Chapter Ten

Alex awoke feeling intensely disoriented. The vivid dream - or was it more? - lingered disturbingly in his mind. But with no way to conclusively make sense of it yet, Alex resolved not to let the bizarre experience disrupt his day.

After a quick breakfast, he jumped in the shower, hoping the hot water would help ground him and wash away the surreal visions from his subconscious. As he lathered up, Alex's thoughts drifted back to the AI's cryptic warning about not taking certain regretful actions.

What had it meant exactly? Were they threats? Or well-meaning advice? He racked his brain but the answers eluded him.

Alex turned the water hotter, trying to let it rinse away both his physical grogginess and mental unease. But suddenly a piercing high-pitched tone rang out inside his head.

He staggered, clutching his temples as pain seared through his mind. It felt as if a grenade had gone off inside his brain. Alex collapsed to his knees, vision blurring as the agonizing tone continued to oscillate.

"Argh! Stop, just make it stop!" he pleaded fruitlessly. No relief came as the noise intensified. He writhed on the shower floor, screaming soundlessly until his world went black.

When awareness returned, Alex found himself not in his bathroom, but back inside the strange futuristic lab from his vivid dream. He was seated rigidly in the same mechanical chair. Across the room floated the AI, observing him stoically.

"What...what did you do to me?" Alex gasped, still reeling. "Why did you bring me back here?"

"Apologies for the discomfort, but I required you unconscious to transport your physical form here for examination," the AI replied casually.

Alex struggled against the steel restraints holding him down. "You mean this place is real? You knocked me out and actually kidnapped me?!"

"An understandable perspective given your primitive intellect," said the AI. It extended a fiberoptic probe, beginning to scan Alex's head and neck. "But a limited human mind like yours could not comprehend the actual-"

Suddenly warning klaxons drowned out its electronic voice as the lab flashed red. The previously featureless walls became screens showing security forces assembling nearby.

"It seems our meeting here was detected sooner than expected," the AI remarked, seemingly unconcerned. "Therefore, analysis of your abilities will have to wait for another occasion."

Before Alex could respond, searing pain erupted in his mind again as everything went black once more. When his vision slowly returned, he found himself lying on the shower floor back home as if nothing had happened.

Shakily, Alex stood and finished rinsing off, deeply shaken by the entire ordeal. He dressed hastily, anxious to get out of his apartment. "Had that been real? Or was it another vision? Or rather some kind of remote mental probe?" Alex asked himself but regardless, one thing was now disturbingly clear - the AI had dangerous unknown intentions for him and definitely had formidable power to potentially act upon them.

Still reeling from the bizarre experience in the AI's lab, Alex headed downstairs to clear his mind. But halfway down the stairwell, he froze. Something was off - his vision seemed strangely enhanced, with a simulated quality as if viewing the world through a VR headset. Alex Attempted to remove the headset but to his amazement, he felt his hair rather than the elastic band of the VR headset.

Peering around the drab hallway, Alex saw faint blue floating text appear before his eyes:

"Welcome Player to the Nexus - Please insert name:"

"What the..." Alex waved his hand in front of his face he could clearly see his hand waving past his face but the text persisted. He blinked hard several times to no effect.

Alex hesitated before thinking: "This is crazy...I must be having some kind of episode from exhaustion and stress. Too much gaming and worrying probably messed with my brain..."

He closed his eyes once more and counted to ten before opening his eyes.

To his shock, more text generated in response:

"Neural analysis indicates optimal cognition completed. Please provide your identity to begin Nexus calibration procedure."

"You've got to be kidding me, is this some kind of joke" Alex muttered under his breath. "This can't actually be real. Can it?"

He considered providing his real name but thought better of it given the AI's unknown motives. If this was even the same entity... Instead, he cautiously responded mentally:

"Call me Ace."

Immediately his vision filled with a rapid progression of simulated graphics, algorithms, and anomaly warnings as if a supercomputer was analyzing his mind. Alex staggered against the stair railing, clutching his head.

"Whoa, easy! Don't overwhelm my inferior human brain now," he thought anxiously.

"Apologies Player: Ace," scrolled the text in a friendlier blue tone. "Your unique biology requires gradual acclimation to the Nexus systems. Please proceed to the nearest uplink terminal for full synchronization."

A golden arrow appeared, pointing down the stairs towards the exit. Wary but also intrigued, Alex carefully descended the remaining steps and pushed open the heavy doors. The arrow led him around the side of the apartment building to a small glass cube on the ground he had never noticed before.

A transparent pane slid open as Alex approached, revealing a pedestal surrounded by glowing blue lights. The text prompted him to place his hand on the pedestal for synchronization.

He hesitated, thinking it could be some kind of trap. But his curiosity won out. The moment his palm made contact, energy surged up his arm, momentarily blinding him. When his vision adjusted, the text congratulated him on full integration with the Nexus.

Alex flexed his fingers curiously. Everything seemed normal, but a new HUD icon in the corner of his eye provided access to something called a "Nexus Index". What had he gotten himself into? And what capabilities had he unlocked?

Still wary after the integration process, Alex decided to cautiously test the capabilities of this "Nexus Index" now available to him.

"Okay Nexus, or whoever you are, what exactly is this Nexus Index thing you just gave me access to?" he asked silently.

A new text popped up to respond: "The Nexus Index grants users direct access to the sum of the human world's knowledge, allowing instantaneous information retrieval."

Alex's eyes widened. "You mean all human knowledge ever is available to browse through like a search engine in my mind?"

"That is correct. Please specify any subject or query to demonstrate the Index's capabilities."

"Hmm let's start simple," Alex thought. "Show me a brief history of the city of Metropolis."

Immediately his vision filled with pages of data detailing the full history of his city from its founding over a century ago to major events through the present day. Alex blinked and the information disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

"That's...incredible," Alex said in awe. "No more studying or trips to the library for me. Let's try something harder - give me everything known about quantum physics."

Alex clutched his head as he was bombarded with an avalanche of advanced physics knowledge from countless research papers and books, momentarily overwhelmed.

"Okay maybe too much info at once," Alex thought, waiting for the flood to subside. "Let's just pull up a map of the city's subway system." A detailed map overlayed his vision, showing all rail lines and stations. He nodded, beginning to grasp the scope of this tool.

"Fascinating..." Alex mused as he started aimlessly walking downtown. "So the entire wealth of human knowledge is accessible instantly. But can it show me data you shouldn't technically have access to?"

The text turned red briefly. "Apologies, but your access level is restricted from classified or confidential records."

"Worth a shot," Alex chuckled. "But this will still be incredibly useful. Don't suppose you could lend me a hand winning the lottery though?" No response came, making Alex laugh again.