Agent047
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965 - INCENTIVES
🕑 Added 2025-08-18 03:30:10 +0000 UTCBy the tenth minute since the application portal was opened, a whopping eleven billion people had already registered, with the majority of the applicants coming from the Proxima star system. Happy and excited, they finally had the chance to help the empire instead of being on the receiving end.
Although that was the main reason, they were also joining to take revenge for their killed comrades who were among the casualties of the empire, despite their side of casualties being on the low end due to all of them being awakened. The majority of their casualties came from the top ten civilizations as a result of space-station-destroying-level attacks that were used against them, leaving no time to escape.
Anyone who applied was either immediately accepted if they were deemed to have been of age or denied if they were below the age of eighteen. Following that, for those who were accepted, they immediately received a link to an authorized-only location within the VR that they could join whenever they were ready. The majority of them instantly clicked and were teleported into the location, immediately starting to experience what the empire had prepared for them ahead of time.
……………………..
{Welcome, and thank you for applying to come to the aid of the empire,} said GAIA, the most famous imperial government AI, who is responsible for all aspects of the government.
She was famous for many different reasons: the amount of power she held over the empire, being second only to the emperor; her limitations and how she used her powers; and her extreme elven beauty, which made her a very famous and loved figure, empire-wide.
For those who loved her for her governance, it was because, despite having such power, they had never seen her actually use it to enforce something. She only used it to force discussions further, citing holes in the rules or potential damages should they be passed as they were. She also conducted yearly anonymous polls that asked imperial citizens about their concerns and discontent with some of the imperial government’s rules and actions, as well as suggestions for new rules or the relaxation of existing ones.
Many thought this was a way for the empire to weed out problematic individuals, but despite a few people using it to express their dislike of the imperial government structure, nothing happened to them. Instead, they received a report that provided clear and detailed explanations of the empire’s actions they were against, as well as whether their suggestions had been accepted and would be discussed and sent for a vote, or denied with a detailed reason why.
As a result, despite the governing system being an imperial one, the system didn’t fully function like one, as the voice of the people was still a large driving force behind policies and rules. This made many who had lived in democracies before the empire feel as if they were in just a more efficient democracy.
“Aren’t you the head of the government on the digital side? Why are you here?” Gululi asked, still surprised upon seeing her welcoming him inside the wall-less and infinitely stretching blue room.
{I’m not the GAIA. I’m just a minor instance of her. As for why me and not any other AI, it is because this is the first time the empire fights in this war using civilians in a non-conscripted manner. Although all of you joined willingly, it is a matter that requires coordination and approval from many departments and ministries, which I’m the only one who can access and streamline,} she answered as a handle appeared on top of her head with the writing "GAIA#9957152376," revealing that she was the nine-billionth instance of her.
“If it is such a regulatory mess to the point it requires your instance’s participation, then I’m sure you will be starting with a disclaimer, then giving me a full comprehensive breakdown of everything before I’m to agree to continue or deny and end my application here, right?” he asked, having already experienced how the majority of government agencies and ministries’ related AIs generally behaved.
{You are right in that avenue, one of the 251,795,534 who verbalized it before me having to do it,} GAIA said with a smile on her face before she moved her right hand from left to right as a screen materialized in front of Gululi.
[Assault] [Stealth] [Support] [Recon] [Control(!)] [Universal IP]
{There are millions upon millions of configurations that could be made using the technologies we have on our hands, and it would take years if you wanted to go through and try to have a basic understanding of all of them. So, we decided to narrow down the starting options to only show you the technology that will help you shape your avatar the way you want,} she explained.
The empire had deliberately started with the making and customization of the avatar, moving all of the waiver and agreement signing to after the person had finished making their dream avatar and formed an emotional connection, making it difficult for them to just give up.
“The rest I can understand, but what is the Universal IP option?” Gululi asked, interrupting GAIA, who was about to continue with her presentation.
{During the time dilation ramping, it had come to our attention that some people in Pangaea wanted their avatars to be a copy of a certain character from certain entertainment media. So, we have included it for them to do so as well,} GAIA explained without showing any reaction to being interrupted.
“What about IPs? Won’t the companies sue?” Gululi asked, surprised that the empire had gone ahead and made it available when many were thinking of ways to fix the tech the empire would make available to try and emulate those characters.
{What is the worth of intellectual ownership if the empire ceases to exist?} GAIA asked sarcastically, pausing to chuckle for a moment before adding, {They are going to be receiving free advertisement and brand connection to their fans, so that is a positive for them. Also, the imperial government has a rule regarding ownership of intellectual patents and products that allows for the imperial government to use them free of charge if the use can be categorized as non-commercial, which this one is. Though they can sue for compensation after the war, and the courts will be the ones to decide whether the interpretation is right or not.}
“Hmm, looks like the empire took time and thought about it,” Gululi said, not too surprised by the empire’s always-prepared nature. He followed with a question, “But aren’t characters from different franchises and entertainment media either super broken in power scale or have impossible-to-replicate capabilities? Will there be some limitations or something like that?”
{The answer is related to something that I was about to start talking about, and that is Merit Points. Anyone who applied has a full ten thousand Merit Points they can use to fully create their avatar. You can either use them individually to purchase different technologies for your custom avatar, or you can use them to purchase a Universal IP avatar. If the character is actually broken in real life, their price will be higher than ten thousand, so if you still buy them at ten thousand Merit Points, then their abilities will be limited to the ten-thousand-point level. So long as you have Merit Points, any character is potentially possible. Even if the direct ability is not there, a roundabout way to recreate it should be possible.}
“Then, I shouldn’t be wrong to assume that these Merit Points can be earned based on contributions during the war and can be used to upgrade our avatars' weapons or capabilities if they are from the Universal IP?” Gululi asked, taking deep breaths from excitement as the answer was beyond his expectations.
{Yes. For every action on the battlefield, you can either earn MP or lose them. You can use the ones you have for many things, like choosing better missions to take, upgrading weaponry, deployment locations, promotions, and more. Additionally, once the war is over and we are victorious, all of your earned MP will be tallied, even the spent ones, and the total will decide the amount of war spoils you will receive. These can range from a house all the way to ownership of a planet if you have enough Merit Points,} GAIA said, her expression unchanged, though her original instance was laughing at how the empire was pushing and motivating imperial citizens to the maximum.
They had deliberately not given them the ability to customize their avatar with the maximum capabilities they would want, but limited them at the start. With no constraints, humans generally get greedy and try to take everything despite knowing they won’t use the majority of it. But with limitations, it forces them to think and only take things they know for sure they will use. With the possibility of upgrading their avatars, they will work hard to earn Merit Points to make their avatars stronger or unlock their Universal IP avatar to their real-world equivalent of strength or even push them beyond their canon power limit.
As if that was not enough, they even added post-war incentives for imperial citizens to join and fight with passion for as long as the war lasted. Through just Merit Points, they could get rich to the point of not having to work again in their lives and live in extreme luxury. It was practically the empire setting the foundation for the entirety of humanity to become the prime civilization should the war end in their favor.
Comments
jordan payet
Thanks for the chapter 🥰 Damn, the Empire basically created a full blown war game for its citizens, with full custom build and ability trees 😂😂 with the ability to get rich from it, that will be the best game ever produced 😂 pro gamers will have a field day lool
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
TYFTC!!!!
