Chapter 38 - The Test of Humanity
The morning sun filtered through the facility windows as Chris sat across from Olivia in the small commissary, their breakfast barely touched. The events of the previous night hung between them—declarations of love, promises of partnership, the weight of shared secrets. But Chris's mind had moved beyond personal feelings to something larger.
"I need to ask you something," he said, setting down his cup. "What do you really think of the Republic of the Houses?"
Olivia paused, her spoon halfway to her mouth. The question carried more weight than casual conversation. "Why do you ask?"
"Because if we're going to build something together, I need to know where you stand. Not as a House member, not as your family's daughter, but as yourself."
She set down her spoon and was quiet for a long moment, staring out at the city beyond the windows. When she spoke, her voice carried a sadness that seemed to come from deep within.
"When I was a child, my grandfather used to tell me stories about the early days. After the war ended in the early 2000s, when the Houses were first established. He said it was meant to be an ideal country—a place where the Hmong people and other minorities could finally have a homeland, where we could govern ourselves according to our own values."
Her fingers traced patterns on the table surface. "V.P.'s words from the founding still echo in our halls: Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from this earth. My grandfather was there that day. He believed in those words. He helped build this Republic because he thought we were creating something pure."
"And now?" Chris prompted.
Olivia's expression hardened. "Now the Houses have moved away from that goal. Slowly, quietly, but steadily. What was meant to be governance by the people has become governance by oligarchies. The Patriarchs hoard knowledge like dragons hoard gold, convinced that only they are wise enough to decide what innovations the world deserves."
Chris leaned forward, his pulse quickening. "That's exactly what I see. The IP Vault system—it's become taxation without representation on a global scale. They take the best minds, the greatest innovations, and lock them away behind bloodlines and emblems."
"While people die from diseases that could be cured," Olivia added.
"While farmers watch crops fail that could be saved. While engineers struggle with problems that have already been solved." Chris's voice grew stronger. "The Republic preaches merit-based advancement, but how can there be true merit when the playing field is so uneven?"
Olivia nodded. "Equal access to knowledge. Equal opportunity to build and innovate. Those should be fundamental rights in any democratic society."
"Knowledge belongs to humanity," Chris said firmly. "Not to any one nation or House or corporation. Democratic principles demand that information flow freely—that citizens have access to the innovations that could transform their lives."
"That's sedition," Olivia said quietly.
"That's democracy," Chris countered. "The Republic has forgotten its founding principles. Someone needs to remind them what V.P. actually stood for."
Olivia studied his face carefully. "And what would you do about it? If you had the power to change things?"
Chris was quiet for a moment, then seemed to make a decision. "I think... I think I might have certain abilities. Things that have started happening recently that I don't fully understand."
"What kind of abilities?"
Chris rubbed his temples, uncertainty clear in his voice. "I can sense things about technology sometimes. Maybe influence it in small ways. It's new—started happening after I arrived here. I'm still trying to figure out what it means, how far it goes."
Olivia's eyes widened, though she kept her expression carefully neutral.
"The truth is, I don't know the full extent of what I can do," Chris continued, his voice carrying both wonder and worry. "It's like something awakened in me when I came to the Republic. Sometimes I feel connected to systems in ways that shouldn't be possible, but I can't predict when it will happen or how much I can actually accomplish."
"How does it feel when it happens?"
"Like touching something electric, but not painful. More like... recognition. As if the technology is trying to communicate with me." He looked down at his hands, frustration evident. "I wish I could explain it better, but I'm still learning what this means."
Olivia leaned closer. "And you want to test these abilities by challenging the Republic?"
"I want to understand them first," Chris said. "I want to travel the world. See different nations, different peoples. Meet the researchers who are struggling without access to Republic innovations. Visit the farmers whose crops are failing, the doctors who can't treat their patients, the engineers who are forced to reinvent solutions we perfected decades ago."
His eyes grew intense. "I want to evaluate whether humanity is worthy of the knowledge the Houses are hoarding. Whether people would use it responsibly, build rather than destroy, heal rather than harm. And maybe along the way, I'll understand what's happening to me."
"And if you find they're not worthy?"
Chris's expression grew somber. "Then maybe the Republic is right to guard its secrets. Maybe some knowledge is too dangerous for an unprepared world."
"And if you find they are worthy?"
"Then I'll find a way to help them access what they need, somehow." Chris reached across the table for her hand. "The question is—would you come with me? Help me evaluate whether the world deserves to be saved? And be patient with me as I figure out what I'm becoming?"
Olivia felt her heart race, but kept her expression carefully controlled. "Leave the Republic? Travel into potentially hostile territory?"
"I need to see the truth with my own eyes. Not through Republic filters or House propaganda, but the raw reality of how other nations live, how they struggle, how they innovate when they're not constrained by our systems." Chris squeezed her hand gently. "And I need someone I trust to help me understand what's happening to me. These abilities, whatever they are—I don't want to face them alone."
"It would be dangerous," Olivia said.
"Everything worthwhile is dangerous." His voice carried a note of vulnerability. "But I don't want to do this alone. If we're going to build a life together, if we're going to challenge the direction the Republic has taken, then we need to understand what we're fighting for. And I need your patience as I learn what I'm capable of."
Olivia appeared to struggle with the decision. "Where would we go first?"
"The original three nations that supported the Republic of the Houses at our founding," Chris said. "It's only fair to see those nations first—to understand how they've developed, what they've achieved with their own innovation. They believed in our vision once. I want to see if they're worthy of having that vision fulfilled."
"When would we leave?"
Chris thought for a moment. "Soon. I need time to prepare, to plan our route carefully. To identify the places and people that would give us the clearest picture of humanity's character." He paused. "And time to practice, to see if I can understand these abilities better before we go."
A smile played at Olivia's lips—the first genuine lightness since the conversation began. "So you're the monk on a pilgrimage to evaluate the world, and I'm your companion keeping you from getting killed by demons?"
Chris blinked. "Journey to the West?"
"Mm-hmm." Her smile widened, some of her House training falling away to reveal something younger. "The monk travels west to retrieve scriptures, test whether the world is ready for enlightenment. Needs disciples to survive the journey." She affected a serious expression, hand on her chest. "I'll be the Monkey King—powerful, loyal, definitely not causing any trouble."
"The Monkey King was always causing trouble," Chris said. "Rebelling against heaven, fighting everyone, refusing to follow rules—"
"Then I'm miscast." Olivia laughed, light and genuine. "I'm much too obedient. Perhaps I'm one of the other disciples instead. The reliable one nobody writes poems about."
Chris found himself smiling despite the weight of their conversation. "You're too hard on yourself. The Monkey King was loyal when it mattered."
"After five hundred years trapped under a mountain learning humility," Olivia pointed out. "I haven't had my mountain yet."
"Let's hope you don't need one."
The playfulness lingered between them for a moment—two young people making jokes about old stories instead of revolutionaries planning sedition. Then Olivia's expression shifted, becoming more serious.
"I'll help you then," she said. "I can arrange travel documents under the guise of verifying that intellectual properties we've licensed are being used responsibly."
Chris stood and moved around the table, pulling her into an embrace. "Thank you. For understanding. For wanting to be part of this. For being willing to be patient with me while I figure out what I'm becoming."
"Where you go, I will go," she murmured against his chest. "If this is how we honor the Republic's founding principles—by testing whether the world is ready for true democratic access to knowledge—then I want to be there. And I'll help you understand what's happening to you."
As they held each other, neither spoke of what the journey meant. To name it would require honesty neither could afford.
They separated after a long moment, and Olivia gathered her things. "I should go prepare the travel arrangements. This will take some coordination."
"Of course. I'll start researching our destinations. And maybe try to understand these abilities better."
She kissed him gently on the cheek and headed toward the door. "I'll see you tonight."
Chris watched her leave, waiting until her footsteps faded completely down the corridor. Only then did he allow his shoulders to slump, the weight of incomplete truths settling on him like a heavy cloak.
He walked to the window and stared out at the city below, his voice barely a whisper carried on the air conditioning's gentle breeze.
"I'm sorry, Olivia. Sorry for not telling you everything about what's been happening to me." His fingers unconsciously turned the black ring on his finger, the exotic metal warm against his skin. "But I'm afraid—afraid that if you or anyone else knew the full truth about this ring, about what it really does, you might try to take it from me."
The silence of the empty commissary seemed to absorb his whispered confession.
"These abilities aren't new like I told you. They're not awakening randomly. This ring is the key to everything, and I can't risk losing it. Not when there's so much at stake." He touched his forehead to the cool glass. "I want to trust you completely, but some secrets are too dangerous to share, even with someone I love."
Chris stared out at the facility grounds, watching staff move between buildings like pieces on a vast chessboard. "Maybe after we travel together, after I see how you react to what we find in those other nations, maybe then I can tell you everything. But for now, this has to stay my secret."
The ring pulsed gently against his finger, as if responding to his thoughts, reminding him that some truths were powerful enough to reshape the world—and dangerous enough to destroy anyone who discovered them too soon.
Later that morning, Olivia sat in the secure communications suite, her fingers moving across the encrypted terminal.
Subject demonstrates emerging technological interface capabilities of unknown origin and extent. Claims abilities are recent development and poorly understood. Subject exhibits uncertainty about scope and control of capabilities.
Subject proposes global evaluation mission to determine humanity's "worthiness" for Republic knowledge access. Ideological framework centres on democratic information sharing principles. Plans to begin with the three founding supporter nations.
Subject requests patience and assistance in understanding developing abilities. Emotional vulnerability regarding capabilities suggests potential for manipulation and guidance.
Recommend immediate approval for extended surveillance operation. Subject emotionally compromised and will accept analyst as mission partner. Operation provides optimal conditions to document emerging capabilities while maintaining influence over development and application.
Note: Subject's uncertainty about abilities may be genuine or calculated misdirection. Recommend careful observation to determine true extent of capabilities versus claimed limitations.
The report vanished into the Republic's networks, carrying with it intelligence that would reshape how the Houses viewed both the potential Chris represented and the risk of his uncontrolled development.
Three floors above, Chris still stood at the commissary window, the weight of his hidden knowledge pressing against his consciousness. Soon, he would begin his evaluation of the world beyond the Republic's borders, carrying secrets that could change everything while pretending to discover abilities he had possessed all along.
The black ring pulsed gently against his skin, a constant reminder that some deceptions were necessary for survival—and some truths too powerful to reveal until the moment was right.