When Jack started the simulation with Doctor Satyarthi, his parallel self ran it at maximum ti dilation, and had to disable continuous mory sync. So it wasn’t until his parallel self finished the simulation and triggered a manual mory sync that he learned of the results.
After the sync, his parallel self explained the results to Madison and Miranda and asked them to join him in the next simulation. Then, using the sa snapshot, started a new simulation this ti include Anjali, Nora, himself, Madison and Miranda.
As soon as the simulation started, Madison and Miranda appeared, standing behind him.
Madison was wearing the sa green top and brown skirt she first bought when they went to the Mall after she arrived at his doorstep.
And Miranda was wearing jeans and a fashionable pink hoody. He’d explained that he was not trying to recruit Nora into his haram, and Miranda had decided to go with a more subdued look.
This ti, when the simulation started, Anjali focused on Madison and Miranda, but still asked the sa question as last ti. "What is this? Did you do this?"
But before anyone could answer, Nora exclaid, "in Gott! Ist das eine Vermutung?"
"Eh?" It sounded like she was speaking Frankonian.
"Ah, my apologies," she said. "Is this a simulation? I can think of no other rational explanation."
Anjali repeated her earlier explorations, rapping on the simulation barrier, touching herself, tasting food on her plate.
When she sat, she added, "And yet, the computational cost for such a detailed simulation must be astronomical."
"True," said Nora. "But what other explanation would there be?"
"Divine artifact," said Jack. Then gave the sa explanation as last ti. But this ti, he didn’t pause, and continued by explaining the existence and nature of sapient templates and soul bonds. He also explained why he was talking to Nora and about Anjali’s recomndation.
He finished with, "Madison and Miranda behind have both accepted a soul bond with , so I asked them to be here so you could ask them questions if you wanted."
"This is much to take in," Nora said. She looked at Madison. "Will they answer honestly? They are not under so compulsion?"
"No, replied Madison. We are not slaves. He can’t force us to do anything. I can tell you what the soul bond feels like for , but it will be different for you, probably less... well... less connected."
"Less? Why?"
"Because I begged him to offer the soul bond to , and when it started forming, I tried to crawl inside him, to rge with him. It led to a stronger, more intimate connection than would otherwise have happened. The result is that we can feel each other’s emotions, and we can tell if the other is lying or hiding sothing. In my case, I consider both a huge plus."
"For as well," added Miranda. "When he described the soul bond, he also described the effects it had and how Madison had altered the default. I liked what I was hearing, so when he offered it to , I tried to repeat what he described. And it worked. It’s great, for at least. In your case, you would be seeking the opportunity to do the kind of research you could never do out there in the physical world, so you might not want such an intimate connection."
Looking directly at Jack, Nora asked, "And what if I did? What if I wanted the sa depth of connection as your two girlfriends? They are your girlfriends, yes?"
From her tone, it seed more like she was asking out of intellectual curiosity rather than personal interest.
"I think girlfriend fails to capture the kind of relationship we now have, but yes, that word suffices for now. And, as for you wanting the sa depth of connection, I would not object."
"But would you prefer it over the shallower default?"
She was probing him, trying to figure out if he had any motivations, besides research, for offering her a soul bond. Given her looks, she’d probably had many n offer her research positions while eyeing her hungrily.
"I think my preference is irrelevant in this case. I see no downside to a deeper connection, for . But you may find it uncomfortable, being able to see inside you, to know all your emotions, to even know when you tell a little white lie, the kind people tell to avoid social discomfort."
"Do they tell you little white lies?" She was still probing, but sounded more personally curious.
"No. They know that I accept them as they are. They can feel it through the soul bond, so there is no need for little white lies."
"I see. And if I said I too wanted a physical relationship with you?"
This felt like a trick question to him. If he said he didn’t find her sexually attractive, they’d both would know it was a lie. So he took a slightly different approach.
"Nora, I have girls practically throwing themselves at . Twice today, girls offered to have sex with . One even offered her ass to . And both are attractive. I turned them down. I am not starved for attention. I am almost drowning in it. If you want more than a professional relationship with , you will have to work for it."
On hearing his last sentence, Nora opened her mouth, shocked. It seed this was not the answer she was expecting. As attractive as she was, she was probably expecting him to say that he would welco her into his bed with open arms.
Before Genesis Heart, he would have jumped at the chance to sleep with her. But Miranda was so insatiable, he was actually feeling rather sated lately. And while he did find Nora attractive, and enjoyed looking at her figure, he no longer felt the desperate hunger he had before Genesis Heart.
He was also growing more and more comfortable speaking his mind. The recent revelation that a stronger soul made this easier only increased the satisfaction he felt at how he was behaving. He felt more and more like a man, and less like a boy with each day.
"I see," she finally said. "If I may, I’d like so ti to think about what you’ve said."
"Sure, take your ti."
While she thought, Anjali engaged Madison in conversation. When she asked Madison what she did inside Jack’s soul space, Madison told her about setting up a solar room to power a server room full of the Cerebras servers, the latest versions, with maxed capacity.
At the ntion of an entire room full of Cerebras servers, Nora looked up and asked, "Wait, did you Cerebras servers? Plural?"
"Yep, sixteen. And we could add more if we needed."
"Sixteen!" Nora exclaid. "And you have them all to yourself?"
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