It wasn't really possible to keep the truth completely secret. Sooner or later someone would notice. Harris and Dan had been banking on the likelihood that no one would believe them when they talked about what was really going on. Unfortunately, some people were too smart for that, and no doubt the NSA had recorded some of his phone conversations with Dan, and someone higher up had taken the matter seriously. That was why Harris now found himself in an interview with a CIA agent at a local cafe.
"Hi!" said Harris, sitting down across from the old man in the trench coat and sunglasses. It looked very stereotypical of a secret agent. "You're..."
"Agent Bob Bobriel, pleased to meet you," said the older man, holding out his hand to shake.
They shook hands.
"That's not your real name, is it?" asked Harris.
The corners of Agent Bob's mouth curved upwards slightly in suppressed amusement.
"No."
There was an awkward pause.
"Go on, ask your question, I know you want to," said Bob.
"Are you sure?" asked Harris. "It might be kind of rude."
"Don't worry I won't be offended."
"Okay," said Harris. "In that case, why are you dressed like a stereotypical secret agent? Doesn't that make it obvious that you're a secret agent?"
"Yes," said Bob.
There was a pause. Seeing that Harris was still confused, Bob went on, "But they don't know who I am outside of work, and this getup makes me look too intimidating for most people to dare approach me."
"Ah," said Harris. "That is really obvious in retrospect. Sorry for asking a stupid question."
"No need to apologize. Now, let's get right to the important things."
Secret Agent "Bob" leaned forward intently.
"If Asyra breaks the simulation, the United States of America, as well as the rest of the world, will no longer exist. Anyone who manages to escape from the simulation before that will be subject to unknown customs and forms of government, which may or may not be best equipped to protect their rights and security. Therefore, in order for the United States and other countries of Earth to ensure their independence from the nations of Etheria, it is of the utmost importance that the simulation be protected and maintained. I assume we are in agreement on that?"
Harris thought for a moment to process what he was hearing, and then nodded. He hadn't thought of things in quite those terms before, but that did sum up a large part of the dangers they would face if Asyra succeeded in breaking the simulation.
"As has already been demonstrated, it is possible for native Etherians to enter the simulation, either fully formed or by somehow being reborn in the simulation. First of all, could you please elaborate how that works?"
"I'm not sure of all the details," said Harris. "A lot of it has been known in the mind and holy schools for centuries, and what they didn't know Dan and I only started to figure out recently, and it's his area of expertise, not mine."
"How much of it do you understand?" asked Bob.
"Well, basically it's like...well, the laws of nature on Earth are somewhat different than on Etheria. Not that different, but only slightly. However, Earth exists in a simulation on Etheria, so the natural laws of Etheria still have power over Earth. In a purely non-magical universe people don't have incorporeal souls. Instead they have purely physical bodies with a much more complicated brain and nervous system instead of an incorporeal soul. The minds and souls in a purely physical universe cannot exist without a tangible substrate because they are just brain functioning. But on Etheria, minds and souls exist partially independently of brains, and can interact directly with the surrounding environment in a process known as magic. In Etheria's natural laws, human and human-like intelligence is a special case. So all children born in the simulation have a soul as soon as they develop self-awareness. But their souls are like...like...hang on trying to think of the word..."
Harris googled it on his yellow-armored smartphone. Bob raised an eyebrow at the sight of the device, his curiosity peaked.
"Like an appendix," said Harris. "They don't really need an incorporeal soul, because their brain carries all the same functions that a soul would. It's kind of redundant. However, it means that someone who dies in the simulation could still be recovered if they're given a body fast enough."
Now agent Bob was looking really interested.
"If the soul is incorporeal, why can't it just live on? Is there no afterlife?"
"Well, kinda not exactly," said Harris. "The soul does continue existing, but without a body to anchor it, it can't interact with anything. It has to lose consciousness in order to maintain its sanity because of sensory deprivation, and once it loses consciousness it's basically frozen in time, practically speaking. Souls are notoriously difficult to locate through physical space, and the less people alive who remember them, the harder it will be to find them. It is also possible that a soul that is unconscious and disembodied for long enough dissipates. Resurrection spells are very difficult and use a lot of mana, and qualified healers who can cast them effectively are hard to come by."
"I see..." said Agent Bob. "That seems to imply that your soul was partially inserted into your infant body when you entered the simulation, overwriting your brain as it developed. When your brain was a child, your soul was already an adult, and your brain was not capable of containing your entire soul until fairly recently. Is that correct?"
Harris nodded. This secret agent caught on pretty quickly.
The secret agent continued.
"It is therefore ambiguous whether or not you are really twenty-two years old or in your forties, as well as whether you count as a natural-born U.S. citizen or not. However, Mr. Rood definitely is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. Normally, the law would require him to be sent to an immigration court, but of course it might be difficult to convince them of the truth, and even if that worked we wouldn't have anywhere to deport him to."
Bob sipped his hot chocolate casually.
"Not to mention you, we all, still need his help in defending the simulation from Asyra's hacking," said Harris.
Bob nodded. "Quite right. However, there is only so much that he can do on his own. If and when Asyra gains the upper hand over the Nameless One, or another Etherian deity tries to harm this simulation or its people, we need to be ready to fight back. We are planning to hire Mr. Rood to continue his services in simulation maintenance and repair, as well as to help train new recruits to help him. Since we literally have no one else to take the job as of yet, and he is not a natural born citizen, he will unfortunately not be given a choice in the matter. However, we will be paying him handsomely for his services, and besides teaching, he'll only need to do what he has already been doing all along."
Harris nodded. "Sounds reasonable." That meant Dan would be able to quit relying on money from part time jobs and social security, so he would have more time for his real job.
"Additionally, another of our operatives will be hosting regular Mage Wars Academy and Mage Wars Arena tournaments in order to seek out people with magical skills and help to train them further."
Harris frowned thoughtfully as Bob continued. "We understand the risks that magic poses to certain critical projects for the sake of this world's future. However, we believe that the risks of magical attacks are already significant, and this way we will be able to mount an organized defense against magical attacks, while still maintaining some secrecy. Even you have to realize that total secrecy just isn't possible. What happened at Gen Con this year was publicly recorded. The existence of magic will go public at some point, but the knowledge of how to use magic will remain classified. We would like you to participate in our magical training program and help us to seek out potential recruits."
This was amazing. Harris had never imagined that he'd get this good a job offer any time soon, certainly not while he was still an undergraduate. And the CIA was going to spend a lot of time and resources to help him accomplish his goals. It was an offer too good to refuse.
"Wow. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me. Sign me up!"
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