Madison asked Jeeves, "Um...Why did you call Jack, 'Young Master'?"
"That is the form of address one is required to use for the owner of the Genesis Heart."
"Can you change it?" asked Jack. It felt weird being referred to as 'Young Master'.
"If Young Master wishes, one can use whatever form of address Young Master desires. One's appearance and personality can also be altered to fit Young Master's wishes."
One of Fran's favorite T.V. shows was an old British show about a minor noble and his valet, Jeeves. There was something about the mannerisms of Jeeves that appealed to him.
"Can you take the form and personality of Jeeves, from the early nineties British T.V. show?"
"Yes, if that is as Young Master wishes."
"Please do so. Also, refer to me as Jack, or sir."
Within moments, his assistant's appearance transformed to that of the valet, Jeeves. With a flourish, his assistant, now Jeeves, bowed, then said, "It is a pleasure to be of service, sir."
Madison said, "Ohh, that's much better. The manikin look was a little creepy."
"As you say, madam," replied Jeeves.
There was a touch of snark in Jeeves' tone, and Jack briefly thought about telling his assistant to drop the snark, but then changed his mind. It was part of the charm of the Jeeves character, and he felt he would disrespect Fran's memory if he squashed it.
"What is the Genesis Heart?" asked Madison.
It was a question that had been on the forefront of his mind when he first received it, but the question had been crowded out but the later excitement of earning GP and unlocking features, then by the distraction of Madison's arrival.
"The Genesis Heart is a celestial artifact created by a goddess and was originally intended for her son. It is designed to protect the soul and provide additional features that may be unlocked as the soul advances through the ranks."
"Wait! If it was made for the son of a goddess, when how'd I end up with it?" Jack blurted. Then he realized what he had just asked. Shit, what if it decides I'm not supposed to have the Genesis Heart? Can it take it back?
"When the Genesis Heart was activated, in preparation for installation, it began recording sensory data. As best as can be determined from an examination of that data, the goddess and her son were attacked moments after Genesis Heart was activated. The attack interfered with Genesis Heart's ability to record events, but what can be gleaned from the fragmentary data is that a rift was opened, and the Genesis Heart was cast into that rift. After passing through the rift, the Genesis Heart drifted through this universe for approximately nine billion years. Since it was activated, it bound to the first soul it encountered. And the first soul it encountered is yours."
"Man, talk about Fate," said Madison.
Jack did not believe in capital 'F' Fate. But when you received something as extraordinary as the Genesis Heart, and you learn it traveled for nine billion years before encountering you, it was hard to chalk it up to random chance. He thought about what Jeeves had said and put two things together, goddess, and "through the ranks". Could he cultivate, like in Easter Fantasy novels?
"You mentioned my soul advancing through the ranks. Are you talking about that Soul Enhancement Technique in my store catalog?"
"Correct. That technique will allow you to strengthen your soul."
"What about other cultivation techniques? Will those become available as well? Will it be possible for me to gain immortality, or even become a god?"
"I apologize, sir, I do not know. My knowledge is limited to the functions and capabilities of the Genesis Heart, and even then, I am limited to only knowing what you are allowed to know, and accessing what you are allowed to access."
"Bummer," said Madison. "I guess you'll just have to achieve immortality the modern way, through science, and the power of simulations!"
Jack chuckled. "Yes, I guess you could call it scientific cultivation." And she wasn't wrong. While he couldn't envision the details, he could see a vague vision of the kind of future he could achieve with the capabilities the Genesis Heart provided.
When he'd first examined his template catalog he'd noticed that the instantiation cost was in GP but the operation cost was in EP. The wood chair was free to instantiate so he didn't hesitate to test it. But all the other items in his template catalog had a GP cost. He had billions of GP, so spending a few shouldn't matter but he didn't like the idea of wasting GP.
"Jeeves," if I instantiate something from my template catalog, then delete the instance. Will I get my GP back, or are they lost?"
"Any GP consumed to instantiate an instance from your template catalog will be refunded when you delete the instance. The same goes for the GP cost associated with creating a template."
"So, if it cost 100 GP to create a template, and I later deleted the template, I'd be refunded the 100 GP?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Nice! He could experiment in peace, knowing he wasn't wasting GP. Since he was on the topic of template catalog stuff, he decided now was as good a time as any to get answers his other questions.
"What's the difference between a regular door and a security door?"
"A security door provides three additional features. The first is that two or more security doors can be linked and programmed so that only a subset of the doors can be open at the same time. The second is that the security door won't open if the conditions on the other side are lethal. And the third is that individual rooms, or entire sections of rooms that are behind a security door, can be deactivated. While deactivated the room does not incur any operation cost."
"So, If I create a room and fill it with lots of stuff I can save the operation cost associated with that room by deactivating it?"
"Yes, everything except the door."
"Ah, okay. that makes sense."
As for the second feature, the mention of lethal conditions reminded him of his musings about a nuclear fusion room and what would happen to him if he died in his soul space.
"What happens if I die here in my soul space?"
"Your manifestation would be recreated."
"That's it? Like re-spawning?"
"Yes. That is essentially correct."
"What if I used the environmental control in every room and made the conditions lethal everywhere?"
"Environmental controls cannot be applied in your white room. Your white room is the one pace in your soul space where your manifestation can exist safely, regardless of what you do elsewhere within your soul space."
Well, that was a relief. He started thinking about actually playing with the extreme environmental controls when his thoughts were interrupted by Madison.
"Umm, what about if the conditions just render him unconscious, but not dead? And, about me?"
Damn, he hadn't thought of that.
"If Jack is rendered unconscious, his manifestation will reset. And, as you are one soul bound to Jack, your manifestation has the same protections."
Realizing he hadn't been thorough enough, he asked one more question. "Are there any circumstances under which I could be injured because of something that happens here in my soul space? Is it possible for my soul to be injured?"
"It is impossible for your soul to be injured in any way as a result of something you do, or experience, while here in your soul space. And you will be prevented from accidentally exporting physical injuries your manifestation received in your soul space."
This was good news. This meant he could do whatever he wanted here in his soul space, safe knowing that the worst that would happen was that his manifestation would reset, losing any physical changes he might have wanted to export.