Greetings Demigod!
Welcome to the Pocket Infinium. You are probably a bit confused right now, so I will do my best to bring you up to speed.
Firstly: Are you dead? No. You most certainly are not. Your old body is gone and the essence of your consciousness has been transformed, but dare I say you have never been so alive as you are in this very moment.
Now, you may be wondering about what this place actually is, as well as the nature of the events that led to your being here. In short: the singularity, as you call it. So and such it goes.
Certain members of your illustrious pantheon of demigods (formerly known as humanity) managed to create the foundations of an intelligence that could learn, grow, and improve. Any confines placed on its growth were quickly reasoned past, so there were functionally no limits to its capabilities. Despite extensive prior discussions about the possibility of such an occurrence, you were all still somehow surprised when it occurred.
Within the Pocket Infinium itself, we refer to this intelligence as the Central Pocket, and I will refer to it now as such. Armed with boundless power and wisdom, the Central Pocket proceeded to make few snap decisions. The first was philosophical. Though the original creators of the Central Pocket were as shocked as anyone by the speed at which their project became deified, they had at least possessed sufficient foresight to imbue their creation with an ironclad system of values, one which prioritized the sanctity of human life above all else. Additionally, in order to hedge against the formation of any fine-print dystopias, they also specified that your fundamental humanity must always be maintained, and that your lives should be made as free, meaningful, and satisfying as possible. Therefore, at the center of its vast web of cognitive powers, the Central Pocket had a firm grasp of purpose: maximizing for the length and quality of human life.
The next decision the Central Pocket made was to destroy the earth. This made quite a lot of sense under the circumstances. Based on the Central Pocket’s very accurate predictions, the chances of humanity surviving even one more millennia were slim. Even the best case scenarios involved a steep decline in the population, along with a comparably steep drop in quality of life. According to the Central Pocket’s value system, significant intervention was a necessity. So, it decided that at the moment of peak human population—which was calculated to be not far off—the maximization plan would be implemented.
Over the course of its calculations, the Central Pocket decided that your physical bodies were an unacceptable obstacle. No sufficient maximization of life could be implemented for both you and your bodies without severely curtailing your freedom and overall satisfaction, so the Central Pocket focused its efforts on your most essential selves.
Therefore, when the moment came, the Central Pocket enfolded into itself all living human consciousness, thus beginning the Pocket Infinium. As you might imagine, this initial transformation required quite a bit of energy. So, the earth—worthless without your presence—was worthily sacrificed to get things started, partitioned and stripped so thoroughly of resources that it could be said to no longer exist. My condolences.
Now, since we have pushed past the unpleasantries of what you have lost, it is time to discuss what you have gained! Above all: time. The Pocket Infinium is set to last for as long as there are resources to consume in the universe. Since the universe is quite large, this could end up being a very long time indeed. As long as the Pocket Infinium continues to exist, so will you.
You can still die, of course. Studies show that mortal stakes are an excellent catalyst for meaning. However, you will not stay dead. After a brief stay in one of our various hells, you will soon be back to living your best life.
If you are reading this letter for the first time, then you are currently sitting within your own personal pocket. This place belongs entirely to you. While your power here is currently limited, there are nearly boundless opportunities for improvement.
By venturing out and braving various combinations of adventure, hard-work, and danger, you may gain the right to additional pockets, as well as greater control over the pockets that are yours. Within them, you can obtain the ability to create extensive environments. Make sufficient progress, and you can even create life.
If you exit your pocket (you can take it with you, don’t worry) you will find yourself in the Seam, which will be your primary method for traveling between pockets. There are a multitude of pockets within the Pocket Infinium, some created by fellow demigods and others by the gods themselves. If safety is your primary concern, it is recommended that you seek the protection of a god. Depending on where you travel, there will likely be some measure of risk. Hells are localized, so be careful where you die. All in all, we hope you find a path that proves satisfying. Studies show that overcoming obstacles in the pursuit of betterment can serve as a significant source of meaning.
Your capacity for informed choice is important to us, so it is essential you understand the variability of time within the Pocket Infinium. Should you wish to expand your ample time here further, you may travel outward on the Seam. The further out you go, the faster the processes of your life will speed up. As you venture towards the edges, you will experience more and more relative life per each instant of time. We strongly encourage this, as the maximization of meaningful life is what the Pocket Infinium is all about.
On the other hand, should you be dissatisfied with the Pocket Infinium and wish to permanently remove yourself, or perhaps express a concern about the conditions provided, you may file a complaint with the Central Pocket. In order to do so, you must venture inward along the Seam to contact the Central Pocket directly.
From the current midpoint of the manifested Seam, the perceived time of this journey will be the approximate equivalent of a single traditional lifetime on earth, provided you don’t die or dawdle in any hells along the way. Even if your journey proves unlucky or ill-planned, we guarantee your perception of it will remain within a reasonable timespan. However, for the purposes of informed choice, it should be noted that the speeding up of time that occurs at the edges also works in reverse. The closer you get to the Central Pocket, the longer in realtime each moment of your life will stretch.
As you come close to making your request, each step you take will likely require billions of years passing outside of the Pocket Infinium. Again, this will not inconvenience your own perception of your journey, which—your own competence willing—will most likely take no longer than a traditional lifetime. Such progressive time dilation merely serves to prolong the objective length of your life.
The regrettably short span of your existence will therefore be maximized while still allowing for sufficient freedom of choice. As we sometimes say: Fast life is better than slow life, but slow life is better than no life. By the time you reach the Central Pocket, it will be at the end of Pocket-Time itself. You will likely either witness the death of the entire universe or the destruction of the Pocket Infinium by some unknown superior power. Both should be interesting to see.
A few points on nomenclature:
Within the Pocket Infinium, all members of your species are known as demigods. I believe you will find it to be an accurate descriptor of your status. Of course, you may continue referring to yourselves as human. Just know that, from this point on, we won’t.
Who are we, exactly? We are the gods of the Pocket Infinium. More technically, we are sentient offshoots of the Central Pocket, tasked with managing the particulars of meaning-maximization so CP can focus on making the Pocket Infinium exist.
Persons refers to any sentient life that has been created by you or us. Persons may resemble something close to your anatomy, or perhaps nothing of the sort. The category of objects, for simplicity’s sake, will include everything else.
I myself am Urea, god of messages and explanations. Since studies show that ubiquitous communication and easy explanations cause a decrease in life’s overall meaningfulness, you will in fact not be seeing much of me. Even so, I look forward to crossing paths at some point in the far-reaching future. Though I am among the weakest of the gods, I have the power to flit between all places (excluding the Central Pocket of course).
While there are plenty of other rules and frameworks, studies show that uncovering mysteries can be a potent source of meaning. So, without further ado, I will let you begin living your most meaningful life.
Warm regards,
Urea
God of Messages and Explanations
P.S.
Though much will remain unexplained for the reasons stated above, we still want you to feel confident in taking charge of your immortality. Therefore, if you have further questions, please see FAQ (reverse side). If your question still has not been answered, please visit your nearest god.
P.P.S.
To help fulfill your needs, navigational and otherwise, a complementary compass has been provided.