I jolted awake with that same knee jerk reaction that you have to falling in a dream. Looking around I can tell that I'm laying on a bed but everything is the same exact shade of white so I have to feel for the edge of the bed before swinging my legs off the side. I see nothing else in this endless expanse of white sourceless light. Just before panic can set in, a voice rings out around me sounding very odd.
"Hello Child," said the voice, sounding both like a whisper and a shout simultaneously. "I apologize that I am the bearer of bad news, but you have died."
"What?" My stunned voice seemed to be muffled in my own ears, as though I was hearing it through a wall. "What do you mean I died? I'm here and breathing, how could I be dead?"
"As you slept last night a storm came through and a bolt of lightning struck your bed frame, through your open window, setting both the bed and yourself ablaze."
"Well, burning to death was always just below drowning on my top 10 worst ways to go, is the rest of my family okay?"
"They managed to put out the fire with little more than some burnt hair and some first degree burns but it was not fast enough to save you."
I let out a deep sigh before crossing my arms. "Alright, I'm dead. So what is this place? Is this purgatory? I feel like I heard somewhere that purgatory is an endless expanse of nothing meant to drive those sent to its halls insane."
A chuckle that seemed to reverberate through my bones rolled through the open space behind me. "No Child, this is not your punishment, but a chance for you to have a new life."
Quirking an eyebrow I ask the empty space. "Why give me a new life?"
"The entertainment, both myself and the lesser gods have been lacking in sufficient entertainment for a few millennia now, so I plan to utilize a new…" the voice drifted off as though searching for the right word. "System to assist with providing the entertainment."
A flash of movement in my periphery caught my attention as what seemed to be a large phone or small tablet fell onto the bed. Picking it up the screen brightens to show a familiar looking interface.
The Waifu Catalog
Start new build?
Continue / Cancel
"What the fuck?" I ask, my tone somewhere between bewildered and deadpan. "Why are you using the Catalog?"
"Human minds are great for what we on the upper planes call: Psionic resonance. That is to say that your species can tap into the psychic energy of the multiverse and some are able to channel it into what you view as works of fiction."
"Wait, so you're saying that books, anime, tv shows, et cetera are all true somewhere?" I ask, holding the tablet just a little more respectfully.
"Most but not all. Now for your chance at a new life, you will have a challenge from the higher gods to you. You will travel from a tier 2 world, completing tasks along the way, through each tier world until you complete at least one tier 10 world."
"Wait wait wait. Why start at tier 2 and not tier 1?" I ask, perplexed.
"Because almost every other Contractor or whatever other title you want to give them picks Pokémon and it's getting kind of boring."
"Ummm, well I suppose that makes sense in a very roundabout kind of way. Are there any rules I should be made aware of?"
"Yes, first of all I have two mutually exclusive boons that you can choose from. First: you can have all of the points that you would receive, regardless of the origin, double. Second: you can have immortality."
I didn't even have to pause for a moment, "Double points, depending on the setting I can get more than enough points to buy pseudo immortality. What next?"
"Whenever you finish your task in the current world you will be able to move on, you may choose to move onto a world of the same tier up to twice, any unused uses of this will be able to be used later on if there is a tier with more realities that you would like to visit. When you move up a world tier you gain credits equivalent to the difference between your previous tier and the new one, for example: moving from tier two to tier three you would receive 30 credits, doubled due to your boon. Any questions thus far?"
"Nope, carry on for a total of three worlds in a tier or keep some of those three in my pocket for future use, and get bonus credits when moving up a tier."
"Very good one more thing, you may take drawbacks to gain additional credits but they are only available for your character generation. If there is nothing else you may proceed."
Looking down at the tablet I quickly begin to make my selections.
Two hours later
Looking down I sigh as all of my choices had been made.
Starting World: Monster Musume
Starting budget 55
Drawback Choice: Geass: Home Without Hate (Tier 9)(440) [495]
-Unfailing Kindness (You cannot deliberately mistreat your waifus or neglect their need for your companionship; if an action would cause them emotional or physical harm you will feel an aversion towards it; should you truly find it necessary you can still force yourself to act, but to do so will bring you such guilt that you would feel desperate to make it up to them; this takes a bit of time to come into effect, so you can still sell captured waifus without repercussion if you do so immediately; as a beneficial consequence your waifus will always accept your decisions if you are being fair; points awarded immediately, geass persists forever unless bought off with equivalent points)
Patron
Archdeity of Eternity free (double) [990]
Intensity
Me and My Girlfriend(s)(PvE) 0 [990]
Possess a Frederic-104 of T5 -20 [970]
Heritage
Dragon Heart[Psionic] -80 [890]
Dragon Scale[Psionic] -95 [795]
Dragon Thrall -150 [645]
Bindings
Company Stamp free [645]
Lures
Sticky Fingers -5 [640]
Sticky Fingers: Brown Sugar -15 [625]
Rides
UNSC Phoenix-class -400 [225]
Catch-A-Ride Crew Training Program -5 [220]
Catch-A-Ride Crew Production Program -20 [200]
Talents
Everlasting Talent free [200]
Body Talent free [200]
Martial Talent free [200]
Wild Talent free [200]
Soul Talent free [200]
Defenses
Body Defense x2 free [200]
Wild Defense x2 free [200]
Environmental Defense x2 free [200]
Polymorph Defense free [200]
Wyldscape Defense free [200]
Misc Perks
Universal Calibration -10 [190]
Sexual Calibration -2 [188]
Fertility Calibration I -2 [186]
Mapper -10 [176]
Target Tracker -10 [166]
Bounty Tracker -50 [116]
Psychic Paper -5 [111]
Knowledge Base Uploadᵈˡᶜ -20 [91]
Memorabilia -5 [86]
Generic Waifu Perks
HUDᵈˡᶜ -10 [76]
Paper Trail (Frederic-104) -1 [75]
Anthropize (Serina) -10 [65]
Toggle (Frederic-104) -50 [15]
Companions:
Serina(T5) from Halo (free w/ UNSC Phoenix class) [15]
Kasumi Goto(T4) from Mass Effect -10 [5]
Robin Ayou(T2) from Subnautica -2 [3]
Feeling overwhelmingly confident I look over my decisions one last time before hitting the finalize build button.
"You have really made your position in the new world as good as possible, as it would probably be difficult to hide and get to initially, I will place you on your ship to begin. Enjoy your new lot in life." The omniscient voice said with an audible smile.
"What do yo-" my world faded to black before I was able to finish my thought.
0545 April 22 2015 [Local calendar]
Aboard unnamed UNSC Phoenix class colony ship
Dark side of the moon
Jolting upright I look around the compartment I am in, gray wall panels and flooring covered with a black rubber mesh, no art or expression of self to decorate any of the walls yet. In my old life this room would probably be considered a very tight studio apartment. There is a small sitting area, large enough for three if you really squeeze in, in a corner near what seems to be the bathroom, a desk built into the opposite wall and the queen size bed against the wall furthest from the corridors. Standing up and looking around, the first thing that I notice is that I'm significantly taller than I was in my previous life, almost seven feet tall probably. The second thing I notice is that the bed seems to be of the space saving design as it immediately folds up into the wall revealing a screen of some kind built into it. Continuing my observations there is something definitely out of place, next to the desk is a desert camo rucksack, my rucksack from home. 'Well if I was going to pack a bag with my stuff I'd pick the bag with the most capacity.' I think to myself with a smirk.
Walking over I opened the top flap and drawstring to take a look at what I would have packed in, first was a briefcase like object that opened to reveal my Xbox one and its cords. Next I pulled out my laptop and external hard drive, followed by my smartphone, and finished up with my collection of physical books.
Standing up holding my stack of books I smile at how ludicrously easy it was to hold all of them. Putting them on the small bookshelf above the desk I pause as I grab a very heavily worn book and run my thumb across the title. Halo: First Strike. This was my first Halo book I had ever gotten, my first look into the world beyond, and most importantly my introduction to the character that I now was.
Opening it up to the first page I stumbled as a memory hit me like a brick. Sitting on a crate while flipping a knife before letting it perch tip first on the end of an extended finger, staying perfectly still for several seconds before a slight shift in gravity caused the blade to tip, and with one fluid motion sheathing it in the shoulder mounted case.
Gasping for air I lean heavily against the wall, 'That was a memory, do I have Fred's memories locked inside my head?'
Before I can begin to have a nervous breakdown there's a chime from the door of someone requesting entry. "Enter." I say loud enough to get through the thick metal plating. As the door opens a woman with dark brown almost black hair that extends just past her shoulders walks in, she's wearing a white blouse, metallic pads on her shoulders and forearms and gray pants and black boots.
"Good morning sir, I hope that you are ready for your flight at 1400, your background here has you meeting with Agent Smith from the Department of Cultural Exchange at 1930." She said with a British accent.
It took me a moment for who this was exactly to click into place. "Thank you Serina, I will be ready in time. Before then I have a request for you." I said in as commanding a tone as I could. Receiving a nod I continue. "I want a full inventory of all weapons, vehicles, munitions, raw materials, everything. I also want a full draw up of all personnel that we have onboard." As I speak I dig into a small closet built into the wall across from the latrine and begin to pack several sets of identical outfits, a grey shirt with black cargo pants, as well as multiple pairs of socks. "Also are you still connected with the ships systems when in your human form?"
"Not in the same way that I normally am, sir. It becomes less of a conscious awareness of everything that happens within the ship and more like a subconscious feeling of the important things." She replied with a contemplative look.
"Okay, are Kasumi and Robin aboard?"
"Indeed they are sir. Would you like me to summon them?"
"No, I have some time before I have to be anywhere specific." I say checking my watch which read 0604. "Where has Kasumi set up shop?" I ask before placing my bag on the chair closest to the door.
"She has taken one of the vacant officers quarters down the hall. Compartment 187-O. Any further questions?" She asked with a slight head tilt.
"One more, what would you need and how long would it take for you to get a schematic of her Omni-tool?"
"Given what I know about the device, the best case scenario puts it at three hours and a dedicated science laboratory, worst case nine hours." Serina replies.
"Good have her pack a bag and tell her to be prepped to be on the same flight as me, then have her report to whichever lab you want to use, if you would like some extra assistance feel free to ask Robin." I say as I begin to make my way to the door.
Just before I get to the corridor I spot movement out of the corner of my eye, turning I spot a mirror and looking back at me is a pale face with eyes so pale blue they're almost white, topped with a dark brown buzz cut with a shock of white running over the left temple. What I expect to see but don't are the scars that should be on my body from the SPARTAN-II augmentation. I know that this body has had them, the whole damn room is built for someone that weighs almost 300 lbs., but there's no indication that I've actually had ceramic bone implants and everything else that I was never told about.
"Interesting," I say before looking back at Serina. "Could you give me directions to the armory? And do we have my MJOLNIR armor?"
"Of course, and unfortunately not, we do have the schematics to build one if needed, but we have no suits in storage." Came the quick reply, as a blue and yellow strip of lights along the floor lit up seeming to roll to the left out of my quarters.
"That's fine Serina, don't worry about it for now. Before I leave I'm going to hook up one of the devices that I brought with me, on it you can find several files that are games titled Halo, I want you to sort through all of the game files and find what can be used right now and put everything else in a 'to work on' pile. If there is nothing else you are dismissed, thank you." I order. Serina gives a brief salute before her body seems to devolve into lines of code and fly into the nearby screen. Sighing I turn back into the room, 'if I don't do this now there's a pretty high chance that I forget all together.' I think to myself as I kneel down next to my desk and place the game console on top of it, thankfully finding a "Company" electronic adapter for both the power and HDMI cables. After setting everything up I turned and followed the lights to my destination.
1345 April 22 2015 [Local calendar]
Aboard unnamed UNSC Phoenix class colony ship
Dark side of the moon
Walking into the starboard hanger with my duffel slung over my shoulder I move towards the stealth variant pelican that is being prepped for launch. Sitting in the crew compartment I see an Asian looking woman wearing a black and grey jumpsuit with a hood that is currently down revealing her rather short black hair as she looks at me.
"Hello Kasumi, nice to see you." I say, stowing my bag before sitting directly across from her. "How'd playing scientist with Serina go?"
"Fred, it's nice to meet you too. As far as trying to figure out how to reproduce my Omni-Tool went, it actually went rather well, since the Reapers wanted everyone to evolve basically the same way their tech is actually very simple and usually has some kind of schematic to make the super simple stuff." She said with a wry grin on her face.
"That's great." I say as the flight crew walks up the ramp and straight to the cockpit. It's interesting to see so many people with the same face but I'm kinda happy that I chose to go the same route as the GAR, one of the clone presets was the Jango Fett, even though they were still wearing the classic UNSC BDUs. I just don't need a ship full of only eye candy, I want to be able to focus on what the ship is meant for in combat, not getting distracted by the asses of a very beautiful female crew. Turning back to Kasumi I continue. "While we are on the ground I want you to stay out of sight," I say, handing her a small cylindrical stamp. "There's going to be certain people that we meet down there, I will signal to you who they are, once you have a target I want you to apply that stamp as only a master thief can. I would also like for you to work on acquiring us local funds, but keep it down low, look for criminal organizations and other unsavory types that don't need what they have." This got a broad smile from the woman. "If you need any support, let me know and I'll get you whatever support you need."
"Sure thing, you don't mind if I collect some stuff for my private collection while I'm at it do you?" She asked innocently.
"I don't really care what you do so long as it can't be traced back to us." I say, receiving a happy fist pump from the woman. "Also try to purchase either a hanger at the airport or a sufficiently large warehouse to park the pelican while we're groudside."
With a shake of her head she leaned back, flipped up her hood, and tried to take a nap.
Just a few moments later the datapad that I'd picked up from the bridge dinged with an incoming message. Looking down I open the message as the pelican lifts and flies out of the hanger.
FROM: UNSC.AI.SNA.1292-4
TO: UNSC.S-104
SIR HERE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT YOU REQUESTED AS WELL AS THE FULL COMPLEMENT THAT WE COULD CARRY AT THIS TIME
PERSONNEL BREAKDOWN
CREW COMPLEMENT: 2000/3500
MARINE COMPLEMENT: 4500/8000
ODST COMPLEMENT: 450/1000
VEHICLE BREAKDOWN
D77-TC PELICAN: 50/70(2 ONI STEALTH VARIANT)
D82-EST DARTER: 10/56
D20 HERON: 6/10
D96-TCE ALBATROSS: 4/6
M12 WARTHOG: 30/170
M808 SCORPION MBT: 15/93
I HOPE THAT THESE NUMBERS ARE TO YOUR LIKING SIR, ENJOY YOUR TIME GROUNDSIDE
END
Well these numbers were certainly good enough for maintaining a stealth orbit over the moon, but if push came to shove I just hope that we could hold out.
—————-
A/n: hello everyone, I know that you were probably hoping for another chapter of Shadow of Nazarick, but I got a bit burnt out and needed to take a step back. Now some of you highly observant people might notice that this is a Waifu Catalog fic, or at the very least a fic that is very heavily influenced by it with a major contribution from Mortaegus and their mod pack that includes drawbacks, perks, rides items and other fun things.
Okay, just to clarify: this fic is going to have a ridiculously OPMC. If that's not what you want then that's on you, the door is right there, don't let it hit you on the way out. Good, now as for the rest of you I'm currently in the market for a good mission that can be given to my boy Fred for his first world, be forewarned I plan to try to completely blitz MM I really only picked it for its quantity of waifus. That being said I would like to move on in 3-5 chapters, but I'm willing to push it back for a good plot point but I'm really excited to get to some sci-fi worlds (this will be a heavy tech fic I think.)
So credit where it's due: thanks to SwiftRosenthal for the Catalog, thanks to Mortaegus for their mods, thanks to everyone who helped both of them get those up and running, and finally thank you to 343, BioWare, etc for giving all of us your wonderful worlds.
Thank you all for your help and support, it really means the world to me. Good morning, good afternoon, good night, good (insert time of day here).
Read, follow, review.