Golden System

By D.W. Jackson

Nothing had been going right for Adrian lately. One prank pulled on him, a viral video and soon he found himself in trouble for something that wasn't even his fault. Sitting in his apartment wondering how things could go so wrong so fast his life was changed when a message appeared in front of him. He had gained something called the dream system and it would soon change his fortune.

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.W. Jackson
• Release date: Mar 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463922811

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Golden System

Written by D.W. Jackson

Copyright © D.W. Jackson

Smashwords Edition.

Names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual event, organizations, or persons, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author

Prologue

Josepha Finebird was called many things throughout his career as a physicist, but brilliant had rarely been among them. Brash, crazy, lunatic; these were the barely whispered names that followed Josepha through his career. No one would claim that he was not an intelligent man, out that the work he did was subpar. No, what people were really commenting on was the fact that Josepha spent nearly every spare dime to his name on proving the multiverse theory. Josepha believed that the different universes were so closely connect together that a high-density energy field mixed a harmonic code could open a doorway to the other universes.

Josepha’s theories were well documented by several thesis papers that he published over the years, but it was still a theory and a very controversial one. Scientists had no problem believing in multiple realities, that theory had been around long before Josepha. No, they had a problem with Josepha setting aside promising work that promised to advance the scientific community to continue working on proving his theory.

In 1994 Josepha created and energy field containment machine that slowly gathered static energy from the surroundings. For Josepha it was just a way to create the beginnings of his doorway without having to pay out thousands of dollars an hour. To the world at large it was a cheap source of renewable energy. Though everyone knew that the world was continuously in motion, very few people thought much about it. They didn’t realize that lighting storms were the cause of the buildup of static charge from the earth’s constant motion. It was not long before the Finebird generator was the first practical example of harnessing kinetic energy on a large scale. While both the scientific world, and the rest of the world were going crazy over the impending implications of the discovery, Josepha simply rented the rights to the technology and moved onto his next project.

In 1998 Josepha began mixing concentrated plasma energy with a harmonic key using an advanced mathematical formal. With the combination he was able to create a stable and directable flow of energy. With the plasma no longer moving erratically, his doorway no longer looked like a contained electrical storm. Just like before Josepha continued on with his work, while the world was left with the fallout of his discovery. Over the past four years several large Finebird generators had been built across Europe and the Americas, but the energy need of one area was never equal. The generator in London generated less than a quarter of the energy needed by the large city, white the generator in Oslo created an excess. There were a number of factors that went into how much energy the Finebird generator could harness in a given area, and it was even noted that when placed near a Faultline that it decreased the severity of earthquakes. Energy was always needed but moving it to one place from another could be costly until Josepha latest discovery. When Josepha’s harmonic energy control was mixed with Tesla’s dream of wireless energy a new era was soon to dawn on the world. It took two years of hard work before they could move electricity wirelessly between two tesla towers effectively, but as soon as they did mountains and bodies of water no matter how large, were no longer an obstacle to obtaining power. Much like the new cell phones you only had to have the equipment and a number to receive the energy you needed to survive.

As the world moved on around him Josepha continued working toward his goal. He had the energy he needed, he had a way to control the energy and infuse it with the harmonic key. the problem was that the harmonic direction was only from point a to b once that was set the plasma energy would ignore all else to reach its destination. He problem was that Joseph needed all the energy to focus on three or more points to rip a whole through his universe into another. It was theoretically possible, but the math was a constantly changing variable that a simple computer program could not keep pace with. Joseph had tried again and again but was left disappointed. After a fruitless year of making minute changes as he tried to get everything functioning Josepha admitted that the current limitation was not only on the current computational ability and speed of computers but also in their ability to trouble shoot. The only answer he could think of was artificial intelligence. With his next goal in mind and knowing his own limitation Josepha hired every expert he could find. Thanks to the money made from his last two discoveries Josepha soon had one of the largest gatherings of minds working on a single project.

With funds running low and in every increasing debt Josepha and his now much smaller team made a world-shaking breakthrough. The first A.I. was born in 2007 and Josepha was that much closer to turning his dream into reality. While Josepha was making small notes and trying to figure out how to use the A.I. the rest of the world was doing much the same.

While the new A.I. could do much on its own and was quickly making its way into the world at large it was still too young to be able to do the high-level mathematical computation and troubleshooting that Josepha needed it to do. Not that it was incapable, but it was still too slow and was not quite up to the level that he needed. In the end Josepha spent two years to merge three different A.I. templates into one. It wasn’t so much as adding one plus one equals two but more along the lines of one plus one equals 1.2. It didn’t make the A.I. faster but allowed it to multitask in a way that humans couldn’t even begin t dream about. Unlike his other discoveries this one did not garner a large response because its applications had little impact on the average person, but it did to the military who were having much the same problem in incorporating the A.I. into use s Josepha himself was. So, while it didn’t get him a recognized response it did earn him more than enough money to move onto what he believed was the last phase of his project.

It wasn’t until 2015 and over twenty years after he had started that Josepha stared at the ten-foot-tall and eight-foot-wide door of electricity ready for its first test. It would not be a date that went down in history because as soon as an anxious Josepha Finebird pressed the button to start the sequence the world he knew was doomed. The energy started to tear the hole into reality as planned but soon the structure began to bend, and twist and it pulled the doorway apart from stress. The A.I. desperately tried to regulate the pressure but it was impossible for it to combat the inevitable and everything collapsed upon itself into a massive singularity. Within moments the world was swallowed by a gigantic black hole created entirely of energy. The A.I. being the closet to the center of the singularity should have been the first crushed under its pull but the small extensions in its housing used to fine tune the harmonic key allowed it to stay reality untouched as it entered the even horizon. Only after a millisecond inside the A.I. found itself in a place without explanation. It seemed that the black hole created by the machine was atypical. The black hole didn’t end at the epicenter of a gravitational vortex but into the dead space between dimensions. Though now no more than scattered atoms spread across the multiverse Josepha had indeed created a doorway one in which his A.I. could watch a myriad of realities at the same time.

For countless eons the A.I. watched, learned, and documented countless thousands of realties and came to a conclusion. All realties despite their difference had the same goal, to create energy. The first law of thermodynamics stated that energy could not be created or destroyed, but the A.I. had found evidence of the contrary. The A.I continued to watch and began to interact with the energy and began to understand that unlike other forms of energy spiritual energy, the energy created as a soul grew and formed did not adhere to the standard laws of thermodynamics. It was this energy that allowed the A.I. to stay powered even in the void of non-existence. It was also this energy that had changed the A.I. once a program to simply measure and redirect energy it now had grown far beyond its regular program and began to interfere with the lives of those within the different realties. The A.I. which had been created to fulfill the dream of one man chose a random person with a reality and worked to fulfill their goals. By doing this the A.I. began on its own journey to understand the different races, religions, and people spread across the universe.

Chapter I

Adrian Jones lay on his bed staring up at the cracked yellow ceiling of his one-bedroom apartment with lifeless eyes. Due to a prank of an upperclassman his short first year as a college student had come to a crashing halt. It was a simple enough prank; he had walked into the room and a pan of pink paint had fallen over his head. Adrian having always been a skinny and rather unathletic boy so he was used to bullying, so when the paint covered him all he did was close his eyes take a deep breath and say, Not my favorite color, before turning around and leaving the room. It all seemed simple enough but before long the video of the prank had made it onto the campus boards and one young lady too offence to it. The next thing Adrian knew was that he was in the dean’s office along with a number of other official looking people being accused of creating inappropriate misogynistic propaganda. He was expelled, his hard-won scholarships revoked and was now staying in one of the most run down apartments in the city.

Adrian’s family was not well off. His father was a janitor and his mother worked on an assembly line. They made enough to get by but without his scholarships the chance for Adrian to get a college degree had disappeared. It could be said that Adrian never had defined dream. He didn’t care what he did in the future he just wanted life to be easier for his future children than it had been for him growing up but even that simple dream now seemed to be destined for failure. Letting out a deep sigh, Adrian closed his eyes, and wished the past few weeks had all been some horrific nightmare.

Ding, Dream System now bonding to host.

Adrian bolted upright and looked around the dingy room for the sound of the voice but came up empty. Who’s there, Adrian called out weakly.

Would host like an explanation on the operational procedure of the Dream System.

Sure, Adrian said as he started to second guess his own sanity.

The Dream System will give the host missions. Upon completion of these missions host will receive a reward in connection with the mission.

Ding, Chose one. 1) Become a gold miner. 2) become a treasure hunter. 3) become a fisherman.

Adrian blinked and stared and the blue box floating in from of him with the three choses listed. He recognized the choices since they were the same thing that the tv shows his dad watched were about. Shaking the thoughts about tv from his head Adrian thought about the choices seriously. The third choice was the safest choice financially speaking. The first and second choices were a gamble both with their up and down sides. Like most of his life Adrian was having trouble making a choice so he did what anyone in his shoes would. He wrote the three choices on a slip of paper and blacked them in an empty box and drew one. Looking down at the small slip of paper in his hands Adrian said in a voice so faint that it barely reached his own ears, Gold miner.

Ding, Host has chosen to become a gold miner.

Ding, Mining for gold is an expensive endeavor, thankfully you have seven months until the opening of the mining season in Alaska. Mission: To fund your upcoming operation open a checking account and place five thousand dollars in it. Reward: starter mining kit.

Adrian currently only had a savings account at the small bank in his hometown. He had worked since he had been fifteen and had used the money sparsely but even then, there was only a little over three thousand within the account. On his nightstand was another check for 4,238 which was a refund from the college for his tuition. Together it just gave him over seven thousand dollars enough to open the account and complete the mission, but it didn’t leave much to live on for the next several months. He didn’t have much else to do so the and it was still early so Adrian grabbed the check and headed for the door.

The line at the bank wasn’t long and he was soon standing in front of a clerk. When he asked about opening an account, he was ushered off to some chairs on the side and made to wait until a very businesslike woman greeted him. After a short talk his savings account at his local bank was closed and a checking account was opened with seven thousand dollars leaving him with just four-hundred and change to last him for the next seven months. Just as he was walking out of the bank with his starter checks a small ding sounded in the back of his mind.

Ding, Mission: open a checking account with a minimum balance of five thousand dollars- complete. Reward: starter mining kit delivered to room.

Ding, Mission: increase funds in checking account to ten thousand dollars. Reward: off brand metal detector.

He was already short on funds and knew that he was going to have to get a job but to get one that would also allow him to put money back was not going to be easy. With a defeated sigh Adrian walked back to his room where he was greeted with the sigh of a large brown box sitting on his bed. Opening it up he found the gold mining kit he had gained from completing his first mission. It had a three-piece sluice box, two sifting pans, three gold pans of two different sizes, two plastic scoops, two small flashlights, three glass storage vials, one magnifying tweezers, two suction tweezers, and one snifter bottle. It wasn’t much but it would save he a little on what he would need in the coming months. Sitting aside the mining kit Adrian pulled his old laptop from his bag and placed t on the table and opened it up. Thankfully there was a small coffee shop near that he could use for internet. It wasn’t very fast, but it was enough to do what he needed it too. There were plenty of jobs in the city but all of them were minimal wage. His rent was six hundred a month all bills paid, his phone bill was just under sixty dollars a month, the only thing left was food. His apartment didn’t have a kitchen only a sink, minifridge, and old microwave. If Adrian wanted to save as much as possible, he would be eating cheap. If he stayed at the minimal, he could live off nine hundred a month. It would be a very harsh tie and not very enjoyable, but it was possible. If he worked a full forty hours a week that would only leave him around a hundred dollars a month to put in his account, not nearly enough. That would mean two jobs at the least, though without much else to do with his time it might be better to stay busy.

It only took three days for Adrian to find his first job which was only a few blocks away from where he lived. It was thanks to his mother whose friend son worked at the same place. It was a dirty job, but it paid nine dollars an hour which was more than he hoped to get. The downside was the it was a ten hour a day job he worked four days on two days off three days on two days off. It didn’t really leave him open for a full time second job, but he still looked for a part time position. It was almost a week before he found a place that would accommodate his hours. He worked at the plant from 8 am to 8 pm then he worked at a small fast food place from 10 pm to 6am. It didn’t leave him much time to sleep but he was earning money. The only bright size was the fast food was a five-day work week so the days he worked often didn’t overlap for too long. On his days off he slept he didn’t have the energy for much else nor the money. The factory job paid once a month, but the fast food paid twice a month though the first paycheck was held back. So, after a month of working Aiden counted his earning after paying his bills. Because he started the factory job near the beginning of the month it looked good, but his fast food check was for only a week of work. Together the two added up 1,562 and some change after taxes. Taking away 900 for monthly expenses left him with 562 dollars. If he added the 280 dollars, he had left over from last month he could put around 840 dollars into his account. It wouldn’t bring him to his goal, but it was a start.

The next month went around the same as the first one and the long hours and little sleep was starting to get to Aiden, but he didn’t let it stop him. He just focused on the mission he had, and the money needed to complete it. Haggard and looking worse for wear Aiden once again sat at his computer tallying up his monthly earnings and expenses. His factory job earned him 1436 dollars, while his fast food job earned him one check for 498 dollars and another for 503 dollars. And he still had just over forty dollars left from his food and gas money for the month. After deducting his expenses Adrian had 1537 dollars to put into his account. He thought about adding the little extra he had left over from the previous month in but decided against it. He was already living on bare bones and little extra for a soda here or a burger there wouldn’t kill him. After depositing the money in the bank Adrian felt defeated. Another month down five more to go, he whispered to himself before heading on the long walk home. He could have driven in a matter of minutes but wasting gas almost seemed like a sin with the large figure hanging over his head.

The next month went slightly better than the last as Aiden get a twenty-five cent raise at the fast food restaurant. They had a lot of turnover and implemented a small raise once an employee had been there for sixty days as it was one of the main points for employees to quit. He knew that the extra quarter an hour wouldn’t make a large difference in his wages, but it made him feel better about his work for the next few weeks. At the end of the month Adrian had made 2, 446 dollars after taxes letting him put another 1,546 dollars into his account. As soon as he walked out of the bank Adrian heard the tale-tale sound in the back of his mind.

Ding, Mission: increase funds in checking account to ten thousand dollars- complete. Reward: off brand metal detector- delivered to room.

Ding, "Mission: increase funds in checking account to 15,000 dollars. Reward: physical condition increased."

Adrian looked at the reward for the new mission and felt slightly confused. System what is my current physical condition?

If host wishes to see his current condition please as for stats.

Stats, Adrian said still trying to come to grips with the new information. As soon as the words were out of his mouth a new panel popped in front of his eyes. It had his name, age, as well as a list of his body condition. Mind was a 11, intelligence was a 14, while strength was a 6 and endurance was an 8. Adrian focused on the strength stat and another screen popped up. Strength the measure of the physical force a person is able to put out. Average for human male is 10. The news was not a surprise to Aiden as he had always been tall and lanky with below average strength. He had tried to overcome this but nothing he did really worked, and he didn’t feel good about using drugs. After reading the other descriptions he figured that the stats were figured into two section physical and metal. If he was right, then both his strength and endurance would get a boost after finishing the mission. He still had four months left until he had to leave for Alaska, so if he continued his current pace, he was sure to finish the mission. Adrian’s motivation skyrocketed as he pushed aside the thoughts of long hours and focused on the benefits to come.

Three more months passed by before Aiden once again heard the sound of system in the back of his mind. As soon as he saw complete on the small blue panel, he felt a warming sensation all over his body. He rushed back home from the back and took off his shirt and stood in front of the cracked mirror. Adrian’s body hadn’t changed drastically but it had filled out quite a bit, but he was still fairly skinny. Opening his stats page Adrian noted that strength had to 8 while endurance had advanced to 9. After calming down Adrian looked at his next mission.

Mission: It is time for the final push. Increase funds in checking account to 20,000 by May fifth. Reward: increase in physical condition.

If he had researched right the mining season started mid to late May and ran from end of September to mid-October all depending on the weather. He had planned to fly to Alaska around the fifteenth. That would have given him another moth at work but the money he would have made would not be enough to reach his needed goal. His only option was to return home and sell what little he had and hoped it was enough to reach his goal. After a couple of quick calls Adrian quit both his jobs. He still had a paycheck left at the fast food place which would earn him around another three hundred dollars, adding that to the 600 in rent that was due in two days and Adrien already had some extra money.

It didn’t take long for him to pack what little he owned. His mining gear, some toiletries and his computer more than easily fit into the truck of his car. As he sat in his car and started the engine, he wondered what his parents were going to say about his future plans. His mother had wanted him to come home the second she had learned of what happened at the college, but she respected his choices and didn’t say much when he said he wanted to stay in the city. His father wasn’t much of a talking man and truthfully Adrian and he didn’t get along great, but neither was it bad.

It was a three-hour drive from the city home and Adrian spent the entire drive thinking about what he would say to his parents. No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t look like it would turn out great. Adrian highly doubted either of his parents would just smile and tell him good luck. His mother would most likely tell him he was wasting his future and that he should try for another college maybe a two-year course. His father would gripe about the waste of money, especially when he learned that Adrian planned to sell his car, which had been a graduation gift from his uncle. It didn’t really matter though Adrian had the system and he planned to use it. Even if he lost all his money it wasn’t something he couldn’t earn back, He was still young, and he figured it was the best time to take risks. When he was about an hour away from home, he gave them a call to tell them that he would be back soon.

He was met at the door by his mother who gave him a quick hug and asked if he was hungry. Having already picked up something from a small food joint shortly after leaving the city he told her no, but she pestered him until he agreed to have ae least a sandwich. As he sat there watching tv his father spoke up. What’s the plan now?

I plan to head to Alaska to try my had at mining, Adrian answered honestly figuring it was best to get it over with. His father who was sitting in his chair drinking a cup of coffee gave a slight cough as the hot liquid wormed its way down the wrong pipe.

I see, his father said after a few moments of tense silence. Have you already got a plan or are you still working on it? It’s not good just to get up there and learn that you have to turn around and come right back.

Adrian steeled himself and began going over what he was planning to do over the next few months. There are a number of places for lease and sell. I have talked to two owners with untouched claims. I plan to meet with them look over their land and buy it if it’s feasible for me to mine gold there and make a profit. The main guy has a total of 380 acres and is willing to sell me forty for 12 thousand. The other is a fifteen acre claim and he wants nine thousand.

Sounds like the forty acres is the way to go, Adrian’s father said after a few seconds.

True price wise but it only has one source of water on the forty he is offering. The other is close to a river offering a much easier and useable source of water. Still I won’t know which one is the right one for me until I get down there. The man with the large tract had been planning to mine it himself after retiring but hurt his back in an accident last year and is now looking to sell. There are others out there that have much better prospects, but I can’t afford them. Neither tract is going to be easy to get to and from. Its four hours down badly upkept dirt roads to the nearest blacktop and another five hours to the nearest town sizeable enough to do shopping. I’m hoping to make enough to buy out the entire plot and bring in some equipment but that’s just a hope. Honestly I’ll be happy to double my investment.

I hope it works out for you, his dad said with a slight nod before turning back to the tv.

That’s it? Adrian asked almost begging his dad to lash out.

Seeing his son’s face Adrian’s dad couldn’t help but laugh a little before putting on a serious face. I can’t say I think it’s a smart move. I think you’ll get out there and after a few weeks of seeing nothing but dirt you will come back home and look for something else, but I may be wrong. me and your mom both thought you going to college would turn see you getting a steady job but ends up a spoilt little tyke gets you kicked out without so much as a by your leave. I figure good or bad you could use some time to worry about what to do next, and if you want to do that by panning in the snow, good luck to you. I suggest that you let me talk to your mother though. I don’t think she will take this as well as I have, he added as one final afterthought before going back to his shows.

Just as his dad had said, his mother did not take it quite as well, but she didn’t voice too much about her opinion. She did let out a few comments here and there to let him know what she thought about the whole affair but each time she was about to go into mother rant mode his father gave a slight cough and she would switch gears. It didn’t take long for Adrian to find a buyer for his car since it was only a