Are you going to reveal the game? Sarah asked.

[Not until the new government is up and running. We need people to focus on that first, at least until a billion people have already gotten their IDs. Then we can release it, but require a government-issued ID to play it. If we release it now, people would likely be upset that they cant immediately play it, so it needs a sufficient user base to create a self-perpetuating cycle,] Nova said. Books were still appearing on the bookshelves behind her, but the rate had slowed down a little bit. Most of the VR helmets and AR glasses had been delivered, but the pods would take a little while longer as the trucks had to reroute to avoid trouble hotspots more often than the drones did.

But whats the difference? Felix asked, scratching his head. Is there something special about the imperial ID? From the way youre treating it, it seems like theres more to it.

Neither Felix nor Sarah had been briefed about the special features of the new imperial ID registration, as it had just never come up. It wasnt like it was intentionally being kept from them, but they simply hadnt asked about it.

[It acts as a universal ID and cant be counterfeited or falsified. Every time someone logs into VR or activates their AR functions, their brain data and DNA are updated. The ID collects all of that data and tracks it over time as it changes. So we need them to have an ID in order for the government to function as designed. Its both a security measure and backup assurance in case we encounter visitors that send infiltrators,] Gaia explained.

Arent there some serious privacy concerns with that? Felix asked after considering it from the citizens point of view for a moment.

[Well, yes and no. Yes, because it tracks everything, and I do mean everything. But no, because the only information that can be displayed to different agencies is information thats relevant to those agencies. So hospitals can see health tracking information, traffic police can see driving history, bank employees will see the account history, and so on,] Gaia calmly replied.

Nova grabbed a book from the shelves and tossed it to Nyx, who opened it. It was the memory of a low-level member of a rebel group. [The scouts are here!] she exclaimed, practically vibrating with glee. [I just knew wed get some! This will make my job so much easier.] She smiled and giggled, clasping the book to her chest.

Aron glanced at Nova and gave her a look that meant, Is Nyx okay? Im a bit concerned about her mental health.

Nova smiled and nodded at him and a screen that only he could see popped up in front of him. [Myself and the rest of the AIs are constantly studying what it means to be human, sir, so were constantly developing and evolving as new servers come online and we become better and better at emulating human behavior. Shes fine, sir,] the screen read.

Felix thought for a minute and asked, Who sent scouts? The aliens? How? He visibly shivered at the idea of aliens already being among humanity.

[No,] Gaia replied. [Thats the brain data of one of the rebels. Theyre suspicious of the VR environment and government services, so they sent in some of their low-level, unimportant,] she raised her hands and made air quotes to emphasize the status of the so-called scouts, [members to test the waters.]

Theyre taking a page from the cold war spy vs spy stuff and the operations of modern terrorist networks, Aron added. We shouldnt underestimate them just because we have an overwhelming tech advantage. After all, no matter how advanced your tech becomes, if you become reliant on it, then you risk getting blindsided by smart cavemen with sticks and rocks.

He turned to Sarah and said, You should prepare to note a few scientific studies Ill be having published. Later, Ill find some researchers in Lab City to write reports about how the VR equipment interfaces with the brain and especially episodic memory. Theyll say that were still in the process of learning how the brain works, and you can push the claim that all the data we collect will be black-boxed to train our AIs to better anticipate peoples needs. Stress that its purely optional and they can choose to not participate or opt out at any time. He grinned. After all, people are already used to that kind of lie from Big Data firms that have existed since the internet first baked cookies.

(Ed note: There are a few types of memory. Episodic memory is what people think of when they think about memories. Its the storage and recall of specific events, or episodes, like that time you embarrassed yourself by asking out your crush and getting shot down.)

Sarah got the mental image of an old meme with a man in a suit and a TV for a head baking cookies and almost fell into a laughing fit. Ill address it in a week or so after the research reports have time to spread. She looked around, confused, and blinked. Hey, whered Aron go?

[Hes discussing something with me,] Nova replied.

But youreoh, right. I forgot you can be in more places than one at a time.

Aron was floating in orbit above Earth, watching the world spin around its axis. It was his favorite place in all of VR. He had teleported there upon receiving a notification from the system and was in the middle of a discussion with Nova.

I expected a lot, but this... this is staggering! he exclaimed, an excited expression on his face. He was watching his available SP skyrocket; even under heavy time dilation, the number was increasing at a rate that was almost too fast to see.

[Its quite a leap forward in tech, after all, and hundreds of millions of people are already using it. Not only that, its an application of two different technologies, virtual reality and the universal simulation, so youre getting rewarded with SP for both of them. Id be worried if the SP reward wasnt this large,] Nova said.

True. And with this, I can make our preparations virtually ironclad. Aron felt a lot of the weight being lifted off his shoulders as he thought of all the things remaining on his wishlist. If he continued farming SP at this rate, a lot of the things he needed for various contingency plans would be in place and humanity would be much, much safer. Then he could be considered to have truly done as much as he could.

Lets start filling the cart, shall we? He rubbed his hands together and grinned as he pulled up the system store.