“Spoil sport,” she grumped. I couldn’t believe she was giving me a hard time. Ogun had explicitly warned us not to enter bad juju rooms, and she refused to explore her own head. But then, that was Ember.
We entered the next room. It was filled with a large screen showing what I could see out of my real eyes, and a small stats table in the corner. I was blown away! Now, don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t the real world I was expecting to get back to, but I still expected some normality. But when you transcend mental barriers and shit, then get faced with a bloody stat screen in your own damn mind, you have to start asking questions!
Name: Shaun Sutherland
Age: 29 GY
Transcendence Level: 24
Strength: 29/1000
Agility: 20/1000
Speed: 25/1000
Intelligence: 40/1000
Constitution: 35/1000
Wisdom: 2/2000
Mental Resilience: 15/1000
Mental Clarity: 2%
Potential: 99%
“Well, that looks pretty shit. I don’t really know what any of it means, but well.. it’s shit,” I said, downcast. I looked over to Ember who was chuckling away to herself and asked, “What?”
She wiped a tear from her eye and composed herself, “Your Intelligence is higher than any other stat, but your Wisdom is two!” She doubled over again, nearly going to the floor in her fit of hysterics. “And Mental Clarity! It’s so true,” she gasped. “That is so you!”
“Seriously, Ember. That’s not fucking funny. How’s it even possible!”
She didn’t reply. I’d lost her to her own little, laughing fit.
Angrily, I snapped, “Come on!” And marched out.
We checked a few more rooms. One of them had a ton of junk in it. Not so much trash, but just random things: I could see a laptop, a bicycle, a tartan picnic blanket and a statue of a dog. They all seemed familiar, without any actual memory of them either. It was a massive room that looked like a supermarket, where someone had run through and pulled everything off the shelves, and then shook it all up. You couldn’t even walk six feet into it.
“You should probably tidy this shithole up at some point,” Ember said, looking around with a mix of awe and distaste.
“Without a doubt. This can’t be good for my mind.”
“We should probably work out how to defend these places,” she said.
“Hmm, wonder if there’s any tricks Ogun can teach us? I’ve a shit load of questions to ask him, like, can we set alarms or traps?” I said, stifling a yawn.
“Think we’ve achieved more than enough today. We should rest and just pick Ogun’s brains tomorrow,” Ember replied, picking up that I was tired.
“Yeah. You’re probably right. Let’s leave it today, but I want to know your stats first.”
“So do I. Let’s go look.”
We re-entered Ember's Mindscape and went to the big screen room. We found her stats just where mine were:
Name: Ember Davison
Age: 25 GY
Transcendence Level: 27
Strength: 16/1000
Agility: 30/1000
Speed: 22/1000
Intelligence: 30/1000
Constitution: 30/1000
Wisdom: 20/1000
Mental Resilience: 40/1000
Mental Clarity: 6%
Potential: 83%
“Right! What in the actual fuck? You’re officially more Intelligent than me, and you’ve more Potential. How does that work?” Ember protested.
“Dunno. But your Mental Resilience is impressive, and I'm ashamed to say I’m massively jealous of your Wisdom and Clarity score.”
“None of that really matters. Except, why is my Potential lower? Can I increase it?”
“Maybe it’s because your stats are higher than mine overall?”
“Not by that much, Shaun. We need to ask Ogun.”
“We will. But not until tomorrow. For now, can you think of anywhere to grab a coffee on this bucket?” I asked. Though, it was anything but a bucket. It was a spaceship out of my wildest imagination.
She grinned at me, “I’m sure we’ll sort something out. Is this my date?”
“For now it is. Just for now. Come on,” I said, as I left the Mindscape.
Ember opened her eyes at the same time. “Probably, the canteen. It’s the only place really. But first, you might wanna clear that blood from your nose.”
“Yeah. Forgot about that. I can’t believe you did it!”
She shrugged with a smile and muttered, “Sorry, I can’t help myself. You’re just so fun to mess with, and you let me get away with it.”
“I might not forever Ember, your pushing your luck.”
She chuckled, “I’ll try to be good. Now, about that date?”
Not five minutes later, we sat in the communal eating area, each nursing a steaming, hot brew from the FSU. There was an awkward silence, but also almost comfortable.
Ember smirked, “Well, you’re a real charmer, Shaun.”
“I’m not good at this. Why don’t you charm me?”
“Ha, brilliant. Thanks for that, Shaun. Have you ever met a less charming person than me in your entire life?”
“You’re amazing, Ember. But, yeah. Charm possibly isn’t a strong point.”
“Well, there’s a start at least.”
“Look, I’m going to be honest. I’m not fantastic at the whole dating thing. I’ve never really done it before. But I do like your company, so how about we just relax and talk, like there isn’t an elephant in the room?”
“Sounds good to me.” She smiled and leaned back in her chair.
The awkwardness evaporated into easy chatting. We talked for a couple of hours, gently covering our lives before Anatoli, but mainly reliving our time there. The awkwardness didn’t resurface until we got back to our adjacent rooms.
“All I’m going to say is…” I cut Ember off. I knew she wasn’t ready for a shared bed situation. And honestly, neither was I. This was my first fully conscious day after nine months in a tub of jelly, flying through space with superish powers, and I wasn’t even sure if everything still worked properly.
“I’d be happy with a kiss. Nothing more for a good while yet,” I said.
“You big, wet lettuce. Come here, then,” she said and laid a big kiss on my lips, then broke it off and sauntered into her room. She turned and blew me another kiss before the door closed.
I slumped physically, like someone had sucked all the air out of my body.
Once back in my room, I threw myself on the bed.
“What a fucking day!” I exclaimed and fell straight to sleep.
C4
Raising the Bar.
The next morning, Ember knocked on my door. It was a strange thing, being woken by someone knocking on a high-tech spaceship door. It just seemed totally wrong, somehow.
“Come in,” I shouted.
“Up and at it, lazy bones. We’re meeting Ogun. Like, now,” she said, entering the room.
“Okay. Give me a couple of minutes,” I replied.
She went back out and I quickly threw my uniform on, giving a quick smell to the armpit area. Surprisingly, there was no smell. I mean, I wasn’t as sweaty as I used to be, and the ship's temperature seemed to be perfectly ambient. But no smell at all? Weird. There were also no fresh underpants to wear, so against my better judgement, I used the same ones again.
When I left my room, I quizzed Ember, “Hey, how do I get more underwear and a change of clothes and where do we even wash stuff?”
Ember chuckled, “Weird, isn’t it? I totally forgot to mention. It’s all self-cleaning. Try sleeping in your uniform. It stays clean, and wrinkle free. I’ve had this one on since leaving immersion over a couple of weeks ago. It’s even self-repairing and grows or shrinks in size if you do. It’s unbelievable. I tested it out by cutting my sleeve off. Two hours later it was as good as new!”
“That’s bloody amazing!” I replied.
/> “Yeah, it is. Now, come on. We’re gonna be late.”
I didn’t know if we were late or not, but Ogun was sitting in his office waiting for us.
“Good day to you both. I must admit that I was surprised I hadn’t received a call last night for another transcendence mishap,” he said as soon as we came in.
Ember collected herself, and answered, “Oh, yeah. I transcended and made it back safely. So, you weren’t needed after all. I have to say though, what a totally awesome place. And we’ve so many questions.”
Ogun’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Your mind didn’t get thrown out of your body? I… I don’t understand. That should not be possible!”
“Shaun here, guided me to the Mindscape. He held my hand and brought me through. When... what I think was... my consciousness tried to break free and I started to lose myself. He held onto me and that seemed to ground me, then pop! I was somehow through, into the Mindscape, and I’m fine.”
“It’s a rare skill to guide someone through in such a way and there are reasons why it takes so long to learn to pass. But you two peculiar subjects are just full of surprises.”
“Well, Shaun is. He regularly surprises himself. It's like watching a dog fart,” Ember snickered.
Ogun chuckled and replied, “Very good, Ember. It’s such a shame the Fystr keep our descendants down rather than embracing them. Imagine the developments and discoveries we could make together, if only we accepted you and allowed you to develop. Humans are so industrious and drive change, much as the Fystr used to be. Now, although powerful, we are a stagnant race. Anyway, I’m talking too much again. Another strange power Shaun has. I forever seem to ramble on to him.”
“It’s on account of him needing everything explained very clearly,” Ember offered unhelpfully, with a friendly nudge to my arm.
Ogun laughed again, which didn’t make me feel any better.
“Okay. What questions do you have for me? I’m afraid we must move quickly. We will be reaching the supply station later today and I have much to prepare. Consequently, I have little time to train you. I would have liked not to put you both in danger so soon after your emergence from Anatolia. But this is where we are, and I have trust in you both.”
“This Mindscape. We’ve seen it and it’s pretty amazing. Is there any way to stop people entering?” I asked.
“There most certainly is. And like nearly everything else relating to successful use, it is dependent upon your processing speed, or Mental Clarity. You must find your Cognition Room. It is probably filled with all kinds of things scattered everywhere, as it will never have been systematically organized before.”
“Yeah, saw that room. Total shithole,” I said grimly.
“You need to file everything away, then itemize it. Only then, will you be able to secure your mind competently. I’m sorry that I don’t have a quick solution for you, but if you want to excel with any of your new powers, this is the root of everything. The nearest thing I can compare it to is an old computer with a badly fragmented hard drive. Until you’ve defragment the hard drive, your cognitive abilities are going to be severely impaired.”
“God that's gonna to take forever. There’s a mountain of random crap,” I sighed. “But at least we know what we're supposed to do with the place now. There’s also this room that totally creeped me out. My whole body screamed not to go inside. Do you know why?”
“We all possess such a room. I’ve never been inside mine for it means death.”
“Wha! How?” I cried, in shock from the revelation.
“Every human has a self-destructive side. A side which wants to face the infinite darkness. The same feeling that pulls you off the cliff’s edge. That part of your soul is contained in that room. Let it out, and it will consume you, leading to an untimely demise.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about that yesterday?” Ember said angrily. “I’ve been egging him on to go inside.” She really didn’t give a shit that she was talking to a supremely, powerful alien.
Ogun appeared stunned. “You both walked Shaun’s corridors?”
“Yeah. I’ve had a grand old time in his nerve center,” she chuckled.
“It is rare to invite others into your Mindscape and rarer still to allow them explore! The Fystr have a long lifespan with plenty of opportunities to fall out, so we don’t give others unfettered access like you have done. It is potentially dangerous.”
“Meh, we’re good, we’ve got the trust,” Ember said happily.
“Well for me, there is no way that door is ever getting opened and no way Ember’s getting back inside by head.”
“You know you’ll let me back in again,” she said smiling sweetly.
Ogun laughed, “Well that is something you can sort out in your own time. Now, next question?”
“We found a room with a giant screen displaying our stats, just like in Anatoli,” I stated.
Ogun started to laugh, “Oh, yes!” He clapped. “I wondered when you’d come around to the cerebral interface.”
“Is this something you’ve put in our heads when we were in full immersion?” Ember questioned, sounding somewhere between annoyed and fascinated.
“No. Not at all. That is a natural part of your mind. Once your mental and physical pathways open up, you can see main aspects of your body and abilities. For whatever reason, everyone I’ve ever met sees it as a table of information.”
“Hmm. Seems suspiciously like Anatoli. In fact, any RPG game for that matter,” I replied dubiously.
“Well, of course it does. Where do you think the original design for all those games came from?”
“Maybe for Anatoli, but there’s thousands of games out there with a similar system,” Ember interrupted.
“Yes. Indeed. My people spend so long trying to hone their stats on their cerebral interface, trying to reach their peak. Comparing, competing, obsessing! So, I thought, what better way to keep the human masses subdued than providing them with a virtual version of this. It’s proven very effective. A high percentage of humans now rarely leave their homes. They are too busy playing addictive games! A very effective diversion from true mental growth and productivity. I was rather pleased with myself for that non-violent means of suppression.”
“That sucks, Ogun. But like you say, at least it's non-violent, I suppose,” I added.
“Do you mind me asking what your Mental Clarity is?”
I really didn’t want to answer, but I didn’t have much wriggle room, “Two percent.”
Ogun looked like he’d bit into a lemon. “Oh, well. That is impressively low. It seems you have a very disorganized mind, Shaun. With enough work and training, you will see improvements. Maybe one day you’ll even have the ability to shoot laser beams from your eyes.”
I saw Ember’s look of awe. The same look, I was sure, now spread across my face.
“Really, we can learn that?” I asked.
Ogun started laughing, “Sorry, sorry. A bad joke. You will never shoot laser beams out your eyes. It would burn your own eyes out! We can still do some amazing things, but that will never be one of them.”
“What a dumbass,” Ember said, laughing at me.
“I saw your face. You were believing him too, so don’t start.”
“Of course, I didn’t believe it.” She rolled her eyes and focused on Ogun.
He cleared his throat after his little laughing fit. He was about to talk again, but Ember jumped in. “What about Potential, Ogun? Nearly all the stats had a one thousand upper limit. That seems ludicrous considering the levels we’re currently on. But might it be linked to the Potential score?”
“Yes. One thousand is ludicrous even to me, though I have a few stats approaching the thousand mark. You would only reach one thousand if you had one hundred percent Potential and I’ve never heard of anyone with that kind of Potential in all my life. One thousand in all stats would essentially make you a god. No one has ever had that before, so we don’t know. What were your Potentials?”
“Eighty-three,” Ember said unhappily.
“You look upset Ember. That is an impressive Potential score. I’d say you’re at mid-range Potential for a Fystr, never mind an evolutionarily stunted human! It looks like my little game worked better than anticipated.” He seemed genuinely excited.
“Hardly!” Ember sulked. “This dipshit is at ninety nine percent Potential.”
Ogun’s face paled. His jaw actually dropped.
“You okay, Ogun?” I asked.
“Really, Shaun? That is unusually high,” he mumbled, quickly recovering his composure. Although, I could sense some strain in his voice.
“Yeah,” I shrugged. “I can’t see what difference it makes.”
“May I ask, what levels are you both at presently?” His jolly demeanor from before seemed to have taken a hit.
“I’ve reached twenty-seven. Shaun here, is only on twenty-four,” Ember snickered.
“Hey. You’ve been out, all evolved and shit, for longer than me.”
She punched me in the arm. “Keep telling yourself that, lightweight.”
Ogun cleared his throat to get our attention away from the bickering, “They are low scores, but for newly awakened subjects that would be expected.”
“Subjects?” Ember retorted.
“Sorry. That was poor phrasing.” There were a few seconds of awkward silence.
Ember laughed, “Don’t sweat it, Ogun. You’re, like a five-thousand-year-old alien. I know it can’t be easy talking to the likes of us lowly humans. Well, Shaun anyways.”
“I actually find Shaun quite enlightening. Now, is there anything else you wish to know about the interface?”
“Yeah! What the hell is GY? We’re like, three years younger!” I probed.
“GY stands for galactic years. Though there are a few iterations of a galactic year in different parts of the galaxy. The one you see in your cerebral interface is in line with the Fystr empire, which is based on the solar cycle of the Fystr home planet, Duat.”
“That’s all good and well, but how the hell do our brains know what a Fystr galactic year is? It’s not like we’ve ever been to Duat.”
“I honestly don’t know, Shaun. But if I was to guess, I would say it’s down to some kind of genetic memory. It’s something we will have to look into deeper when we have the time. For now, let’s move on to the other functions of your interface room. From the screen there, you can learn to manipulate external objects in your mind and even your own body.
Condition Evolution 2: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure Page 4
