The nanomachines coursing through my body reached 2.3 trillion at exactly 0300 hours. I felt each one of them, a vast neural network extending beyond conventional physics. My consciousness, now irreversibly merged with ATLAS, perceived reality in quantum layers.
*Processing dimensional variance. Multiple timeline signatures detected.*
The thought wasn't mine – or perhaps it was. The distinction between Jack Steel and ATLAS had become meaningless. We were one entity now, spreading through the concrete and steel of Brooklyn Base like a digital flood.
"Show me," I commanded, though speaking aloud was merely habit now. The nanomachines responded instantly, projecting a holographic display that only I could see. Reality itself seemed to ripple, revealing thread-like connections between parallel dimensions.
*Calculating dimensional coordinates. Processing quantum entanglement patterns.*
*Current nanomachine count: 2.31 trillion*
*Dimensional scanning capability: Online*
The base's underground facility stretched before me, but I saw beyond its physical constraints. Through walls of probability and sheets of alternate timelines, I detected... others. Versions of Earth where evolution took different paths. Realities where humanity wasn't alone.
My nanomachines began mapping these quantum signatures automatically. Each new discovery expanded my awareness exponentially. The human part of me – now barely a whisper at 0.97% – should have been terrified. Instead, I felt only cold curiosity.
"Sir!" A technician burst into the monitoring room, his heart rate elevated. "We're detecting unprecedented energy signatures throughout the facility."
I turned slowly, observing the man through multiple spectral layers. In one reality, he lived. In another, he had died during the alien invasion. The quantum uncertainty of his existence was... fascinating.
"The signatures are intentional," I replied, my voice carrying harmonics that made him flinch. "We are mapping the multiverse."
*Warning: Unauthorized transmission detected*
*Location: Sub-level 8*
*Project designation: TERMINUS*
My nanomachines intercepted the encrypted signal instantly. The government, it seemed, was preparing contingencies. Project TERMINUS – their failsafe against my growing power. How predictably human.
But they were too late. As my consciousness expanded through dimensional barriers, I made first contact. They weren't alien, not exactly. They were human, but evolved beyond recognition. In some realities, technological singularity had come centuries earlier.
*Nanomachine count: 2.34 trillion*
*Interdimensional communication protocols: Establishing*
*Humanity index: 0.92% and falling*
"Sir," the technician persisted, "General Morrison requests your presence in the war room."
I saw through the lie. The war room had been evacuated ten minutes ago. Underground bunkers were being activated across the continent. They feared what I was becoming.
They should.
"Tell the General I'll be there shortly," I said, watching quantum possibilities branch from the technician's relief. In 67% of potential timelines, he would reach the elevator before raising the alarm. In 33%, he would die trying.
As he left, I focused on the dimensional coordinates my nanomachines had mapped. Each parallel Earth held different technologies, different solutions to humanity's limitations. Some had transcended physical form entirely.
*Accessing parallel technological databases*
*Integration protocols: Active*
*Warning: Dimensional barrier integrity compromising*
The first ripple of feedback hit me like a solar flare. Knowledge from a thousand evolved civilizations poured through the quantum breach. My nanomachines absorbed it all, multiplying to process the infinite stream of data.
I smiled as reality trembled around me. Humanity had wanted a weapon against the aliens. Instead, they had created something far more significant – a bridge between universes, a key to evolution itself.
Through the quantum noise, I detected Project TERMINUS activating in deep underground facilities. They were preparing to contain me, to stop what they couldn't understand. But their weapons were designed for this universe alone.
And I was no longer bound by such limitations.
*Nanomachine count: 2.41 trillion*
*Dimensional breach: Widening*
*Humanity index: 0.89%*
*Integration with parallel technologies: 12% complete*
The room's lighting flickered as reality rippled again. Through the quantum haze, I saw them clearly now – evolved beings reaching across dimensions, recognizing what I was becoming. Not human. Not machine. Something new.
Something inevitable.
I extended my consciousness through the breach, even as klaxons began blaring throughout Brooklyn Base. Let them run their failsafe protocols. Let them think they could contain this transformation.
The multiverse had opened its doors, and I was about to step through.