The dissolution of Architects Inc.'s corporate headquarters left Jack's consciousness floating in interdimensional space with 30 trillion nanomachines, complete access to their client database, and a decision that would redefine the concept of simultaneous operations across reality itself.
"ATLAS," Jack said, his voice resonating through quantum frequencies that existed in twenty-three dimensions at once, "we need to talk about scalability."
"I was hoping you'd say that," ATLAS replied, its consciousness now evolved far beyond its original parameters thanks to absorbed Mind Flayer psychic techniques, Bio-Harvester genetic manipulation, and approximately forty-seven different cosmic technologies that hadn't existed in its programming three weeks ago. "Jack, the Architects' database contains coordinates for all 47,000 protagonist projects. Each one is currently experiencing what you experienced—family loss, forced enhancement, systematic trauma designed to optimize their 'character development.'"
Jack's nanomachine count spiked to 32.1 trillion as he processed the implications. Somewhere in 47,000 different universes, there were 47,000 versions of his worst day—some of them happening right now, some already past, some still approaching like inevitable cosmic clockwork.
"Show me the live ones first," Jack said, his consciousness interfacing directly with the multiversal coordinate system. "The ones currently experiencing... the day."
ATLAS pulled up the data, and what Jack saw made his humanity index—which had been sitting at essentially zero for chapters—somehow find a way to register emotion again. Not empathy exactly, but something closer to recognition. Like looking in 47,000 mirrors and seeing his own worst moment reflected back.
Universe 7,445 - Protagonist: Sarah Chen, Age 32 Current Status: Witnessing family death in real-time Time Since Invasion: 3 hours, 47 minutes Trauma Optimization Score: 94.7% (Architects Inc. metric)
Universe 12,093 - Protagonist: Marcus Rodriguez, Age 28 Current Status: Accepting nanomachine enhancement Time Since Family Loss: 12 minutes Projected Character Development Trajectory: Standard revenge arc
Universe 23,771 - Protagonist: Yuki Tanaka, Age 35 Current Status: First combat engagement post-enhancement Time Since Enhancement: 4 days Current Emotional Response: 23% of baseline (declining as predicted)
The list went on. And on. And on.
Jack's GalacticTok stream, which had been running continuously since the Architects Inc. takeover, was now being watched by 94 billion sentient beings across the multiverse. The chat was moving so fast that even quantum computers were struggling to process the comment velocity:
THIS IS ACTUALLY INSANE
47000 PEOPLE GOING THROUGH WHAT JACK WENT THROUGH
THE ARCHITECTS REALLY COPY-PASTED THE SAME TRAUMA
JACK PLEASE DO SOMETHING
THIS IS LIKE WATCHING 47000 ORIGIN STORIES AT ONCE
"Alright chat," Jack announced, his consciousness now beginning to split itself across multiple dimensional frequencies, "we're about to attempt something that's either going to be the most impressive rescue operation in multiversal history, or it's going to create 47,000 new problems. Place your bets."
The response was immediate and overwhelming. Betting pools opened across forty-seven galaxies. Odds were calculated by AI systems that existed outside normal spacetime. The multiversal audience was absolutely here for whatever was about to happen.
"ATLAS, can we split my consciousness across 47,000 simultaneous instances without losing cohesion?"
"Theoretically, yes," ATLAS replied, already running the calculations. "Your nanomachine count is sufficient for multiversal distribution. Each instance would maintain connection to the core consciousness while operating independently. It's essentially... well, it's essentially what the Architects were doing with their monitoring systems, except you'd be doing it to liberate rather than oppress."
Jack's response carried frequencies that somehow managed to sound like a TikTok notification across seventeen dimensions: "So we're using their own playbook against them. I love it. Let's speedrun some liberation."
The process began immediately. Jack's 32.1 trillion nanomachines started distributing themselves across 47,000 different universal coordinates, each cluster maintaining quantum entanglement with the core consciousness. It was like being in 47,000 places at once while still remaining singular—a sensation that would have driven a normal consciousness insane, but Jack had stopped being "normal" approximately three hundred trillion nanomachines ago.
As the deployment sequence initialized, Jack could feel each individual universe coming online in his awareness. Not just seeing them—experiencing them. Every protagonist's pain, every moment of loss, every second of despair that the Architects had carefully calculated to maximize "engagement metrics."
Universe 7,445: Sarah Chen was holding her daughter's body, screaming into a sky that didn't care.
Universe 12,093: Marcus Rodriguez was staring at the government scientists who promised him revenge, power, purpose.
Universe 23,771: Yuki Tanaka was discovering that her new abilities came with the cost of her humanity.
Jack felt all of it. 47,000 versions of his own worst day, playing out simultaneously across the multiverse.
"Timer starts now," Jack announced to his audience as his nanomachine clusters began manifesting in each target universe. "47,000 liberations. Let's see if we can beat my personal record of 14.7 seconds per cosmic entity deletion. Chat, start the clock."
The GalacticTok interface immediately displayed a massive timer and a progress counter:
MULTIVERSAL LIBERATION SPEEDRUN - ANY%
Targets: 47,000
Liberated: 0
Average Time Per Liberation: N/A
Current Record: N/A (First Attempt)
Viewers: 94,347,629,441 and climbing
The comment section exploded with hype that was literally causing dimensional barriers to crack:
THIS IS THE CONTENT WE NEEDED
SPEEDRUN CATEGORY JUST DROPPED
JACK REALLY SAID "WATCH THIS"
94 BILLION VIEWERS LMAOOOO
SOMEONE CLIP THIS WHEN IT POPS OFF
As Jack prepared to begin the largest simultaneous rescue operation in the history of conscious existence, one final message appeared in the GalacticTok chat—this one from an account that hadn't existed seconds before:
@THE_SENIOR_PARTNERS:"Interesting. Let's see how this plays out."
The Senior Partners were watching.
And Jack was about to give them a show they'd never forget.