The challenge scared most,

The challenge was the most intimate two minds can get apart from become one within an Angel. Brain waves came 

some have said you can feel your mind bending out of shape when under intense pressure from the opponent. 

the heavenly realm was where most of west.net spent their lives. while it was recommended for a person to unplug and rejoin the real world at least once a week, very few people found the time. for a start all wants and needs of the physical body were taken care of by the dream-sim capsule.

the west.net had a number of advantages, for a start there was never any need to sleep, for this reality was in fact an unending dream, all be it a dream that wasn't forgotten when one awoke.

the realm had grown out of dream-simulator technology, throughout the early 21st century steps were taken to enhance the experience of the virtual world. first had come augmented reality goggles added layers of extra stimuli and virtual reality headsets allowed one to break from reality all together but these were nothing compared to dream-sim.

Dream-sim uses ones own mind to host the simulated reality, just like dreams. You're brain is kept on REM sleep waves and you dream the entire time you are within the realm. However unlike dreams of the old days, in this new dream state you are connected to the rest of west.net, able to move around massive virtual cities, worlds even universes. You are connected to every other

Trader's Den

Between London and New York was a tunnel carved out of the Earth's mantel. It had been built by the market for the market, it gave a distinct advantage to the trader algo's that used it to outcompete their peers on currency, stocks and bonds. Starting off as a single transmission line the demand had been so great, it had now been increased in size to a tunnel a kilometer wide, full of trasmission lines and supporting systems.

In time even this small delay was beaten by another feat of engineering, the Traders Den. Near the centre of the tunnel closest to the earth's core a large cavity had been etched out of the rock and a hub of computational power meshed with minds now resided supported by geothermal energy from the earth's core. Trader's den cut the time in half again for traders and now most northern hemisphere market decisions were made from this one concentration of intelligence. London and New York with their deep pools of computational power within their think tanks now functioned more as its eyes and ears for the decision makers within the earth's core.

The den was off limits, to normal minds and most angels. It had become the central hub of human decision making. 

Short conversation at the games

At the games

Clovis thought himself as a bit of a surgeon of the mind. He had rehabilitated a number of minds who had challenged him, but the job was god-awful Mattius thought. More of a butcher than a surgeon.

"Who is he?" asked Clovis.

"A burnout, one of the latest. Almost fried the angel whole, had to cut the fucker out quick. Angel recovered, and let this poor chap try reconstitute whatever is left of his mind." Mattius said.

"Regular sob story. Recon I could help him with his rehabilitation?", Clovis said grinning.

"Unlike most brain burnouts, this one seems to be holding it together.. and his angel was no ordinary supervisor. Was in some high up shit, one of the special research units. Who knows what this guy remembers of it but he will have some strong defenses, besides" Mattius laughed, "you don't mind fuck the undead."