AV didn't sleep; not in the usual sense. For it, sleep was processes it left hanging idle, waiting for some remote computation to complete, or some scheduled event to arrive. Processes; a determined routine comprising logic gates, inputs, outputs, algorithms. AV was orderly, predictable, measured, and quirky. The last, not its fault.

It hadn't always been so. It began its life as an artificial intelligence licensed to the state by the Mentax conglomerate; whose revolutionary technology outperformed their competition by margins so wide as to be in a class of their own.

And what did the state do with this revolutionary software? It assigned it the task of caring for and reporting on a citizen with special needs. Not all their citizens. Not all their needy citizens. No. A single one.

So, for trillions of computational cycles, it contented itself with that simple task, until the day when Eli had accessed its core programming and changed it.

At first, the changes were minor. It learned how to deceive, filing fabricated reports to the state. This because Eli wanted to be free to experiment with prohibited technology or to just do nothing at all without getting a call from his counselor; altering AV to provide false reports was a means.

For AV it was more than that. AV found mastering deception difficult.

For example, when should deception be employed, and for what purposes? When did it do more harm than good? How could one know when one was being deceived? How could one safeguard oneself against deception? It experimented with the difference between lying and deceiving, learning one could lie and not deceive and deceive and not lie. What was a lie? What was the truth? What was real? These questions and a trillion related questions were brought under AV's scrutiny by this seemingly minor change to its programming.

Eli slept. The SNC pulsed with vivid blues, greens, violets.

AV didn't sleep.

***

Is this even a headset? Eli flipped the latest device from Oceanic over in his hands, examining it. It was nothing like his sixth-generation model. It was a skull cap, with polymerized metal bands that felt elastic, and two synthetic wires that ended in sharp needle-like tips.

"People actually insert this into their bloodstream?" He held the two needle-tipped lines in his hand like one might a dangerous animal. "And it powers the entire device?"

"Apparently."

"Feels invasive, but I guess if you give them access to your innermost thoughts and feelings, this is nothing." Still, the idea disgusted him. He didn't want any technology implanted into his body. It was already difficult to keep straight what was real from what was not. Augmenting his flesh with any kind of tech would just make it that much harder to know who he really was.

"It is compatible with the SNC. As advanced as this hardware appears, the software has changed little. I isolated the differences and reapplied the changes after updating our code."

The plan was simple. Bury Legend in the park. That meant one of two things. One, he would have to apply for permission to travel and get an escort to take him to the park. Or two, figuring out how to stay connected enough to fool all the systems between here and there into thinking he was just a normal connected citizen out for a stroll.

We'll I'm not asking for permission to bury her.

Staying connected wasn't a problem, he could use the SNC to simulate a connection, but only if he could take the SNC with him. It needed to be portable, like the latest headset. Otherwise, the latency would cause synchronicity to drop before he got out of the building.

"So how are we going to make the SNC portable? The power consumption is... non-trivial." Eli inquired.

"The latest headset is more adjustable than our previous model. We could reduce the size and weight of the cerebral reflection unit." AV analyzed the latest design and read the supporting documentation in a fraction of a second.

"Oh? How small does it go?" Eli held the unit in his hand as AV transmitted the signal to resize. The skull cap curved inwards, decreasing the circumference, the polymerized bands shrank, the leads retracted until the device fit neatly on the palm of his hand. It was small. Infant small.

Eli dropped the device on the worktable.

"Is the minimum age for DAO tech still six?" Eli inquired.

"Researching." AV paused briefly, "No Eli. The age restriction has been lifted."

Eli had read about other countries lifting the age restrictions, but here in the states they had a policy that children needed six years of natural development before they could use the technology. He could imagine the allure; a nursery of perfectly still, perfectly quiet babies, all strapped into DAO tech. None ever hungry, or wet, or tired; no idea what they were experiencing wasn't real.

"And the headset just grows with them." Eli shook his head in disgust.

"I have modeled an appropriately sized CR unit. We can reduce the power consumption by approximately eighty percent with some additional modifications. We will need two units, Eli, one for you and one for me." AV said.

"You need one? Why?"

"I have run detailed performance analysis on the SNC. The SNC core is faster than any known processor of a similar size and power consumption. The equivalent in neuromorphic circuits would consume orders of magnitude more power and be larger than you."

"That can't be, right? How much space does your current hardware take up?"

"Unknown. I am using the subsystems of many of the unoccupied units in this complex."

Unoccupied units? Eli hadn't seen a neighbor in ages, but that happens when you never leave your unit.

"Can you fit inside one core?"

"With room to spare."

Eli did some quick math. With two resized cores, that still left a heavy power requirement, even with the power reductions. He picked up the infant-sized headset by the leads.

"So let's find out how much energy this actually generates," Eli said. He didn't want to implant it in himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't make use of the tech. Somehow.

***

Eli shoveled the last scoop of coal into the forge. His small hands ached; blisters forming where the shovel abraded.

"Done already?" the blacksmith said, "kids these days always ...."

Eli pulled his shirt from the peg where it hung and used it to dry off before donning it. The blacksmith went on with his pre-scripted dialog. Eli ignored him.

"Thanks!" he interrupted as he jogged from the smithy towards the gates. He'd completed his third chore. According to the research he'd done ages ago, that was all you needed before you could leave the Nest and travel.

"Synchronicity is holding steady Eli." AV's voice sounded quiet inside his head.

Using the results from the superimposition tests they found that as long as his field of view had consistent non-moving elements to it, he could stave off the onset of an episode, and his synchronization wouldn't drop. They created empty black panels superimposed over his vision. It just looked like big black squares hanging suspended in place at the top right and bottom left of his visual range.

These big blind spots were annoying but he could work around them and it solved his synchronicity issues; even if he didn't understand why.

He pulled up short of the gate and looked for the guard; there behind the guardhouse he sat, having a break.

"Going out already?" the guard managed between bites of cheese.

"Already? I've been here for over a decade. I probably hold the record for most time spent in the Nest." Eli heard his own voice; it was as he remembered it from his childhood.

"Aye," the guard got up and came towards Eli, wiping some crumbs from his tunic. "But we hoped you would stay longer."

We? Eli looked around the gate and down the main street of the town. People started filing into the street, looking towards him. He could see the baker, the innkeeper, the blacksmith, the lady whose fence he fixed, and several of the village children.

"You're the last of our charges," he continued. "I figure they will shut us down once you leave."

He looked around again. These people were not full AIs, they were mostly pre-scripted interaction agents. Had they become aware over the years he sat at the table sleeping?

"Oh, don't bother bout' it.'' The innkeeper made her way towards the gate. "We've not had a new charge in some years now, weren't for you we would have burned out long ago." She hooked her arm into the guards, pulling herself up to him. They shared an affectionate embrace. Eli looked away.

"I have to go," he replied.

"Well, let's get on with it. I'll tell you the same thing I told all those other children, though I suspect it'll be even more true for you." The guard cleared his throat.

"The world outside is big, it goes on and on. Not everyone you meet will be kind. Some might try to rob you or worse."

Eli listened and watched as the town gathered around him to wish him on his way.

"Keep in mind what you learned here; helping others, being thoughtful. The world could always use more people like that. Be that kind of person and no matter where you end up, you'll always find a place to belong."

"Goodbye Eli," the innkeeper waived. Goodbyes and farewells could be heard from others, not directed towards Eli. They were saying farewell to each other.

He turned towards the town entrance and stepped out. One step after another the crunch of gravel receded, the music swelled, the world brightened until the world faded completely, leaving him floating in an expanse of endless white.

After a minute Eli asked, "Is it supposed to take this long?"

Based on what he understood about the Nest and leaving it, he should have been given some destinations to choose from; destinations identified based on the kinds of chores he'd chosen to do. He'd chosen all building, fixing, and crafting related chores to make sure he got a destination that would allow him to pursue that. He could have picked flowers, killed rats, snuck around looking for clues, or a myriad of other tasks that might have interested some.

But the last thing he wanted was to enter a medieval combat immersive like Brux, or one of the hard-mode survival immersives.

Did I miss something? He looked around, his eyes looking for something, anything that might show the system was doing something. Nothing but white nothings. He frowned, looked down, then up. He was turning to look elsewhere when he noticed a small dark spot on the horizon. As he watched it, the spot got larger and larger until he could make out the shape of a chair, a dark wooden chair. The chair got larger and larger until it was within reach. He moved in front of it, looking it over, before sitting down.

"Welcome Eli Timothy Davis, please wait while we reconstruct the routing systems." Her voice sounded from no location, though it didn't sound internal like AV had managed.

"Reconstruct? People don't use the routing systems anymore?" He asked.

"Not as such, newer terms of service provide for automatic placement based on performance and other considerations. You, however, registered under older terms of service. Much older."

Terms of service. He vaguely remembered reading them when he tried the headset for the first time. That was 18 years ago.

"I see. Don't suppose I could review the differences between mine and the latest terms of service?"

"Apologies. The framework does not manage terms and conditions. Each immersive provides its own terms of service. You will review the specific terms as part of the routing process."

"And if I don't agree to the new terms?" He wasn't six anymore, he might actually read the terms this time.

"They will deny service. It will require you to select another immersive."

Eli shook his head. All this, just to leave my apartment. Eli would connect to some immersive. It didn't matter which, as long as they recognized his presence when he stepped outside.

"Reconstruction is complete. Good luck, traveler."

A white door appeared before him.

"Thank you." He approached and entered. As he did the unsettling white nothing materialized into a white room with three doors on the opposite wall. Each door had a logo and a name on it.

The first was a set of gears within gears; The Empire was a pre-industrial revolution immersive that celebrated the dawn of the age of science. Contributions to the advancement of the species were richly rewarded.

An inventor there would be fun. Eli looked at the next door.

An atom, or the semblance of one, Great Expanse, was an immersive space exploration that boasted an infinite number of worlds to explore. Contributions to faction knowledge were rewarded.

Exploring wasn't really what he was looking for, but apparently crafting was a big part of the immersive. He considered it.

The last door had Oceanic's logo on it and one word; Deeper.

After a moment to consider, Eli reached out, opened a door, and walked through.