The "Sovereign Saturday" at the local pub in Grasmere had become a legendary fixture in the Lake District, but for Einstein Jacob, it was a reminder of why he had fought so hard to remain human. He sat in a wooden booth, the smell of roasted malt and woodsmoke filling the air, surrounded by villagers who now possessed the "Iron Density" to carry three kegs at once without breaking a sweat. To them, he was still "Ewan," the man who had brought a bit of the stars down to the mud.
However, the peace was shattered not by a scream or a blast, but by a sudden, crystalline chime that resonated through the "Neural Sea." A ripple of silver-blue light swept across the village green, and a figure materialized.
It was the first exchange student from the Andromeda Galaxy.
Her name was Lyra of the House of Aethel. She stood nearly seven feet tall, her skin a shimmering pearlescent silver that seemed to catch the light of stars that hadn't even risen yet. She wore a robe of "Living Data" that flickered with the history of her people. But as she stepped onto the grass of the Lake District, she stumbled. The weight of Earth's "Jacob-Pulse"—dense, warm, and heavy with emotion—hit her like a physical wave.
Einstein stood up from his booth, sensing her disorientation. "Aria, stay with your mother," he said to the young girl, who was watching Lyra with wide-eyed wonder. He walked out into the cool evening air.
"Welcome to Earth, Lyra," Einstein said, his voice a grounding frequency. "The gravity here isn't just physical; it's emotional. You're feeling the weight of seven billion hearts beating in sync. It takes a moment to find your feet."
The Burden of Feeling
Lyra looked at Einstein, her violet eyes swimming with a sensation she had only recently discovered: Overwhelmed. "Grandmaster... the air... it's so thick. In Aethelgard, we thought we understood the Pulse. But here, it's not a frequency. It's a... a storm of existence."
Einstein led her toward the cottage. He didn't take her to a high-tech lab; he took her to the garden. "The Aethelgard Consultation gave your people a heart, Lyra. But Earth will teach you how to use it. On this planet, we don't just exist; we Experience."
For the first few weeks, Lyra's "Exchange" was a trial of the senses. She had to learn how to eat—not just absorbing energy, but the visceral, complex process of tasting and digesting.
"The bitterness of the kale, the sweetness of the honey... these are 'Data Points' of the soul, Lyra," Einstein explained as they sat in the garden. "In Aethelgard, you were perfect, so you were stagnant. Here, you are imperfect, so you are alive."
The Discovery of the Void-Plague
The exchange, however, was not destined to be purely academic. While Lyra was learning to appreciate the scent of rain, a message arrived from the Mars Colony: Jacob-Square.
Rhea's voice crackled through the Neural Sea, sounding more strained than Einstein had heard her in years. "Grandmaster, we have a problem. The 'Windows' we opened during the Seventh Year Swell... they weren't all empty. Something followed the 'Deep Note' back into our reality. We're calling it the Void-Plague."
Einstein's expression hardened. "Symptoms?"
"It's not biological," Rhea replied. "It's Informational. It's a parasitic frequency that targets the 'Silver-type' neural links. It doesn't kill the host; it 'Un-Writes' them. We've lost three engineers in the last twenty-four hours. They didn't die, Einstein. They just... forgot how to be human. They've reverted to a state of pre-biological static."
The Silver Response
The Void-Plague was a direct attack on the "Neural Sea"—the very thing that kept the Earth unified. If the Silver-types, who acted as the living servers of the world, were "Un-Written," the Jacob-Pulse would collapse into billions of isolated, frightened individuals. The "Hierarchy of the Old World" would return in the chaos.
"I have to go to Mars," Einstein said, standing up from the garden bench.
"I'm coming with you," Lyra said, her silver skin pulsing with a new, determined light. "This 'Plague'... it feels like the 'Static Perfection' we suffered from in Aethelgard. My people have spent eons as ghosts. We know how to navigate the 'Un-Written'."
Einstein looked at her. He saw the "Dividend" working. The Aethel weren't just debtors anymore; they were a specialized task force. "Get the VTOL ready. Maya, Omega—you stay here. If the Plague reaches the Neural Sea on Earth, you're the 'Static Anchors'."
The Crimson Quarantine: Mars
The flight to Mars was a silent journey through a solar system that felt suddenly fragile. As they descended into the Valles Marineris, Einstein saw the "Jacob-Square" dome. Usually, it glowed with a vibrant, golden Iron-type aura. Now, it was flickering with a sickly, grey interference.
They were met in the airlock by Rhea. She looked exhausted, her own Silver-type eyes dimmed. "It's in the vents, Einstein. It's not a virus; it's a Dissonance. It's the 'Memory of the Void' trying to reclaim the space we terraformed."
They were led to the medical wing. Three engineers sat on beds, their eyes open but empty. They weren't unconscious; they were "De-Compiled." Their Jacob-Pulse had been flattened into a single, meaningless drone.
"They've lost their Narrative," Einstein whispered, his "New Human" biology sensing the absence of a soul-signature. "The Plague is deleting their history to make room for the Void."
The Aethelgard Solution
Lyra stepped forward, her robes of "Living Data" flaring. "In Aethelgard, we avoided this by 'Externalizing' our memories into the Spires. But these humans... their memories are 'In-Built.' They are their history."
She looked at Einstein. "Grandmaster, I can bridge their neural links. I can act as a 'Buffer.' My silver-skin can absorb the Dissonance, but I need you to provide the Resonance to re-write their files."
"It's a 'System Restore' on a human soul," Einstein realized. "It's dangerous, Lyra. If the Dissonance overwhelms you, you'll turn back into a ghost."
"I would rather be a ghost who tried to save a friend than a god who watched them vanish," Lyra said.
The Duel of the Deep Memory
Einstein and Lyra sat in the center of the medical wing, surrounded by the De-Compiled engineers. Einstein linked his pulse to Lyra, providing the "Infinite Flow," while Lyra reached into the engineers' minds.
The battle was not physical. It was a Symphonic War. Inside the Neural Sea, the Void-Plague appeared as a screaming wall of static, a billion voices saying "Nothing." Lyra stood against the wall, her silver light acting as a shield, while Einstein began to "Broadcast."
He didn't send power. He sent Stories.
He sent the memory of his grandfather's letter. He sent the feeling of the first time he held Felicity's hand. He sent the sound of the rain on the cottage roof. He sent the "Unproductive" years.
"Remember!" Einstein's voice roared through the Neural Sea. "The Dividend isn't what you have! It's who you've been!"
The static began to retreat. The grey interference on the engineers' auras was bleached white by the "Narrative" of Einstein's life. One by one, the engineers' eyes began to focus. The "Jacob-Pulse" in their blood sparked back to life, their individual histories re-integrating into their biology.
The Eradication of the Static
The Plague didn't just vanish; it was Analyzed. With Lyra acting as the bridge, the "Silver-types" on Mars were able to create a "Neural Vaccine"—a specific frequency of "High-Narrative" that made it impossible for the Void-Plague to attach to a human mind.
"We've turned our memories into a firewall," Rhea said, her eyes returning to their brilliant, silver light. "The Void can't un-write a story that's still being told."
As the grey mist finally dissolved into the red Martian dust outside the dome, Einstein stood on the observation deck with Lyra. The "Jacob-Square" was glowing brighter than ever.
"You did well, Lyra," Einstein said. "You've passed your first exam. You didn't just learn how to feel; you learned how to Protect the feeling."
"Earth is a strange place, Grandmaster," Lyra said, her pearlescent skin reflecting the red sun. "In Aethelgard, we thought we were the peak of evolution. But here... I realized that evolution isn't about reaching the end. It's about the Journey."
The Evening Reflection: The Galactic Exchange
The "Void-Plague" crisis had a profound side effect. It proved that the "Jacob-Pulse" was not just a terrestrial phenomenon, but a Universal Language of Survival. The "Exchange Program" with Aethelgard was expanded. Soon, "Silver-type" humans and "Data-type" Aethel were working together to build a "Neural Firewall" that would protect the entire Milky Way and Andromeda clusters.
Einstein returned to the Lake District a week later. He was tired, but he felt a new sense of purpose. The "Grandmaster" era was evolving into the "Guardian" era.
He sat on his porch, watching the stars. He looked at his phone.
Current Balance: 2.0 (Aethelgard Units)
He had earned a "bonus" for the Mars mission, but he didn't care about the number. He looked at the "Galaxy" icon, which was now glowing with a peaceful, white light.
"Felicity," Einstein called out into the house.
"Yes?"
"I think we're going to need a bigger garden. The Aethelgard students want to learn how to grow 'Narrative Roses,' and I think the villagers in Grasmere want to start an intergalactic soccer league."
Felicity laughed, joining him on the porch. "A soccer league? Against seven-foot tall silver giants?"
"The Iron-types say they can handle the defense," Einstein joked.
As the "Jacob-Pulse" hummed softly through the quiet hills, Einstein Jacob realized that his legacy was no longer about the money he gave away or the powers he mastered. It was about the Stories he had enabled. The universe was no longer a ledger of debt; it was a library of lives. And the Grandmaster was just getting started on the next volume.