Leon stood in the cold morning mist of London, his hoodie pulled low as he stepped out of the secure locker facility. Inside his backpack were components critical to the Modular Data Vault: graphene-sealed drives, quantum-randomized partition routers, and two miniature EM field dampeners. All delivered. All untraceable.
The fog blanketing the city mirrored his internal state—half transition, half tension.
He flagged down a black cab, gave a randomized address just outside his actual destination, and leaned back as the city rolled by.
In the cab's silence, he activated the system overlay again.
SYSTEM: Physical Asset Acquisition Complete.
Vault Assembly Commencing: Day 1 of 12.
Recommended Protocol: Minimized Footprint. Tools Logged. Precautionary Measures Enabled.
He nodded slightly to himself. This vault wouldn't just be protection—it would be proof. A fireproof container for an idea. For something no one else in the world had yet glimpsed.
Back at home, he waited until after midnight. The caretakers had gone to bed, and the house was in full lockdown mode—routine power cycling and signal shielding he had subtly upgraded over the last few weeks.
He worked in silence, headphones in but music off—focused.
Each piece slotted into place with military precision.
Hours passed. By the time he stopped, his hands ached.
Leon moved to his terminal, opening the analytics panel. Tactica: Iron Resolution was still climbing.
Daily Downloads: 92,341
SP Accumulated: +6,831
Cumulative SP: 49,645
He reviewed feedback, tagging notable trends: tactical improvisation, deep learning behaviors, near-perfect memory retention among AI combatants. The gaming community was calling it scary good. He called it acceptable. The engine had been throttled down to 18% of its full capacity.
That was intentional.
SYSTEM: Caution Level Affirmed. Strategic Tech Obfuscation: ACTIVE
Then came the new threat.
He clicked into a thread on an anonymous developer forum: "Game Leaks: UmbraDawn Might Be A Cover."
Some users were dissecting the binary of the installer file. Others tracked server routing patterns, which Leon had intentionally obfuscated through three layers of misdirection. Most wouldn't break it.
But a few might.
He couldn't let that happen.
SYSTEM: Counter-Infiltration Toolchain AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
COST: 22,000 SP
Leon hesitated.
This wouldn't earn him SP. It would protect it. It was a defensive move, not a developmental one. But sometimes protecting a spark mattered more than fanning it.
He made the purchase.
Remaining SP: 27,645
The system's interface shimmered as a new window deployed—something like a firewall, but intelligent. It wouldn't just block. It would adapt. It would reflect inquiries back on the attackers.
He activated it. The game's backend would now retaliate with dead-end leads and ghost IPs. Anyone tracing too hard would end up chasing themselves.
Then came something new.
SYSTEM: Global Engagement Milestone Reached. SP Multiplier Engine UNLOCKED.
Current Tier: II (National/Industry-Level Impact)
SP Gain Multiplier: x5 ENABLED
Note: Multiplier applies to future contributions only.
Leon's eyes narrowed.
SYSTEM: Future Tier Benchmarks
Tier I: Localized Influence – x1
Tier II: National/Industrial – x5
Tier III: Global Systemic Adoption – x20
Tier IV: Paradigm Shifts – x100
So this was how the system scaled. Not just by quantity—but by quality and scope of change. A ripple in a pond became a wave in the ocean.
He leaned back, mentally recalculating. If he played it right, he wouldn't need a billion users to afford the next breakthrough—just the right one.
The move to America couldn't come soon enough. The attention was building, and so were the risks.
He needed space to work. A new field.
And if this was what the world looked like from London...
...then California would be a storm.
[SYSTEM ANNEX: STORE POINTS (SP) EXCHANGE MODEL]
SP is earned by measurably advancing humanity's collective development.
1 SP = Minor advancement by one individual (example: learning a new programming concept from software created by the user)
10 SP = Small group skill elevation or optimization in localized systems (e.g., classroom adaptation)
100 SP = Public impact via scalable tool adoption (e.g., 10,000 downloads of an assistive AI with educational effect)
1,000 SP = Institutional-scale improvement (e.g., hospital implementing system-aided decision logic)
10,000+ SP = Structural-level societal shifts (e.g., systemic tech being normalized, such as real-world integration of adaptive simulations)
Passive SP from digital products (e.g., game downloads):
1 SP per unique user/download if interaction engages user cognition (AI adaptation, strategic depth, etc.)
SP is not awarded for profit generation, entertainment alone, or non-transformative consumption.
SP Multiplier Engine (Unlocked):
Tier I — Local/Personal Impact: 1x
Tier II — National/Industry-Level: 5x
Tier III — Global Systemic: 20x
Tier IV — Paradigm Shift: 100x
Multipliers only apply after threshold activation. They are not retroactive.