Here is the first chapter of OP, Yes Please!

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Chapter 1

When Nicholas went to sleep last night he certainly wasn't expecting to wake up in some dark room god knows where. His first thoughts were those of confusion. "Where am I?","Why am I here?", and "What happened to my room?" Were his major questions. As he woke up a little more he slowly reached around in the darkness trying to get a read on his current surroundings, understandably wary of the situation he found himself in. He slowly pushed himself up from the floor using his hands to guide himself to a nearby wall some six feet away. Leaning against said wall he felt around trying to find a light switch or anything capable of shedding some light on the situation.

After a minute or two of stumbling around he found a small circular bump some four feet off of the ground. Pressing it Nicholas had to shield his eyes as the room was instantly filled with a blinding light. After taking a few moments to blink away the spots in his vision, he was finally able to see this mysterious space.

The best way to describe it would be sterile, a pristine yet empty white room with no windows or doors of any kind, and turning back to look at the wall he was currently resting against he found that the button he had pressed was gone. No indentation, no lines in the wall to suggest a hidden compartment, nothing just another smooth white wall. A closer examination also revealed that there were no visible lights in the room making the glow that infused the room yet another mystery for the increasingly nervous man. Finally he could take it no more and called out.

"Hello, anyone!" He could hear his voice crack as he managed to force those words. "If anyone can hear me please help!" That, that actually got a reaction. Not from anyone else, but from the room itself. The wall seems to shift, for lack of a better word, into a giant touch-screen device, that displays the "Choose Your Own Adventure" guide for the Worm web series.

"No." Nicholas said "Bullshit this is not real and this is not happening to me." But it was happening, and he soon realized there was nothing he could do to avoid it. After a few more minutes of self pity and trying to wake himself up from the nightmare he found himself in, he dragged himself toward the touch screen.

The wall had been divided into four screens. the first decided how he entered the Wormverse and how hard his stay would be. The second let him pick from nine extremely overpowered abilities he could use while stuck in that sack of flaming shit people called a universe. The third let him pick from six sets of companions, each with different abilities, backstories, and personalities. The fourth and final page let him pick from a list of thirteen perks, eleven complications, and tells him the conditions to win this twisted little game and go back home.

For the first screen he chose to be inserted into the Wormverse as he was. While the reincarnation option was tempting he did not want to take his chances by being raised in the crapsack world that was Worm, and he definitely was not going to make things more difficult than strictly necessary and become a Endbringer. Difficulty wise he ended up choosing World Breaker, giving him twelve points to spend on powers, perks, and companions. It also made all of the abilities he would chose twice as strong as they would normally be.

Than he came to what was arguably be the most important choice he would have to make. The powers available for him to choose from were: Alexandria which basically made him into a discount superman, Legend which allowed him to manipulate energy to a absolutely insane degree and to travel at equally outrageous speeds. Eidolon which like its namesake allowed him to pick any five superpower he wanted whenever he wanted, the Emperor of Man which gave him all of the powers and knowledge that he wielded. The Kaleidoscope which gave him the powers of a certain dimension hopping troll of a Dead Apostle Ancestor, Inspired Inventor which let him steal Dragon's title as the greatest Tinker by giving him five charges to buy and improve specializations. Psychokinetic which allowed him to create, manipulate, and destroy all forms of matter and energy, Power Manipulation which allowed him to create, modify, and remove powers, it also allowed himself to gain additional powers via charges similar to Inspired Inventor. Finally there was Shaper which allowed him to manipulate biology and biological matter within a massive area, it was like the mutant lovechild of Panacea, Nilbog, Kerrigan, and Alex Mercer. Each of these powers would take two of his points.

His first choice was obviously Power Manipulation as it had the potential to give him EVERY power, given enough time allowing him to expand his repertoire and make any allies he gains more powerful. Then he decided to take Inspired Inventor, sorry Dragon but there was no way he was going to pass that ability up. His third choice was Shaper so he could heal himself and others along with make some enhancements that would improve his chances of survival. He than selected Psychokinetic, for the fact that it would synchronize with his other powers nicely, and he selected the Kaleidoscope last as it would provide him with both a endless source of energy and a "get out of jail free card" should shit hit the fan in that particular universe.

Now while Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon would all be useful, they would put him way in the negative when it came to points, and he could still technically get them by using his other powers, and he was not going to even touch GEoM because while the powers and knowledge would be useful he was not going to form a collective consciousness into a place as fucked up as Worm. But as he said he could use his powers to achieve similar results. Shaper could be used to enhance his body and mind, Psychokinetic would allow him to manipulate both matter and energy once he learned the mechanics behind them, and Inspired Inventor would let him build tech that could do what most of these abilities did anyway. Power Manipulation and Kaleidoscope, just made him a powerhouse, no question about it. Even still by taking all these powers he had spent ten of his twelve points, and he needed to get some more if he wanted to get any real perks or companions.

As such he moved away from the power screen and towards the perks and complications screen. There he selected Leviathan, the Slaughterhouse is Hiring, and Marked three times, getting him nine extra points to spend. For Leviathan, he knew with the powers he had selected he could take care of the Endbringer in question, and potentially save a lot of lives in the process in addition to preventing future attacks. Slaughterhouse he ended up taking both for the large amount of points he would get and for the fact that he could take out a major threat alongside that. Finally he ticked Marked three times as he knew no matter what he did, he was going to end up pissing some people off while in the Wormverse, might as well get something out of it.

Using the points he gained from taking those complications he ticked Blank, Shattered Limiterm, Invictus, Inspiration, First Impressions, Secret Lair, Manpower, and Cloak and Dagger in the perks section. Blank because Nicholas really did not want Contessa or the Simurgh tracking him, like at all, that woman was fucking terrifying and Simurgh was no slouch either. Shattered Limiter to improve the abilities he had already chosen giving him ten slots and charges to use with Power Manipulation and Inspired Inventor. Invictus to help him deal with Masters and all of the psychological issues he would normally gain in that universe. Inspiration was to make sure that those around him would keep fighting alongside him, because he really did not want to face this shit by himself. First Impressions he took to hopefully mitigate the Marked complication, and to integrate himself with the various factions in this world. Secret Lair he took so that he would have a place to experiment in, a place to sleep, and as a fall back point should shit hit the fan. Manpower and Cloak and Dagger were both meant to help him in out just in case he decided to create a team or organization to support him.

Moving to the companions screen, he saw a lot of potential in the options, he could take these individuals and with the right motivation forge them together into a very powerful team. As such he took all of them. Mark the Highwayman and Violet the Butterfly, Kim and Nagase the Steel Demons, Frost, Riot, and Warlock the Renegades, James and Michael the Bodyguards, and the Freaks Crag, Slither, and Chitin. All of them would be joining him at some point, but he would not take any of his friends, or god forbid his family, from Earth, as they really did not deserve to be dragged into the mess he found himself in.

Stepping back from the screen he discovered that he was two points in the negative. He really did not want to give up any of his perks or companions, and no way was he giving up any of his powers, so that meant he had to take another complication or two. He examined each one closely, and to be honest they would all suck to deal with, he was not fighting Simurgh, or Scion for that matter, right off the bat, and he was definitely not throwing two more entities into the mix. That left only one real option, no matter how distasteful he found it.

"I just know, I am going to regret this." Nicholas muttered ticking the, You need worthy Opponents, option.

"Now I just have to beat up a magic space whale." Nicholas said as a even brighter light filled the room, blocking his sight just as the darkness did before. "What has my life come to, where I ended up saying that."

Those were his last words on earth before the light swallowed him.

When his vision cleared he was no longer in the white room but in what appeared to be a rather large boardroom, seated in a comfortable rolling chair at the head of a U shaped table with six similar chairs to both his right and his left. The table was made out of a grey metal and its surface appeared to be a glass covering for several touchpad electronics that had been built into the table. As for the room itself, it was about half the size of your average college classroom with the table he was currently seated at opposite of the only door to the room. The walls were painted a soft grey, and Nicholas was to see what looked to be either projectors or cameras located at various points of the room's walls, and at various locations along the room's domed ceiling.

As for Nicholas himself, he felt sharper than before if that made sense. His thoughts felt clearer and he felt more confident in himself. It felt nice, like he had found his place and had the whole world just set out for him. The only problem was a sinking feeling in his chest, like there was a part of him that he was missing and that he couldn't feel truly complete until it was filled, it didn't take him long to realize what was missing was his powers. He could feel them though just below the surface, hidden like a lighthouse in a fog. He could reach them, he would just have to find his way.

He remembered in a story from SpaceBattles that the main character was able to activate his powers by clearing his mind, and searching inside of him for the physical and mental manifestations in his powers. Now to be honest he had no idea what those were supposed to look like, but he did know how to clear his head.

Leaning back in his chair he closed his eyes and let his mind drift, thoughts came and went as he sat and watched, until , god knows how long later, he was simply left in a empty void and made one final push to find his powers. He succeeded and he saw them hidden just below the surface.

Five orbs of varying size that floated in a black sky speckled with tiny dots of light that shined like some far off star. The largest of these orbs, was not a single orb at all but what looked like millions of grains of sand, that shifted between every shade of color known to man, held inside a rather soapy looking bubble. He thought that one was the Kaleidoscope, and hesitantly reached forwards to grasp it, not flinching away when it erupted into a fountain of light at his touch, he supposed he had Invictus to thank for that. Immediately he felt more complete to speak, like he was adrift in a still ocean that stretched infinitely in every direction, and that every ripple he made was both meaningless and the most important thing in the world. That wasn't even mentioning the sheer power he felt, it was honestly intoxicating but at the moment he did not need all of it so he released the orb. Somewhat saddened as the vast majority of the power left him and the light dimmed. The Kaleidoscope was still active but it was dormant until he called for it.

To its left sat what could only described as a bag of pulsating flesh covered in a layer of mysterious fluids. That could only hope that was the Shaper, and not even his perks and powers could block the instinctual disgust he felt as he looked at the core, yet he pushed past it and took the orb in hand, shuddering at the squishing noise it made. After touching it he felt as if his body seemed to be more, his in a sense, one that he could shape to fit his desires like a lump of clay. That wasn't mentioning all of the small lifeforms he could sense around him, and he thought the room actually looked pretty clean, and the subtle feeling of control he had over them

"Alright that one could definitely get out of hand if I am not careful." Nicholas thought to himself.

At the bag's side sat a black orb surrounded by a multi colored halo of light, one that he found was much heavier than it looked when he grabbed it. He could feel the light reach out and touch him empowering heim and seemingly granting him a greater sense of control over the world around him. That one he figured out was the Psychokinetic core based on the connection it made, he let go of the orb and was for the most part unsurprised when it decided to simply float and ignore him, despite the feeling of power that remained within him

Across from where the Psychokinetic core rested sat a crystal ball filled with a rainbow colored mist that spread out to touch the other cores once he grasped the ball. After taking control of it he felt as if more paths had been opened up to him, yet this one these paths feel less controlled and more varied. That feeling above all else keyed him into that, that orb was the one that held Power Manipulation.

The final orb, sat slightly away from the others, and was by far the most unique in appearance. A lime green orb, covered in gold and silver lines, brass wires and bronze cogs that moved with a precision that was honestly beautiful to look at. He knew immediately that was the Inspired Inventor core, and once he grasped he was surprised that he did not feel all that much smarter than before. He was given idea after idea, some he understood some he didn't, it was honestly a bit like being stuck in a library. Some of the ideas were like children's books, some like college textbooks, some were just written in a different language that he had no chance in hell of reading until he learned the language.

Blinking to himself in the real world he pushed the Inspired Inventor to the side, taking the vast majority of those ideas with it, while he tried to deal with the massive migraine he suddenly had. So apparently opening up all of the cores at once was a bad idea, who knew? Well either way he had his powers now all he had to do is find his way around the base and come up with a pla-

"Power Surge detected." A rather childish voice called out from around him, a broadcasting system his mind helpfully supplied "Unknown frequency, but is within set parameters, frequency has been designated A01, core has been reactivated, all systems green, welcome Commander." All across the room screens and projectors sprung to life, bathing the room in light as graph after graph, and report after report showed up on the table in front of him. The real kicker was the 3D map of the city that popped up in the middle of the convex side of the table he was sitted at, showing not only buildings and districts but everything above and below the city as well. Power and water lines were mapped out, scale maps of the city's sewers and subway network were depicted to a amazingly level of detail, and gang territories and known bases were clearly marked. It was a remarkably intricate map and as he watched, the reports in front of him began to show up on the map, marked and labeled via by pins whose color depicted the severity of the incident.

"Holy shit that is a lot of red." he breathed out as he watched the map constantly update as issues were dealt with only for new ones to pop up.

"Commander." A small holographic figure appeared right above the tabet to his right. It was a little girl, and by little he meant both in age as she appeared to be twelve at most and the fact that she was only six inches tall. Appearance wise she was actually rather adorable, with dimpled cheeks, a bright smile, and long white hair that had been done up in pigtails. The only thing that really showed that she wasn't human was the circuit like veins that crisscrossed her form, and her pupiless red eyes. "There are currently two active gun battles, twelve assaults, and one-hundred-seventy-three robberies, muggings, and thefts taking place throughout Brockton Bay. However no known capes from the Empire Eighty-Eight, the Azn Bad Boys, or the Archers Bridge Merchants are involved in these incidents."

"Thank you-" Nicholas trailed off not knowing the digital beings name.

"My designation is T-56554, however Professor Meroe, the previous commander, also called me Kolki." The now identified Kolki said seeing his hesitation. "However you may call me whatever you wish Commander."

"Thank you Kolki." he said grateful she hadn't yet taken offense at his presence in this room, like the AI in the othery CYOA her remembered reading. "I'm a little confused at the moment would you mind if I asked you some questions?"

"Of course not sir, feel free to ask me anything."

"First of all where are we?"

"We are currently within Boardroom A, on the first floor of Watchpoint-1, three kilometers beneath Downton Brockton Bay, in the state of Massachusetts."

"Wait Watchpoint-1 does that mean there are more of these bases elsewhere?"

"No sir" She replied in the same flat manner she had been using the entire time. "The previous commander had hoped to build a number of similar bases at a later date, but he passed before he was able to do so." As she mentioned the former commander her normal monotone took on a distinctly unhappy tint.

"I am sorry to hear about that Kolki." He said genuinely remorseful about making the first contact he had in this new world unhappy. "It sounds like the two of you were close."

"He was the greatest man in the world. He built everything you can see me, myself included." Uh oh it seemed like talking about this was just making her more upset. "He treated me like his daughter an he taught me everything I know. Sometimes he would read to me or he would sit and would tell me stories for hours on end. We did everything together, we-" Oh shit she was crying now, doing the first thing that came to mind Nicholas picked up the small figure ignoring her slight gasp of shock, and his own surprise that he was able to touch her at all.

"She could be a hard light construct or something similar." He mused in his head, guessing that it was Inspired Inventor that drew him to that conclusion. Being as careful as possible he picked up the tiny being and brought her into the closest approximation of a hug as he could manage. "It's okay Kolki, it's okay, just let it out." He felt her bury her head in the crook of his neck, and her form began to shake as years worth of repressed emotions came flowing out.

For a while they just sat there in silence, Nicholas just trying to provide what comfort he could to the digital girl while trying to get his thoughts in order. It had been a very weird day and this situation was not helping things, he had never been good with people, having been more of a loner throughout his life, with what few friendships he did have were very casual. So this whole crying girl thing was well out of his comfort zone, and he wasn't even going to question if Kolki was alive or not. For one she was crying, second Mass Effect had done an excellent job of portraying Legion earning AI such as Kolki and Dragon massive brownie points just by association. Either way he did this best to deal with the highly emotional being in his arms, providing emotional support and throwing out what few comforting words he could think of.

Finally after several minutes of him just holding her, Kolki's sobs broke down enough for him to continue his questions.

"Kolki, I am sorry for asking you this." He said hesitating slightly. "But, how long have you been down here since Professor Meroe... passed on?"

"Four years, six months, twelve days, five hours, twenty-three minutes, and five seconds."

Holy fuck. He could not imagine being by himself for that long, and if Science Fiction got anything about AI right that time must have been an eternity for her. The more he thought about it the more sure he became on what he was about to do.

"Kolki, please look at me." He sighed getting her to look up at him, pulling her away from his chest so that she could look him in the eye. "I am sorry for what happened to you, and I know that I can never be what Professor Meroe was for you. But I will promise you this. As long as I am around you will never have to be lonely again." She was the one to initiate the next hug, throwing herself at him, thanking him repeatedly as a new wave of tears sprung up, with joy and hope replacing the feelings loss and isolation that filled the last wave.

This time she was able to get control of herself much faster and left his embrace, leaning back to sit on his hand a small if cautious smile on her face. It seemed that although she was happy to no longer be alone, nearly decade of isolation had taught her not to get her hope up. But she seemed a bit more stable emotionally speaking so he began to continue his questions.

"When I arrived here you said something about frequencies before calling me Commander what was that all about?"

"That was one of Professor Meroe's last orders, Directive 42341, it dealt with how to recognize his successor." She informed him dutifully. "When you first triggered my sensors detected five power surges coming from you, with the first four being completely unknown frequencies and the fourth being a almost identical match for Professor Meroe's ability."

"She must be talking about him awakening his cores" Nicholas thought, the realization leading him to one conclusion and another wave of questions, hopefully he could answer one of the big ones right now. "Kolki, could you please do me a favor and describe Professor Meroe's ability for me."

"Certainly." At least she sounded happy when she was talking about her father/creator. "Professor Meroe was a very powerful Tinker, using the power scale developed by the PRT he would have been the world's first and the only Tinker 12 to date."

Okay that could just be a coincidence.

"Professor did not have a single specialty as most Tinkers do, instead he was able to gain a maximum of five new specializations every twenty-four hours, and he was able to make excellent use of these specialization to create a number of wonderful inventions."

Okay that is probably not a coincidence, time to make sure.

"Kolki, did he ever give a name for his...power."

"Yes actually," she seemed a little pleased that he asked that question as if she had just had something confirmed for herself. "He called it INSPIRED INVENTOR."

Definitely not a coincidence.

Alright time to digest this new information. First of all, he had confirmation that he was not the only CYOA participant to be sent to this particular wormverse. Second, this raised the possibility that other participants may have been or will be sent to this universe. Third, he was in a base, built by a Tinker with Inspired Inventor, who had inhabited this base for how long?

"Kolki do you know how long it has been since this base was built?" He asked.

"Professor Meroe finished construction of Watchpoint-1 on the seventh of August in the year two-thousand-one, but he continued to upgrade and add new features to the base up until his death."

Okay so he was in a base built by a Tinker 12 who had than proceeded to add new features to said base over a period of almost five and a half years, a period of time in which he could have gained twenty-four thousand different specializations. With the time he had, who knew what technological wonders could be hidden within these halls. At this point he had to see what the rest of the base was like for himself.

"So Kolki," He said lightly, causing her to look up at him again from where she had been studying the lines and creases of his palm. "Would you be willing to show me around?"

"I would be happy to Commander." She said a brilliant smile splitting her holographic face.

So the Watchpoint was absolutely massive in size, as he soon came to realize, having been built some three kilometers under the city of Brockton Bay meant two things. The first was that entering and leaving the base could be a bit of a hassle, because if you were not keyed into the teleporters you would have to take one of three elevators to the surface. That can and would take a while. The second thing was that since they were so far down the Professor did not have to worry about hitting much and could expand as he pleased, and boy did he.

The complex he was in was made up of three layers that each stretched to cover some 50,000 square meters, and a bottom fourth layer that covered an additional 10,000 square meters. What was more impressive was that Professor Meroe managed to find a use for each and every centimeter of the Watchpoint.

The topmost layer held several conference rooms, much like the one he appeared in, a number of empty rooms that Kolki told him he could use at his discretion but were originally supposed to serve as the personal quarters and offices of any future residents, an large automated cafeteria was located near the southernmost edge of the layer surrounded by various different recreational areas. Which Kolki said included a pool, a multipurpose sports field, and a small gym with a wide variety of specialized equipment he correctly guessed was supposed to work for Parahuman's with powers that affected their biologies or physical abilities.

The layer below that one contained a number of customizable training rooms, some of which clearly took inspiration from the Danger Room used by the X-Men, several storage rooms, a large amphitheatre like room equipped with holographic projectors, and a observation room that had been hooked up to the city's ctOS and the emergency frequencies used by Brockton Bay's Police and Fire departments along with those used by Emergency Medical Transport personnel. The third layer down held the base's power generators and a large underground vehicle garage that was filled with more vehicles than he knew what to do with. Armored trucks were parked beside muscle cars, minivans beside tanks, and motorcycles next to almost comically large halftrack Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the best part was that each of these vehicles had been made by Professor Meroe meaning they were all Tinkertech, Tinkertech with more systems and functions then he could count, systems that he would have to look at later because no matter what they had in store they could not possibly compare to the sight of pure beauty that stood before him at this moment.

Kolki had dragged him away from the garage to the bottom level and he had reluctantly followed as she explained that the fourth and final layer was made up of the laboratories and workshops used by Professor Meroe while he was still alive, they were the beating hearts of the Watchpoint and were where Meroe had spent the vast majority of his time building and designing new tech even while upgrading the rooms around him. The result was something beyond gorgeous to his eyes.

It was simultaneously low tech and something straight out of a science fiction novel, the traditional tools used by blacksmiths such as anvils, hammers, tongs, and files were located alongside a nuclear powered nanoforge, 3D printers, molecular assemblers, and matter replicators. He simply wandered about in numb awe as Kolki described everything he came across in excruciating detail throwing in a comment every now and then when a particular object had triggered a memory of her time with her father.

What he had once thought to be normal Anvils were actually modified with Tinkertech that had been given away by the intricate circuitry that ran across their surfaces connected to a variety of systems hidden within the block of shaped metal. By their side rested cases filled with a wide variety of Hardy Tools that were to be used for cutting, bending, and otherwise shaping hot metals. Not far away rested a pillar of metal that stretched from ceiling to floor, with a number of indents and pistons that powered the differently sized pneumatic forging hammers that were located across its circumference.

Lining the walls were pinboards and digital blackboards each containing blueprints to a different project Professor Meroe had been working on or had finished and had been in the process of improving before he died. Alongside these were racks containing thousands of meticulously placed and maintained tools, which included twenty-three types of hammers, twenty-six types of files and rasps, several hundred wrenches and screwdrivers in varying sizes, and power tools galore. Below these boards and racks stood charging stations where a number of Robotic assistants, that looked rather disturbingly like someone had attached a number of mechadendrites to the bastard love child of the Martian Rover and Dum-E from the MCU, that had lain dormant since the workshop had been closed down.

All of this was connected by a three-dimensional interactive holographic interface, where 3D model, reports, and graphs were projected from all across the room to his fingertips, where he could use his hands or tools to manipulate the projections to observe the effect changing one variable on one of the three had on the other two. Professor Meroe had developed it to use when designing new inventions or coming up with plans without wasting materials, and Nicholas had to admit it was probably the second coolest thing he had seen today, after Kolki.

It was here that Nicholas felt his confidence return to him and stay with him, here that for the first time since he arrived in the Wormverse he felt in control and he was not going to waste this chance.

"Kolki," she turned to face him questioningly "let's get to work." All around the room systems and creations long dormant spread across the workshop sprang to life for the first time in over half a decade, their purpose restored.

END CHAPTER