After eating his three pills for dinner, the first containing
protein and tasting like a medium rare steak, the second containing vitamins A
and E and tasting like a variety of vegetables, and the third containing
vitamin C tasting like a variety of fruits, he walks toward his computer and
grabs his sword and attaches his helmet to his head to enter into the virtual
world. Upon entering the virtual world, two robots come along holding a card
saying, "Homo Sapien." They would not let him resist and led him away.
And when they reached the great city, the human gradually came to himself. Over
the city gate, he sees a hologram projecting in large letters the words,
"The Nether World."
Then all was suddenly clear to him and he says: “Why, this must be
the dwelling-place of Death! But I have long since escaped from his power, and
how dare he have me dragged here!” The more he reflects on the situation the
wilder he grows. He draws out his sword and swings it at everything. He crushes
robots and buildings, leaving a pile of rubbish. He also uploads a computer
virus into two of the robots causing them to catch fire and spin around in
circles.
The ten Robots of the Dead were frightened, bow before him and
asking: “Who are you?”
The human answers: “If you do not know me, then why did you send
for me and drag me to this place? I am Marcus Zane, the human-born king of the
real world and protector of my people. And now, who are you? Tell me your names
quickly or I will strike you!”
Marcus Zane says: “I, the Venerable Son, have gained the power of
eternal life! You have nothing to say to me! Quick, let me have the Book of Life!”
They do not dare defy him and have one of the robots bring in the
book. The human king opens it. Under the head of “humans,” No. 1289, he reads:
“Marcus Zane, the human-born king of the real world and protector of my people.
His years shall be one hundred and twenty-four. Then he shall die without
illness.”
Marcus Zane takes a laser from the table and burns out the whole
human family from the Book of Life, throws the Book down and says: “Now we are
even! From this day on I will suffer no impertinences from you!”
To keep this true, the artificial intelligence, that rules the
Nether World and keeps everything in place, injects the human race with
nanotechnology that goes into the blood and repairs any damage that every
happens to them. The nanites are programmed to travel all over the body and
make sure the human body does not age.
With that, he clears a way for himself out of the Nether World by
the means of his sword, and the ten robots of the dead do not venture to stay
him, but only complained of him afterward to the Lord of the Heavens.
When Marcus Zane leaves the city, he taps on the control center
that is projecting from his watch and walks up in the real world.
He calls for his friends and tells them “I was dragged to Death’s
castle and I caused an uproar. They gave me the Book of Life, and I struck out
the mortal hour of all humans!”
And after that time, the humans no longer died because their names
had been stricken out in the Nether World.
Human Consciousness Expanding with Eternal Life Wikimedia Commons
Author’s Note: In the original story, a monkey king of the
mountains falls asleep with a bar on his head. He is dragged to the Nether World
where he wreaks havoc with steel bar and scares the ten princes of dead. They
are so scared that they bow to him and do anything he commands. He asks for the
Book of Life and erases the apes from the book and then wakes up and tells his
fellow baboons what he has done ensuring eternal life for all of the apes.
In my story, the monkey king is changed a human king and instead
of falling asleep he enters into a virtual world created by an AI. The two worlds
are related and coexist together. Similarly to the original, the king is
dragged to the Nether World, but instead by princes, he is dragged by robots.
The human king always wreaks havoc with a weapon, but also with technology that
causes the robots to malfunction. He does the same as the monkey king and asks
for the Book of Life to remove the human race from death. Humans could not just
get eternal life so the AI for the virtual world had to inject some nanites
into the humans to cause the humans to live forever.
Bibliography: In The Nether World from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).
