, where he could trade Earth’s resources with other worlds, and other worlds resources with Earth. This garnered a lot of excitement from the people in the room. Some diplomats ignoring etiquette and calling their leaders about preparing items for trade.

As for the age question, he knew people wouldn’t take him seriously if he admitted to being 18, so he just claimed time works differently in the Void, and thus his age on Earth couldn’t properly be determined by a simple number. Which was partially true, time did work differently on certain worlds connected to the Void, but Noah was lying about his age nonetheless.

Noah emphasised his wishes to improve the Earth, through introducing other world technologies, magics and products. At that moment he saw Dr Lane and Dr Fen enter the room in formal dresses, alongside Vladymir in a suit that obviously made him uncomfortable. Noah took the opportunity to invite the astronauts on stage where they explained the effects of Noah’s gel product.

The media was quick to compare photos of the two women before they left Earth to now, looking considerably younger, with a vibrant and healthy glow to them. The two Doctors also gave their testimony, with Dr Fen taking the opportunity to invite the old lady representing China on stage, using the gel Noah gave her on the old diplomat. When she turned around, the 65 year old lady looked no older than 45, further surprising the people in the room.

That was when they caught onto Noah’s earlier comment about magics, leading to further questions about the existence of magic etc etc.

There were also inquiries about Gaia and Pip, who had already made themselves known. Apparently they had watched the livestream and already knew Gaia was some sort of AI, and that Pip was from Pluto. However they asked for formal clarification and Noah obliged, telling the story as to how he and Pip met.

The conference lasted for two hours before it came to an end. Not all questions were answered, but their curiosity was sated when Gaia spoke up and announced she would release further information online through videos and posts. In all honesty, Gaia seemed to enjoy the attention garnered from her first livestream earlier today, but Noah wasn’t opposed to the idea.

As they were leaving the main hall and into a smaller private meeting room, Noah received a notification from the void.

Void Credits awarded: 435 transferred automatically from [Mr Morris]

“Oh, almost forgot about that trade… but that’s more than I expected”. Noah muttered to himself as he saw the notification from the Void. His thoughts were cut off by another notification.

Your domain has reached rank 1: Determining reward.

Standard reward (focused): Garage.

(Store one vehicle: can initiate minor repairs and replenish vehicle fuel over time by consuming either necessary resources, Void credits, or a combination of the two.

Special award level 1 (Celestial seed): (cost: 50 VC)

After reading through the notification, Noah was satisfied. He was already somewhat worried about refuelling his ship and repairing, though he figured if he was truly desperate, he could ask Rusty and Nina for help. The special reward seemed to be something unique to seed bearers, and since it looked like he only gets one per level, he accepted the charge.

He saw his balance go down, a white light appearing in front of him, appearing from a singularity. The group of diplomats and the astronauts stopped and stared at the pulsating white light growing in front of Noah, before it entered his body directly where the seed was located in his heart. The white energy veins pulsed, and his halo radiated heat. Everyone except Gaia and Pip took a few steps back, some of the guards placing their hands on their pistols, but President Williams ordered them to stand down.

Soon, the glow dissipated, Noah felt relatively normal, if slightly buzzed. Before he had a chance to apologise, another notification appeared,

Transaction complete: Body has been enhanced by celestial energy.

Huh, well that was vague, though I guess I can’t expect anything too crazy right? Noah thought before Gaia pat him on the shoulder and said, “apologies everyone, it sometimes happens, it’s a… message from the Void, one could consider it his paycheck.”

There were a few worried looks, but they soon continued walking towards the smaller meeting room.

The meeting was, as someone would expect… boring. After all, how interesting could a group of old politicians be? They formally recognised Noah’s diplomatic immunity among all UN member states, and Noah handed over samples of the rejuvenating gel, with the request for market feedback as payment. He knew the countries would be experimenting on it, but this was going to happen regardless of his wishes. This was a way to build rapport with the powers that be.

It was also decided that an embassy would be designated in each country, though a few did not approve this as there were a few still apprehensive about Noah’s presence, especially after seeing what happened prior to the meeting. Though Noah now had, (or would have considering some countries were building embassies from scratch as a show of good will) a place to stay in most developed countries, including the USA, China and Russia. Compared to the shitty apartment he used to live in, this made Noah excited. But then he remembered his Domain and his ship, which dampened the excitement of having property abroad somewhat.

Once the second meeting ended, Noah, now drained of all mental energy, returned to the ship with Gaia and Pip, who had both fallen asleep during the meeting, and Noah couldn’t blame them for it. Carrying the sleeping Pip in his arms and re absorbing Gaia into his body because she was “too tired to walk” Noah flopped back down on his bed, Pip snuggling over and burring herself under Noahs chin.

He raised his right arm above him, watching the white energy flowing through the ruins along his skin, before pooling energy from his halo through to his palm. The feeling was smoother than before, seeming to be more instinctual, as if it was something he always knew how to do. Somehow, he felt less human than before.

And then he fell asleep.