Awakening

[Draco Cyberneticus]

While going about your day you notice people suddenly stiffen in shock and stare out into space, and then appear to faint. You don't have to wonder what is going on for very long because suddenly a screen like seen in computer games appears in your vision.

 

Scanning and assessing Earth δ0013 β9 for assimilation into System.

ERROR -- Interface Remenants detected in Sophont -- ERROR

Aborting access to tutorial.

Attempting Interface Reconstruction.

Unknown Interface Type.

Attempting Interface Patching.

Interface Active.

Error Corrected.

Welcome Sophont back to the System. Interface Damage prevented recovery of Levels and Skills, resetting you to Level 1. 3 extra respawns awarded as compensation.

 

As this translucent blue window fades from your view, you black out only to awaken on a beach near a one cubic meter chest with four strangely square torches around it (see gallery). By the position of the sun it appears to be high noon, but the light level is indicative of mid morning. Something also appears subtly wrong with the horizon.

[Barrigan]

When it happened, it was like nothing else Astrid had ever experienced. It was late morning on a normal day and she was halfway back to the office with a mocha in hand, checking her emails on her phone when the man in front of her just stopped in his tracks. Astrid had to sidestep to avoid running into him but before she could curse his inattention she spotted what had probably distracted him.

Before her was a screen, floating in midair and displaying a bunch of data. Everyone around her was staring at a point just in front of them as well and some were poking at something she couldn't see so it was a good bet they were seeing what she was as well.

She had just enough time to see some kind of error message appear before she blacked out and woke up on a beach. After a moment's disorientation Astrid sat up, patting herself down and taking stock. She still had all her limbs at least. Something was off though, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The light was there but it was wrong. It was as if the light on the beach wasn't coming from the sun she could see. It was too weak. Right overhead it should have been blazing, at least if she was still in Australia, but it wasn't. It was the cool light of morning at best.

The horizon was weird too, although she couldn't figure out why. Astrid stared out to sea, trying to work out what was bothering her about it. After a moment trying to work it out she decided to investigate the only other thing on the beach with her. The strange square chest and the weird square torches. She walked around the chest in a circle, inspecting it from all sides.

Who put it here? How did she get here? Where even was here? But the question that plagued her the most of all: what was inside?

Hesitantly, she opened it.

[Draco Cyberneticus]

Finally realizing that horizon has a subtle upwards curve instead of the downwards curve you are used to. Upon walking up to one meter tall chest, you realize it is a little taller than you are, but it opens easily. While pushing the lid up, instinctually flap your wings and fly up to look in the chest. Inside the chest your find; a bottle containing a faintly glowing blue liquid, 150 copper coins, and two glowing books. As you finish looking in the chest a rapidly blinking icon that looks like a phone screen attached to a bracer catches your notice. As you focus on the bracer a translucent blue window opens in front of you:

Multiple Personal Information Processors detected.

Choices to be made:

1> Smallest Device: Leave Technological, Make Psionic, or Make Psitech? PhoneApple

2> Middle Device: Leave Technological, Make Arcane, or Make Magictech PhoneAndroid

3> Large Device: Leave Technological, Make Psionic, Make Arcane, Make MagiPsi, Make Psitech, Make MagiPsiTech?

4> Only one PiP may be in a usable state at a time, a one time offer is made to combine these devices into one for convinience, functionality will be perserved. Yes or No?

[Barrigan]

Astrid had one hand on the chest lid when the realisation hit her. The horizon curved up. She wasn't versed in physics, or even geography, well enough to know what that meant though. If down meant you were standing on the outside of a spherical planet, did up mean she was on the inside of one? Or was this some kind of space station built to look like a natural space?

There wasn't much she could do about it right now so she moved on to focus on what was in front of her. The chest was much bigger than she'd thought before she got up close to it. It had looked about a metre tall but it must be closer to two meters considering it was taller than she was. That thought gave her pause for a moment. Paying attention now she realised everything else was weird too. Things looked further away than usual, except for the ground. That was closer.

The chest, and everything else, wasn't bigger than she thought. She was smaller! Less than a metre tall apparently. She looked down, checking her body and pulling a lock of hair in front of her eyes. Still blonde. Still female. Two legs, two arms, five fingers and toes on each. She was still her, just miniaturised apparently.

With no more to go on and no one to ask, Astrid gave up on figuring out why she had shrunk for the moment and turned back to the chest. She pushed the lid up easily but was now too short to see inside. Standing on her toes got her a little more height but not enough. Stretching as much as she could and willing herself just a little bit higher worked and she could see down into the box.

Astrid took in its contents for a moment before her brain caught up and she realised she couldn't just will herself higher. She looked down. Her feet were dangling in mid air. There was a sound from behind her as well and she looked over her shoulder to see a pair of delicate wings beating furiously, holding her aloft. She had used them unthinkingly, as naturally as raising her arm to open the box she had raised her body to see inside.

Perhaps the act of becoming aware of them brought them under conscious control or perhaps her subconscious was still convinced that she didn't have wings and couldn't fly. Either way the wings came to an abrupt stop and she dropped to the ground. It wasn't far but she still landed awkwardly.

After a moment to collect herself, Astrid giggled lightly, an image springing into her mind. She might have passed out in the middle of the day, she might have woken up on a strange beach and found herself shrunken and somehow with wings but somehow none of that mattered right now. Her fall brought to mind the image of a certain cartoon coyote who could run on air and didn't fall until he realised there was nothing beneath him.

Coyote

The laugh was good for her. It centred her. Whatever was going on she would have to adapt to it, at least until she could figure out what happened and what she could do about it. She didn't seem to be in any danger, there was no one else here, which was a blessing and a curse. She had nothing to work with though and no clues, except for what was in the chest.

Astrid concentrated for a moment, trying to feel the wings on her back but it was unfamiliar and would take some getting used to. It might be better to work on instinct in this case. To use them as she had before, without thinking, as a natural response. She though about being higher again, looking into the chest and suddenly she was, her wings responding as easily to her will as her arms and legs had all her life. Not wanting to think too hard about it and risk falling again, she peered into the chest.

There were a bunch of things in there including a bottle, some money and two books, but what caught her eye was a screen appearing before her, the same as the one she had seen before she passed out. It featured a blinking notification in the shape of a bracer with a display. Astrid focused on it and another blue screen popped up .

"Personal information processors? Small, medium and large devices? Is it talking about my phones and laptop? Is this my stuff?" Astrid took another look at the objects inside the chest. If the coins were the cash in her wallet, then the bottle of liquid must be... "My coffee? But then what are the books?" She put the thought aside for the moment and dealt with the questions from the screen. It wanted to convert her devices into another form, but if she could only use one at a time then combining them was probably the best way to go. She'd had enough of carting around multiple devices to last a lifetime. "Yes, all in one please," she replied, wondering if it responded to her voice or if she had to press something, "and magitech sounds fun I guess!" The act of choosing felt good. It felt like she had some small amount of control over her situation which was something she sorely needed right now. Decision made, Astrid waited to see what effect it would have.

Edited April 21 by Barrigan (see edit history)

[Draco Cyberneticus]

Slight CorrectionThe bracer is not in the chest it is an ICON in the corner of your field of view. Paying attention to it opend a prompt window.

The Yes or No? seems to be unresponsive, maybe you need to choose power for each device first?

Edited April 19 by Draco Cyberneticus (see edit history)

[Barrigan]

 

Astrid didn't have much luck trying to activate the combination of the devices. It seemed like the queries had to be answered in order.

She had no idea what half of those words meant but if given the choice she figured more options was usually good. With her work phone, personal phone and laptop being made by different manufacturers she'd had access to different ecosystems and thought she might as well maintain that through the change.

Accessing the menu in front of her, Astrid selected:

1. Psitech
2. Magitech
3. MagiPsiTech
4. Yes, combine devices

 

 

[Draco Cyberneticus]

The devices float out of the various places they were stored and are each encased in a glowing sphere of a colour you have never seen before, yet seems oddly familiar and you have a odd feeling is called octarine. The sphere merge into one glow brighter for a second, and the sphere settles into your hands and a small prompt appears over the sphere that says PiP or PADD?

 

[Barrigan]

Astrid raised an eyebrow. She was making progress at least. It seemed to have accepted her previous input and the three devices were now one. Whatever she held in her hand did not yet have a form though, she guessed. It still needed more data to become what she wanted.

Recalling the previous displays, Astrid was fairly certain that PiP stood for Personal Information Processor and that is what it had called her own devices before changing them. What was PADD though?

She guessed from context the P was probably 'Personal' and the second D was probably 'Device' but the other two letters eluded her. Astrid wracked her brain, wondering if perhaps she knew the answer in the same way she had known the name of the eighth colour, the colour of magic, Octarine. As the screens seemed to be interactive she focused on the word 'PADD' and tapped it, hoping for an explanatory tooltip of some kind.

[Draco Cyberneticus]

As you focus on PADD hoping for a tooltip before you even touch it a small prompt window opens above the other window saying, "A form factor easily passed between people and used for many forms of data transmission, especially paperwork type data processing in some star faring cultures." Just to be safe, you focus on PiP and get a prompt saying, "A easily carried form factor resembling a oversized bracer or vambrace. Convenient for single person usage."

[Barrigan]

 

"Yes! Now we're getting somewhere!" Astrid muttered as the tooltips popped up. She was starting to get the hang of the interface, at least a little.

From the descriptions a PADD sounded like a tablet. Something easily passed between people and especially useful for paperwork-style processing. A PiP on the other hand seemed to be more like a smart watch, only bigger. Maybe like mounting an entire smartphone to her forearm on a bracer.

The convenience of having it always on hand and easily accessible was the deciding factor and Astrid wasn't in the habit of handing her devices around to others anyway.

She mentally clicked on the prompt marked PiP.

 

 

[Draco Cyberneticus]

As your choose, the glow moves to and surrounds the forearm of your off-hand, flashes brightly and leaves a computer on your forearm.

 

Strangley enough, the screen is full colour even as you get the feeling it should be monochrome.

Edited April 22 by Draco Cyberneticus
finishing (see edit history)

[Barrigan]

Although she was curious about the bracer and its functions, now that she was wearing it Astrid decided to leave it for a moment and focus on what else was in the box.

She lifted the two books out, one in each hand, and examined them. Now that she knew there were tooltips she focused on the books in her hands, and the bottle of liquid in the chest for good measure, and willed an explanatory tooltip to pop up telling her what each one was.

Having spotted the blinking symbol earlier, Astrid also took a moment to examine the screens in front of her. She was looking for a menu or tabs she could investigate or even a help screen which might explain a few things.

What fascinated her was that these screens weren't some kind of hallucination created by her mind. They had information she didn't know, like the difference between a PiP and a PADD and what each one was apparently used for in 'some starfaring cultures'. That meant that not only did the interface have some kind of database but it had also just casually revealed the existence of aliens. Then she remembered her diminished stature and wings and realised that probably wasn't even the biggest revelation to be found.

"One thing at a time," Astrid looked down at herself again, thinking she was at least going to need pockets or a bag or something to carry all those coins in.

[Draco Cyberneticus]

As your focus on the the books, the blurry script on the covers becomes clearly legible. One book is titled Noviate Primer of Spellcraft, and the other is titled Noviate Primer of Evocation. This is when you notice the glow around the books is octarine, while the one on Evocation has a faint pink undertone. The blurry text on the bottle's label says "Light Restore Mana", and has the faintest of octarine glows. As you try to decide where to carry everything you notice some octarine light coming from inside your purse.

[LDDragon]

Kyle focuses on wielding his sansetsukon, a three section staff. It takes some concentration, to do so, the fact that it is a chained weapon means that he had to be careful with how it swings, so that it does not rebound to hit him.

 

He blinks as a screen appears. What the...?

Screen?

Is this a dream?

 

Awakening on a beach, he quickly assesses what he has with him. Still holding on to the three section staff, he clears away and brushes off some sand. Hmm, a chest.

 

He narrows his eyes, standing and looking at the horizon, then back at the chest.

[Draco Cyberneticus]

As you turn from staring at confusingly upwards curving horizon to look at the chest, you see a woman in a nice business suit just under a meter tall, with gauze like wings, open the chest and remove some items. As she lands and begins checking her items, the chest closes itself. As you start to head towards the chest, a blinking icon shaped like a your phone begins blinking in the corner of you vision.