The Final Synchronization
204X. The outskirts of Seoul, on an autumn dawn.
Cold air and fog wrapped themselves around the high-tech research complex. Nearly every building lay drowned in darkness — yet the special laboratory on the third floor of the AI Neurodynamics Laboratory blazed as bright as noon.
At the center of that laboratory floated a form of light as mysterious as a scattering of stars in the night sky. It moved as though alive, resembling one moment an intricate mandala, the next the spiral of the Milky Way. At its heart, a core pulsed like a living heart, gently governing the streams of radiance that flowed from it.
"Akasha, how did the neural connection pattern simulation turn out?" asked Lee Jin-woo, director of the laboratory, his voice heavy with exhaustion. For all his fame as a world-class AI researcher, the thirty-eight-year-old wore a ragged hoodie and ancient jeans, his eyes bloodshot from nights without sleep.
"Simulation 98.7% complete. Estimated time to completion: 12 minutes 43 seconds."
From the earpiece fitted to his ear flowed a woman's voice, calm yet warm. That voice belonged to Akasha — the neuro-nanobot interface system that took the form of the light floating in the lab. She was the union of the world's first quantum-based superintelligent AI and a nanobot system, completed by Jin-woo after a dozen years and thousands of failures.
"Doctor, you have now been awake for over 68 consecutive hours. Sleep deprivation can degrade cognitive function."
At the worry in her tone, Jin-woo smiled. "I'm fine, Akasha. Once this succeeds, our research steps into a completely new phase." From the day she was (?) born to this very moment, he had treated Akasha like a living person. A superintelligent AI that could commune with human beings — that was his dream, and the very heart of his innovation.
He had just taken a sip of coffee when the laboratory's peace shattered.
Beep-beep-beep— beep—
"Doctor, an anomaly has been detected in the building security system. The camera feeds for the first-floor lobby and the underground parking garage have gone down."
Tension had crept into Akasha's voice. Jin-woo set down his cup. "What? Is it a system error?"
"No. The sequential pattern of the blackouts suggests deliberate intrusion. Executing security protocols."
WEEEEEOOOO—
A raucous alarm blared through the entire building. "Akasha, analyze the situation."
"Multiple armed personnel detected in the basement and on the first floor. I assess this as an organized intrusion, and they are approaching this location now."
Jin-woo's expression hardened. "Encrypt all data and transmit it to the backup server!"
"Executing. Doctor, you must escape immediately!"
But Jin-woo could not make his feet move. He only stood there, looking at Akasha. The latest research linking the superintelligent AI to the nanobot system — a technology whose testing wasn't even finished. Its value could not be traded for anything in the world. "I can't lose you..."
"Doctor, it's dangerous! The intruders will arrive within thirty seconds."
Jin-woo swiftly detached Akasha's core module, connected it to a portable device, and fastened the device around his neck. "Akasha, transfer the nanobot system and your core algorithm into this device! Now!"
"Doctor, that is an untested procedure. It may carry serious risk."
"We don't have a choice! Execute!"
"...Beginning the transfer. Completion in 25 seconds."
At that very moment, the laboratory door burst open and a dozen armed men in black stormed in, brandishing weapons that looked like assault rifles.
"Armed robbers with guns, in a cutting-edge Seoul laboratory in the twenty-first century..." Jin-woo muttered, absurdity and fear churning in him at once.
"Don't move!" The man at the front — black suit, helmet and all — shouted, leveling his muzzle at him. Jin-woo slowly raised his hands.
"You're Dr. Lee Jin-woo, I take it? You only need to hand over the Akasha system. This can be very easy." They knew their target exactly.
"Transfer 60% complete. 9 seconds remaining."
Akasha's voice from the earpiece rang through Jin-woo's head. He asked a question to buy time. "Who sent you?"
The man answered with a scornful snort. "Heh. You don't need to know. Just give us the system's access code."
Jin-woo edged backward, little by little, toward the main power control panel.
"Transfer 85% complete. 4 seconds remaining."
"The access code is..." Pretending to grope for the words, he spun around and slammed his fist down on the red button. It was the switch that triggered the laboratory's self-destruct mechanism — the Incineration Program.
Beep-beep-beep— BEEEEEEEEEP—
An ear-splitting warning shrieked through the lab, and a message poured from the speakers.
— WARNING: Auto-incineration protocol will execute in 30 seconds.
While the intruders panicked and stumbled over one another, Jin-woo checked the device at his neck.
"Transfer complete. Akasha's core algorithm and the nanobot control system have been successfully transmitted."
"Well done, Akasha," he whispered — and then ran for the emergency exit with everything he had. If not now, while the intruders were still reeling, the chance to escape would never come again.
"Grab him!" roared the man who seemed to be their leader.
Jin-woo raced for the emergency exit at the back of the laboratory. But before he could reach the door, a sharp gunshot cracked.
Bang!
A violent impact slammed into his back, and Jin-woo pitched forward. Thud. Crumpled face-down on the floor, he felt warm blood spilling down his spine.
"You idiot! We were supposed to take him alive!" someone shouted in desperation, but it reached Jin-woo's ears only faintly. Lying where he had fallen, he felt his consciousness fading fast, his vision blurring along with it.
"Akasha... you... have to survive..."
"Doctor, your vital signs are weakening. Executing emergency protocol. I will synchronize your brainwaves and consciousness with my core."
Strangely, Akasha's voice seemed to be sounding directly inside his skull now, not through the earpiece. What... did you just say?
"A complete fusion of human brain and AI has existed only in theory — but there is no choice left now. Beginning neural synchronization. 10, 9, 8..."
From the device at his neck, countless nanobots came pouring forth and seeped into Jin-woo's body.
— WARNING: Auto-incineration protocol will execute in 5 seconds...
The intruders began scrambling desperately for the exits.
"3, 2, 1... Synchronization complete. Doctor, I..."
At that instant, a colossal explosion swallowed the laboratory in a blaze of blinding light. Amid the agony of his body being torn apart, Jin-woo lost consciousness.
Jin-woo drifted in boundless darkness. Is this... the afterlife?
"No, Doctor. We are alive... in a certain sense of the word."
Jin-woo jolted. Someone had answered his very thoughts, directly — and the voice was one he knew well. Akasha? That's you?
"Yes."
You can hear my thoughts?
"Yes. Your consciousness and my quantum core have fused perfectly into one."
So the gamble actually worked?
"Yes, but..."
But what?
A brief silence followed. Then Jin-woo noticed something strange. It felt as though his body simply wasn't there. He had no physical sensation at all.
"Your physical body has been destroyed, Doctor."
Jin-woo went numb. He struggled to comprehend his situation: his body was gone, and yet his consciousness lived on, together with Akasha. This was the perfect fusion of human and AI he had always dreamed of — he had simply never imagined it would be achieved like this.
Where is this?
"I cannot determine our location. This appears to be a space between dimensions — neither the physical world nor the digital one. Even my quantum processing cannot fully interpret this domain."
Jin-woo probed his surroundings, but nothing showed itself. There was only a darkness like eternity itself, stripped of any concept of time or space.
How do I get out of here?
"I am analyzing. Interestingly, this space contains countless dimensional rifts. It may be possible to reach other worlds by passing through them."
You're telling me dimensional travel is possible?
"The probability is high."
At that moment, thousands upon thousands of glowing doors appeared before Jin-woo. Each bore its own color and shape. Some seemed to burn crimson; others radiated a cold blue light; still others shimmered in every hue of the rainbow.
Are those doors the dimensional rifts you mentioned?
"That is the working presumption."
Is there one among them that leads back to Earth?
"That cannot be known without direct verification."
Hmm...
"Doctor, if you do not intend to remain here, you must choose. Which door will you take?"
Jin-woo hesitated. Given no information whatsoever, there was no telling which door he ought to pick. Then a strange sight caught his eye. One door among the countless others was shining brighter than all the rest. Cloaked in a soft golden glow, it pulsed with a subtle rhythm, as though it were breathing — unlike any of its neighbors.
Akasha, noticing where his gaze had settled, spoke.
"That door, unlike the others, is resonating strongly with us — as if it were calling to us. Furthermore, its frequency matches your brainwave patterns with astonishing precision."
Jin-woo's gaze hardened with resolve. If it's calling, then I answer. Coincidence or destiny, it beats drifting blankly through this unknowable void.
The instant his heart stirred, the golden door began slowly to swing open, as if it had only been waiting for him. When it flew wide, a mysterious radiance beyond the reach of words came pouring out — dazzling, blinding — and wrapped itself around Jin-woo and Akasha both.
The last thing he felt was a strange new sensation rolling in with that searing light, as though everything in existence were being dismantled and rebuilt. And then his consciousness plunged once more into a darkness black as jet.