(Infirmary, BSS Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Sol
System)
System Message
This is an automated message to inform you that a Class 6 event
has occurred in game, causing a fluctuation in your vital signs. As an EVA-02
Medical Research Pod user, your current condition is being actively monitored
by health professionals, who will intervene remotely if necessary. If you
experience any non-game-related health conditions, please contact your
medical supervisor immediately.
Thank you for using NERV products.
|
Galactic Alert
A massive psychic event has occurred in Sol System and Coldana
system. Long-term effects of the event are unknown. Short-term effects
include synesthesia and other medical symptoms amongst those affected.
Similar events may happen in other parts of Known Space.
|
System Notice
You have encountered a massive psychic event. The long-term
effects of this event, which included a massive wave of psychic energy in Sol
System are unknown. Short-term local effects are unpredictable.
You have the following changes to your status:
You have gained enough XP to advance to level 60.
You have gained the perk Chaos-Touched.
The skills Mental Psy Mastery, Physical Psy Mastery, Force Psy
Mastery, and Energy Psy Mastery have been merged into the new skill: Sorcery.
Sorcery Skill set at 60/100.
You have gained the skill Foresight at 1/100.
You have gained the title The First Sorcerer.
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Sorcery
Your exposure to the untamed energies of chaotic space have
altered your psychic abilities. You are now able to manipulate the energies
of chaotic space directly with your mind. You are still capable of using Psy
powers you knew before, but you may also improvise new powers in the heat of
battle, though this will cause more of a strain, and may leave you open to
corruption by the chaotic energies.
+10 CHA, +10 WIS
|
Foresight
The warped energies of chaotic space have given you insight into
the flows of time. You are able to catch glimpses of possible futures. The
strength and accuracy of these glimpses are unknown. Training this skill may
improve accuracy of the visions, and how far into the future they may
stretch.
+1 WIS
|
Chaos-Touched
You bear the mark of chaotic energies upon you, but you have
mastered them to a great extent. Forged in the energies of chaotic space, you
have gained mastery over Sorcery, a heretofore unknown power, and they have
infused your chimeric blood with new power.
All Psy Powers and Sorcery costs reduced by 10%.
|
The First Sorcerer
You are the first Sorcerer known to the Galaxy. All others who
walk the path of the sorcerer know your name, and may seek you out for
guidance. All those who are fearful of these new forces in the world may
become your enemies. The exact effects of this title are currently unknown.
|
My eyes swam as I tried to make sense of the notifications I
was getting. The last thing I remembered was fighting against the creatures
that came out of the rift. There was an explosion? No. Something else. A wave!
That’s right. Some kind of energy wave came out of the rift. I remember bracing
for impact, and then… nothing.
I groaned, and tried to sit up, but was rewarded with the
sensation of getting hit by a truck, after a night out drinking far too much
whiskey and not enough water. Suffice to say I laid back against the bed. Bed?
I didn’t want to turn my head too much or too quickly, for fear of the truck
coming back, but I was enough to recognize an infirmary room.
“Ah, Admiral, you’re finally awake.”
That voice. I knew that voice. “R-raven? What the hell
happened? Where am I?”
The android came into view above me, smiling brightly.
“Well, at least you can still speak. That’s good. And to answer your second
question first, we’re in the infirmary wing of the Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi.
What is the last thing you remember?”
I took a breath. “We were fighting the ships that came out of
the rift into chaotic space. Ugly things, that looked like they’d been thrown
together in a scrapyard, but lots of weapons on them. The Tiamat had
just started boarding actions on the biggest ship, using the new drill design
the eggheads had come up with. The battle was going well, once we realized that
the various squadrons didn’t behave like military. Once the chain of command
was disrupted, they fell apart. And then you said something about a wave.”
“Good, you didn’t lose too much time. There was some worry
about that, you know.” She paused, and then said, “The wavefront that moved out
of the rift was comprised of pure psychic energy, of a type and intensity that
has not been recorded before. Frankly, the amount of energy in that wavefront
should have melted the brains of every living creature in the system. The fact
that anything survived is damn surprising. However, there were side effects.”
I didn’t say anything as she helped me into a sitting position,
to keep my head from making my stomach rebel. I was grateful when she handed me
some water. As I sipped it, I looked over myself. I didn’t look any different,
for the most part. But I certainly felt different. Like power was running
through me unchecked. It felt like I could do anything! No one could
deny me! No one could refuse me. All would bow to my will, with just a word
from my lips!
I took a breath, trying to center myself. Getting delusions
of being unstoppable and invincible was a great way to go down the road to
supervillainy, and that never worked out in the comics for long. “I take it not
everyone was affected in the same way? What are the most common side effects?”
“Much like the psychic screams emitted by the Harvester in
Coldana, all living creatures were stunned temporarily by the psychic
wavefront. While a full study is still underway, and data collection on the
unshielded portions of Terra is difficult to achieve in a reasonable time
frame, the data so far has been intriguing. In 45.83 percent of individuals,
this was the extent of the issue, with individuals losing consciousness for
anywhere from thirty seconds to two hours. For 23.75 percent of the affected
population, the period of unconsciousness lasted anywhere from one to eight
hours, at the end of which any latent psychic ability was forcibly activated,
resulting in unpredictable talents. In 12.49 percent of individuals,
unconsciousness lasted no more than fifteen seconds, following which random
mutations spawned over the course of minutes to hours. Of these, roughly
two-thirds had some form of beneficial or cosmetic mutation, which would not
affect their daily lives. The other third, unfortunately, had more extreme
mutations, many of which proved fatal during the course of the change. In 11.87
percent of people, existing psychic potential was amplified in some way, with
many individuals gaining new talents in the process. These people were under
for eight to twenty-four hours. In 6.05 percent of individuals, the energy
overwhelmed their minds, and they experienced total memory loss, with even
mental psy users being unable to find any shred of their former identities.”
“If my math processor is correct, those numbers don’t add up
to 100 percent.”
“Indeed. In 0.01 percent of individuals, the wavefront
produced startling effects. All these individuals were under for significantly
longer than average, and those that have woken up have reported new and strange
abilities. The only linking factors between these individuals is that they were
all psychically active and practiced in the use of their abilities, and that
they were each in a position of power which caused many individuals to look to
them for leadership in some way.”
I took another breath. “All right. I guess since you’ve
phrased your description so carefully, that I am in that last group?” Raven
nodded. “Fine, in that case, how long have I been out? A day?” Raven shook her
head. “Two days?” Another shake. “How long?”
“You’ve been unconscious for four days, thirteen hours,
twenty-seven minutes, and fifteen seconds. Congratulations, you are the second
slowest in the system to awaken! I expect that you will find yourself even more
the center of attention now than you used to be.”
Four and a half days? I’d been asleep for four and a half
days? That had to be why the system gave me a medical alert. They probably
didn’t pull me from the pod because the pod was already monitoring my vitals,
and had life support functions. Fine. I’d have to have a ‘conversation’ with
the dev team later, when I had time.
“You said I’m the second slowest to wake up. Who is the
slowest, then?”
“Why, the Empress, of course!”
(In-Game Chat, Sol System)
Inquisitor: Death toll is continuing to rise, as
individuals succumb to injuries or mutations, but the numbers look to be
stabilizing. Fortunately, most vehicles in motion at the time of the incident
were civilian models, and had automatic safeguards in place, even if they were
being run by manual controls. The worst should be behind us, for now.
Parca: Which is all well and good for people who were on
a planet, driving cars, but there was a space battle going on when that shit
happened. Lot of good pilots and crew died because they fell unconscious while
they were flying, or fighting fires, or any other number of things.
Fansy_the_Famous: Damn, that sucks. I mean, I know plenty
of people died in the fighting itself, but dying because you fell unconscious
and ran into another ship? That’s brutal. Almost as bad as truck-san sending
you off into an Isekai.
M.Mollen has entered the chat.
Grimdark: Speaking of anime protagonists! Welcome back to
the land of the living!
Aegis: Hey boss! Glad to see you up. The girls will be
glad know this.
Fansy_the_Famous: Give the poor man a chance to get his
wits about him, and maybe a good meal in his belly, before you go ravishing him
to death! I know he’ll respawn, but still!
Starwatcher: Huh. Guess I lost 100 credits.
M.Mollen: You betting that I would be the last to wake
up?
Starwatcher: In my defense, it is totally the kind of
thing that would happen to you.
Aegis: He’s got you there, boss.
Parca: Yeah, he’s not wrong.
Grimdark: But you’re forgetting that the people who were
asleep longest were the most important types. Mollen may be big news, but in
Sol System there is no one more important than the Empress.
Inquisitor: The Empress protects.
Grimdark: The Empress protects.
M.Mollen: Indeed, I’m not surprised the Empress has been
out longer than I was. I expect that she’ll have some interesting abilities
when she wakes up. To say nothing of her kids when they’re born.
Starwatcher: That’s right, the people who stayed under
extra long all got cool powers and abilities! What did you get?
M.Mollen: Well, without giving too much away, I can tell
you that I got a new title, The First Sorcerer.
InspectHerGadget: Damn! I knew that there were other
sorcerers, but how come you get to be all special and be the ‘First’?
M.Mollen: Well, just taking a wild guess, where were you
when the wave hit?
InspectHerGadget: Uh, well, I was in the slave markets on
the Choson Ring. I might have gotten in a little bit of trouble due to certain
events, and woke up with a collar. But what does that have to do with anything?
M.Mollen: Because I was out by the rift, aboard my
flagship. That wave hit me before you. Judging by the description I got on the
wave’s effects, I’d say that I was probably the first potential ‘Sorcerer’ to
get hit with the wave, which gave me the title.
Grimdark: Interesting. What does the title do for you?
M.Mollen: A little bit about everyone knowing my name,
blah blah blah. People may seek you out, yadda yadda yadda, and so on, all
ending with “The exact effects of this title are currently unknown.”
Inquisitor: Ugh, I hate titles like that. The open-ended
ones can lead to a lot of unpleasant situations if you aren’t careful.
Lucio has entered the chat.
M.Mollen: Ah, Lucio, good to see you’re all right. How’s
the Empress?
Lucio: Admiral! Good, you’re awake. You need to get to
the Aurum Throni as soon as possible. The Empress is awake, and, well,
you’ll see when you get here.
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Be sure to read my published works!
Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J
Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354XBook I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y
City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1
Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR
SCI Stories (Dark Supervillain story):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL93VQN
Winterborn (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082S3S3K8
