Contract for Reality

Investment Forum “Reality 1.0”

The "Nexus" hall was buzzing, but not with the voices of those gathered — it was the hum of competing paradigms clashing against each other like static electricity.

Today is the main pitch session of the year. At stake is the most valuable asset in the universe — the contract for the “Desire Management System” for Sector 7-G, also known as humanity.

There was only one investor. He was known only as the Auditor. He sat in the center of the hall, impassive as a blank sheet of paper.

First to step onto the stage, which was shrouded in mist, was Master Hieronymus. Thin, sharp, smelling of ozone and dried herbs. He represented “Ritual-Tech”.

Hieronymus clapped his hands, and the lights in the hall dimmed.

— Ladies and gentlemen, Auditor. Forget about “harmony.” It is unprofitable. Forget about “will.” It scales poorly. Reality is a bug.

— And we are the exploit.

His slogan — “Reality is a bug. We are the exploit” — flashed on the screen behind him.

— Our business model is P-P-R. Pay-per-Result. We do not ask your users to “believe” or “train”. We ask them to follow instructions. Our API is open: need money? The “Blood Moon” protocol. Need love? The “Double Knot” protocol.

— We are the hackers of the system!

To demonstrate, he took a heavy data crystal from the Auditor’s table. And smashed it against the floor. Shards flew in all directions.

— A problem, — he stated.

Then he pricked his finger, dripped blood onto the largest shard, and whispered three words. With a terrible grinding sound, the shards gathered back together. The crystal became whole.

The Auditor picked it up.

— Data erased, — he stated.

— Everything has a price! — Hieronymus declared proudly. — But you got what you ordered: a whole crystal. Fast. Dirty. Guaranteed. We serve the market of despair, and that, as you know, is the most stable one.

The Auditor nodded. A satisfied Hieronymus sat down.

Magister Eleanor ascended the stage. A strict suit, a “focusing lens” at her temple. She represented “Will Inc.”.

— Thank you, Hieronymus. “Legacy” is always cute, — she began with an icy chuckle. — “Ritual-Tech” are crutches for those who cannot walk. They dig around in backdoors. We offer root-access.

— Our slogan: “Don’t hack reality. Become its Administrator”.

— Our technology is SaaS. Skill-as-a-Service. We do not deceive the system. We write new lines into it. Your consciousness is the “processor.” Our technology is the “interface.” Yes, the entry threshold is high – it requires discipline, education. But the result...

She looked at the Auditor.

— Do you not need your crystal?

She did not touch it. She simply looked. The data crystal smoothly rose into the air and hovered before the Auditor.

— [SET_STATUS: LEVITATION = TRUE], — she whispered.

Then she looked at the erased data. The crystal flared.

— [RUN: DATA_RECOVERY_PROTOCOL_9].

The Auditor checked the crystal.

— Data recovered.

— We don’t just solve problems, — said Eleanor. — We manage them. This is technology for leaders. For those ready to invest in themselves to gain total control.

The Auditor nodded.

— What is your “server load”?

Eleanor smiled, but a bead of sweat glistened at her temple. The “lens” at her temple was glowing red-hot.

— The system works as long as the user has enough will.

— Understood. High margin, high cost of error, — the Auditor concluded.

Eleanor sat down.

Ariadne came out last. She looked out of place at this “pitch.” Barefoot, in a simple linen dress. She represented “Harmonica”.

Hieronymus and Eleanor rolled their eyes in sync. “NGO girl”.

— They are so noisy, — Ariadne said softly, and her voice carried across the hall without any amplifiers. — Some “break” the system. Others “force it to submit.” Both spend a tremendous amount of energy and create incredible “system garbage” — rollbacks, paradoxes, distortions.

— Our slogan: “We don’t do the impossible. We make the improbable inevitable”.

— We have no “API.” We have no “willpower training.” We believe that Reality System 1.0 is self-learning. It desires to be in equilibrium.

— What specifically do you offer? — asked the Auditor. — Sector 7-G is in recession. The “Hope Index” is at its lowest mark in history.

— Hieronymus will offer a ritual that steals “hope” from another sector, — said Ariadne. — Eleanor will offer a transmission of “will” that forces them to hope by strength. That is tyranny.

— And you? What do you offer?

— I offer optimization.

She displayed a probability map of Sector 7-G on the main screen. Billions of shimmering dots.

— In any system, there is a scenario with a probability of $10^{-100}$ that solves the problem perfectly, elegantly, painlessly. Here it is. — She pointed to one dot. — Case 884-B. A woman in a rainy city has just lost the last thing she had. The probability that she will now meet someone who will help her is equal to 0.000000000001%.

— And?

— We won’t interfere. We will simply... raise the priority of this event. We will make it so that the person who can help her, but is currently looking at his phone, accidentally looks up.

She closed her eyes. Nothing happened.

Hieronymus snorted.

The Auditor watched the main screen of the “Hope Index”.

Suddenly, the index swung slightly upward. +0.0001%.

— What is that? — asked Eleanor.

— That is them, — Ariadne said softly, without opening her eyes. — They met.

The index twitched upward again. +0.0003%.

— He shared about her online, — Ariadne continued, as if listening to music audible only to her.

+0.001%.

— Fundraising has begun.

+0.01%.

— Thousands of people see that the system is not hostile.

The “Hope Index” slowly but steadily crawled upward.

Ariadne opened her eyes.

— Our technology is not control. It is resonance. We do not fulfill “orders.” We process “requests” from the system itself for harmony.

The Auditor stood up.

— The decision has been made.

He looked at Hieronymus.

— “Ritual-Tech.” You receive the contract for the “Black Market” and the “Sector of Despair.” Your MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) is hopelessness. Demand will always exist.

He looked at Eleanor.

— “Will Inc.” You receive the “Corporate Sector” and the “Market of Ambition.” A highly competitive environment where everyone wants to be an “Administrator”.

Hieronymus and Eleanor nodded. They got what they wanted — their markets, their “investors”.

— Ariadne, — the Auditor looked at her. — “Harmonica”.

— We can take the “Charity Sector,” — she smiled.

— No, — said the Auditor. — You do not receive a market. You receive the protocol.

Eleanor and Hieronymus turned around.

— What?

— “Harmonica” becomes the base protocol for “Reality 2.0.” You, — he nodded to Hieronymus and Eleanor, — will fight for users in the “sandbox”. And she... she will set the rules of this “sandbox”.

The Auditor vanished. Hieronymus and Eleanor immediately flew at each other's throats, discussing the boundaries of their markets.

Ariadne shrugged and walked toward the exit. The battle for minds was over. The technology that required no faith, but merely gave hope, had just won the entire war without firing a single shot.