"That would be nice," said Jack. "I realize we won't be able to get full Internet access, but being able to at least do regular data transfers would be nice."
"True," said Madison. Then she asked, "By the way, how much does it cost to take snapshots and run simulations? And how much... Energy Points was it?...do you generate?"
"So, right now my EP capacity and generation rate are maxed and I won't be able to increase either until I can increase by soul strength. But that's looking like an unreachable goal because I need one trillion GP but I only have 10 billion points and the only way I have right now to earn that many would take thousands of years. So, I'm capped at 10 thousand EP per second with a storage limit of one trillion EP."
"That sucks about the GP. Maybe you'll discover a new type of achievement in the future."
"I sure hope so, 'cause right now that feature is just sitting there taunting me."
"I hear ya'," she said. "So, what about snapshot and simulation costs? Is one trillion EP enough? At your current EP rate, that would take like-"
"Three years, if I turn off everything and do nothing the entire time."
"Right, three years. So, at least you don't have to worry about any of your EP gen going to waste."
"Yes, that's why I maxed it."
"Makes sense. So, about the snapshot and simulation costs?"
"The snapshot cost depends on the level of detail. At maximum detail, Subatomic, the cost is one EP per meter radius. At Atomic, 1 EP per ten meters radius, at Nominal, 1 EP per kilometer radius, and at Approximate, 1 EP per 100 kilometers radius."
"Wait, are you saying the cost scales linearly with radius instead of exponentially?"
"Heck if I know. Besides, are you gonna complain about a linear cost increase for exponential benefit increase?"
"No, I guess not. So, what about simulation costs?"
"The per second cost is the snapshot cost divided by one thousand."
"Okay. So a ten meter radius Atomic level snapshot would cost one EP and a simulation based on it would cost 1 EP per 1000 seconds?"
"Yes, I think that's right."
She pulled out her phone and did some quick math. "And, an Atomic level snapshot that covered the whole Earth would have to be over thirteen thousand kilometers because the center would be on the surface, so say rounded up to fourteen, that comes out to one point four million EP. And, the simulation would cost fourteen hundred EP per second."
"Sure, I guess that sounds right. But that simulation would suck because there would be no sun."
"Oh, right. Damn, that means the sim cost would be much higher."
He wondered, though, did a snapshot have to have the same level of detail throughout? He resumed Jeeves, then asked, "Jeeves, it is possible to create a snapshot with more than one level of detail?"
"Yes, Jack. To do that, you can first choose the snapshot size, then you can select areas you want to have higher levels of detail, then take the snapshot with the edited levels."
"And if I start a simulation based on that snapshot, will it run at the detail levels from the snapshot?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Great!" he said, then paused Jeeves again. When paused, Jeeves disappeared from the white room.
Turning back to Madison, he said, "There you have it, a way to have the sun in the simulation without incurring enormous costs."
She did some more calculation on her phone. "Okay, so the sun is basically 150 million kilometers away, but we probably want to include the other planets for any long running sims. Pluto is between 5 and 7 billion kilometers from the sun. If we round that up to ten, that will include the 150 million kilometers between Earth and the sun, so a snapshot radius of 10 billion kilometers should do it. 10 billion divided by 100 kilometers per EP gives you 100 million EP per snapshot. And divided by 1000 gives you one hundred thousand EP per second."
"Jack, I think you could win the lottery."
"Say what?" said both of him at the same time. How did she get from solar-system spanning simulation to win the lottery?
"Win the lottery. I figure use Atomic level detail for Earth and Approximation for the rest of the solar system. You should be able to predict the next lottery numbers."
"Damn, that could work!"
He'd been thinking of how he could use simulations to make academic life easier and how he could accelerate scientific advancements, but hadn't thought about using it to make money. But, as soon as Madison mentioned winning the lotter, a flood of money-making ideas swamped his brain, and he started imagining the things he would do with all that money. New car, new laptop, new phone, better house, new clothes, luxury hotels, yachts, all the things he associated with being rich. He also briefly thought about, but then discarded the idea of buying top of the line lab equipment. Why bother when he could just templatize whatever he needed and instantiate it in his soul space?
They stopped selling tickets about an hour before the drawing, so he'd need to run the simulation for at least an hour, plus whatever time it took to get to a store, fill out the manual number selection form, then buy the ticket. So, maybe two hours. So, he'd need about a day to save up the EP needed for a single attempt.
They chatted excitedly about the possibility as he crawled through late morning rush hour traffic. Their physical selves talked about what they would do if they won the lottery, their soul space selves discussed the logistics of how to buy a ticket anonymously. Once they had a plan in place, their discussions turned to other topics.
Jack had just pulled into a parking spot and was getting ready to get out of the car when Madison per her hand on his thigh.
"Wait. Please," she said.
He turned to look at her questioningly.
"I... I'm sorry. I know I said it yesterday. But, I just wanted to repeat it. Because of the soul bond, I was able to think about things more clearly, and I think I understand a little better now just how much I hurt you. So, thank you for giving me a chance to earn your forgiveness."
Feeling her sincerity through their connection, he just nodded, then patter her hand on his thigh, before climbing out of his car. There was no need for him to say anything. She could feel his response over their connection.