The second was interesting because it also allowed control of the weather within a room. He wanted to know what the Genesis Heart considered disaster level weather. In Puget State, snow was infrequent, so two feet of snow might be considered a disaster, but in Ouisconsin two feet of snow was just another winter day. Some places saw golf ball sized hail at least once a year, so that might not qualify as a disaster. Though, hurricanes and tornados were probably considered disaster level no matter where you were.
The last environmental control, however, was surprising. It too could control lighting, room surface, and temperature, but it could also control air pressure, atmospheric composition, and gravity. And all of them could be adjusted without limit, other than EP costs. That implied that, given sufficient EP/sec, he could raise the temperature of a room to levels sufficient to sustain fusion! What would happen to him if he was in the room when that happened? Or to his soul space as a whole? Would he die? Could he die in his soul space? He certainly wasn't planning to test it out to see what happened. As far as he knew, death was permanent, and the last thing he wanted was for his soul to die, leaving his body an empty shell.
With that happy thought, he continued looking through the template catalog.
Wall
-Instantiation Cost: variable
-Operation Cost: variable
-Description: Width, height, and thickness, and material composition are adjustable.
Target
-Instantiation Cost: variable
-Operation Cost: variable
-Description: Size, shape, and material composition are adjustable.
Training Dummy
-Instantiation Cost: variable
-Operation Cost: variable
-Description: Size, shape, and material composition are adjustable. Movement can be programmed.
The last three were interesting because, unlike all the other items, their material composition could be altered. Also, the cost just said "Variable", and when he focused on the cost, he found that it scaled with mass and material durability. It was the features of the last two items that hinted at a clear martial purpose. The target size, shape, and material composition could be adjusted, so a target could be used for anything from bow and arrow target practice all the way to artillery practice, and probably beyond! But the training dummy went well beyond size, shape, and composition, it could be programed! There was no indication of the degree and complexity of programing possible, so he didn't know if it was limited to something simple like walking in a circle, or if it could be programed to do something as complex as mimic a wild animal, or martial artist.
He was still thinking about the implication of what he had found in the template catalog when he received new messages.
[Achievement: Longest single Soul Space visit exceeded 1000 seconds]
[Reward: 1000 Genesis Points]
[Achievement: Total time spent in Soul Space exceeds 1000 seconds]
[Reward: 1000 Genesis Points]
When he checked the Time Acceleration section of his interface, he found that while 1000 seconds had passed inside his soul space, only 194 seconds had passed in the outside world.
Time Ratio: 10:1 (max 10:1)
Elapsed Time (Soul Space): 1001 seconds
Elapsed Time (Outside): 194 seconds
He had enough GP now to unlock snapshots, but he still had a two-hour drive home. It was already evening, and he was tired and sore. So, he exited his soul space.
Back in his car he found himself still sitting in the same position he had been when he entered his soul space. He would have to run some experiments when he got home. Or maybe in the morning.
On the drive home, Jack contemplated the nature and purpose of Genesis Heart. It seemed like a System, like the ones he'd read about in LitRPG novels, but it didn't call itself a system. And, while it had Energy Points instead of mana, and Genesis Points instead of experience, it still looked like a System. The GP was earned by doing things related to the Genesis Heart, and he could spend the GP to upgrade his EP. So, what was it and why did he have it? Were other people also getting systems?
The Genesis Heart had knocked him unconscious for several hours, and he would have died if it weren't for that rhododendron, so if it was a global thing, then he should see signs of car crashes on the way home. If it was only some people, he might still see something in the news about mysterious fainting incidents or something.
He hoped he was the only one. Not just because that would imply he was special, but because he really didn't want any competition. If everyone had Genesis Heart, well, that would be horrible. If everyone had systems, there was a good chance some of them would have ridiculously over powered systems, and as much fun as it was to read about System Apocalypses, he never wanted to actually live in one. He shuddered at the thought. He had no interest in fighting monsters. Neither the system spawned variety, nor the human variety.
Worried about the possibility that an actual System Apocalypse had arrived, as improbable as that seemed, he keep his eye on the mountain road ahead, not wanting run into a stalled or crashed car. Or worse, some system spawned monster.
When he passed through Index, a town with only two buildings near the highway, he still hadn't seen any cars. Or anything else out of the ordinary. But as he neared Goldbar, a larger town with a visible presence along the two-lane highway, he passed a car. It was driving normally, just like him. And as he drove through Goldbar, he saw lights on and cars parked in business parking lots. Still normal.
By the time he reached Sultan, he had passed four cars and as he drove through Sultan, he saw five waiting at three different intersections. He was starting to relax. It was looking more and more like there was no System Apocalypse.
After pulling into his garage, he watched through his rearview mirror as his garage door closed. He had seen no signs of a System Apocalypse or anything else out of the ordinary. With relief, he dragged his tired body out of his car and headed to bed. Anything Genesis Heart related could wait until morning.