I blinked in shock at the girl standing before me. She was young, maybe about the size and age of a ten-year-old, with blond hair in a close-cropped cut. And she was wearing the oddest clothes; a white robe that was definitely a toga of some description, a cuirass of some sort that had a very…um…mature female figure on it, a hairband that had golden spikes jutting out of it and a blindfold around her eyes.

Just a minute ago, I had entered my room to deal with the itching on the back of my left hand. I had received a ragged circle-shaped scar on the back of my hand during the locker incident last month and it had been itching like crazy for the last day. I had been worried. Had I contracted an infection that had inexplicably lain dormant until today?

Then, as soon as I threw my backpack to the floor and closed my door, it had shone with light and this girl appeared out of nowhere. I was currently taking the moment of silence to reboot my brain from 'Blue Screen of WTF?!' mode.

"Greetings, Taylor." The girl spoke. Her voice was soft, caring and kind.

"Wh-who are you?" I managed to ask.

"I am Iustitia." The girl introduced herself calmly. "I am your power made manifest."

"Isn't…isn't that the Ancient Roman Goddess of Justice?" I said in stupefaction. My mother had liked talking about where a few concepts in books came from, and I had liked hearing them. Sue me.

"It is also my name." Iustitia inclined her head slightly. "I am what is known as an Embryo. When you Triggered in that locker, I was born within you in my Zeroth Form. Over the past month, I have grown, studying your personality, your morals and your actions. As of today, I was ready to emerge as a Stage 1 Embryo, a Type-Maiden with Arms."

"O…kay?" I moved to the bed and sat down heavily. This was a bit much to take in. "I have no idea what most of that means." I admitted.

"I know. I am a part of you, so your knowledge of this world was downloaded into me when I was born." The Embryo informed me. "You can also speak with me telepathically if you wish, but with the biases against mind powers here, I doubt you will."

Yeah, the Simurgh had soured people to any kind of mind-to-mind communication, and evil Masters like Heartbreaker had done more to sour that kind of thing.

"To fill you in properly, an Embryo is a being, a power born from the actions, personality and decisions of their Masters. In my case, I was born from you and I was shaped and grown in reaction to your actions, words and personality over the month I slept within you." Iustitia started. "There are many types of Embryo, but I am what is known as a Type-Maiden. We are relatively rare existences, born to those who care for something or someone greatly. We take the form of a girl and grow until we are teenagers in step with the strength of our Masters. Type-Maidens are hybrid Embryos, possessing another Embryo Type in addition to our maiden Type. In my case, I am a Type-Maiden with Arms, meaning that I transform into a weapon or armour."

My mind swirled with information. OK, it was official; either this was real or I was in a coma in real life. Had I been on a bad trip or something?

"OK…OK…" I muttered. "So…anything else?" I asked.

"Walk over to the mirror over there." Iustitia nodded towards my open wardrobe door, with the mirror on the inside of it. Shrugging, I did so.

"Touch it with the index finger from your left and run it down about a foot." Iustitia instructed me.

Feeling a bit silly, I did so. Then my eyes almost popped out of their sockets as words scrolled down in the actual glass itself.

Name: Taylor Hebert

Gender: Female

Level: 0

Title: None

Job (s): None

EXP: 79/100

Embryo: Maiden of Justice Iustitia

Embryo Type: Maiden with Arms

Embryo Forms Achieved: 1/7

Stats

HP: 150

STA: 1000

MP: 155

Strength: 10

Toughness: 10

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 20

Wisdom: 15

Luck: ?

"Th-this is…!" I breathed.

"This is an ability all Embryos give their Masters; the ability to quantify and display your physical and mental attributes." Iustitia stated proudly. "Any questions about your stats?"

Did I ever. I was interested in my HP or Health Points and MP or Magic Points. Apparently 150 is the base number all Embryo Masters received for both at the start. They increased by five points each for ever ten points in certain stats once they got above ten. HP was dictated by Strength and Toughness, while MP was dictated by Intelligence and Wisdom. Stamina, as it turned out, was used for non-magical (oh god, I was turning into Myrddin!) attacks, such as sword techniques, as well as being drained as I ran or engaged in combat. It gained a hundred points for every ten points in Endurance and Toughness.

As a bonus, by unlocking Iustitia's First Form, all of my stats had been raised to at least ten across the board. Go me.

Luck was a puzzle for us both. It was usually a number that represented your ability to encounter enemies, the quality of the loot drops from defeated enemies and even how frequently quests were issued. That it was represented by a solitary question mark merely confirmed for me that someone up there was screwing with my life, and likely not in a good way.

The next page, the Skills page, was accessed by swiping my left index finger to the left for a foot. It should have been blank, but I had apparently generated three skills during the month of Iustitia's growth in her Zeroth Form.

Taylor Hebert's Skills

- Pain Resistance (LV2)

- Danger Sense (LV1)

- Acting (LV2)

[Pain Resistance] came from all of the hits I'd endured, [Danger Sense] had been the feeling of wrongess that had started to come whenever I was about to be pranked by the Bitch Trio and [Acting] came from me feigning that nothing was wrong to Dad. All of them would be useful if I became a hero, but the way I had earned them sucked.

The next page was Iustitia's skills, which I found interesting.

Maiden of Justice Iustitia's Skills and Abilities

- [Justice is Blind] (Form One)

- [Balance the Scales] (Form One)

- [Justice over Earthly Authority] (Maiden Form)

- [The People's Welfare is Supreme] (Maiden Form)

They were all very impressive. [Justice is Blind] levelled the playing field between me and an opposing enemy, power wise. It let me afflict any powers that affected any perception sense used on me onto anyone I chose within ten meters.

[Balance the Scales] was a bit scary. What it did was place a Trump field around me, similar to [Justice is Blind], except this field lowered the physical stats of anyone who entered it to equal mine. As I was currently as physically strong as someone much younger, this was a good thing. These two Skills could only be used by Iustitia in her First Form.

[Justice over Earthly Authority] was Iustitia rendering judgement over someone. It was a bit like the Penance Stare from Ghost Rider, except it didn't leave the victim a vegetable. It merely showed Iustitia what crimes that the person she was looking at had committed. If she looked them in the eyes, she could see the memories of whichever crime had been committed. OK, so it want actually her rendering judgement, but she did find out a lot about the crimes people committed, which was useful.

Finally, [The People's Welfare is Supreme] allowed her to heal people. She just had to stand in a room and utter the name of her skill and a light would be released that healed everyone within ten meters. It was very useful, but it had limits. It could only heal physical trauma; cuts, bruises, lacerations, torn muscles and the like. It could also reduce swelling of the brain, which I found odd. It couldn't cure diseases, cancer or anything like that. Both of these could only be used by Iustitia in her Maiden Form.

"Whew…that is one impressive set of abilities that you have." I looked at my…Embryo…with appraising eyes.

"Yup. Especially considering that's only my First Form." The little goddess girl smirked.

"I saw that you have seven forms." I noted. "How do you gain them?"

"You have to get stronger, Master." Iustitia stated. "At the moment, you are Level 0, weak. As you grow stronger and walk down your path, I can grow stronger myself and evolve as your convictions and personality grows."

"Huh?"

Iustitia walked over to me and tenderly grabbed my hand. "Master…Taylor, I was born from your desire for justice. Your need to make things right. As you walk along your path, I will grow and it will shape my path as well. I may change to a different type as opposed to a Maiden with Arms."

"What types are there?" I wondered.

"The main types are Arms, Guardian, Chariot, Castle and Territory." Iustitia explained. "Arms, as I explained, are weapons or armour. Guardians are close to maidens, but take the form of a creature that protects you. Chariots are vehicles; they can literally be any kind of vehicle that the Master can control and ride. Castles are buildings that the Master can live in and often comes with defensive options. Finally, Territories are barriers than enclose areas. A common other type is Legion. They are rare Embryos that produce multiple monsters that the player can command. Typically, they are the Sixth or Seventh Forms of a Guardian Embryo."

"So…you could become a Type-Maiden with Territory?" I clarified.

"Depending on how I grow, yes." Iustitia confirmed. I had to drive an episode of Earth Aleph's version of Red Dwarf out of my mind, the one with the cornily named Justice Field in it.

"OK then…question is, how can I grow stronger?" I mused. "I need a costume to go out as a Cape and I don't have one."

"Well, you're close to levelling up, Master." My Embryo noted. "I'd guess the experience points are from learning those three skills. Learning another one should do the trick."

"OK, what skill? I take it you have one in mind?" I questioned.

"Command me to transform into my Arms form." She said with a small smile.

"Uh…OK. Iustitia, take on your weapon form!" I said.

"By your command, Master." Iustitia curtseyed before vanishing in a flash of light. In her place was a sword. It was about the same size as her Maiden Form and had a leaf-shaped blade. Floating next to it was a set of scales, looking to be made of gold.

"This is my First Form, Master." The Embryo said. "Form One: Sword and Scales of Justice."

"So…sword fighting?" I asked.

"Sword Mastery, but yes." Iustitia answered. "Thanks to having an Embryo, you will learn skills by doing repeated actions. Swinging my sword form will gain you the Sword Skills tree and possibly a Job."

"A Job? Do I get paid?" I joked.

"Not in the way that you mean." Iustitia answered, evidently needing to learn when someone was joking or being sarcastic. "Earning a job and levelling up that job gains you boosts to your stats, HP, MP and Stamina, as well as Class-specific Skills. You can even have multiple jobs equipped at once. Some Rare Jobs require that you have certain Jobs equipped as a perquisite."

…wow. I was in a RL version of an MMORPG. Whatever. Roll with it. Just roll with it, Taylor.

"OK…this still leaves the question of where to hide you." I frowned. "Dad can be a bit dense, but h isn't going to miss a ten year old dressed up like Lady Justice walking around, and he might find you if I leave you like this."

Iustitia transformed back to her Maiden form. "I can store myself inside of your Crest, Master."

I blinked. "My what?"

She pointed at my left hand and there was something like a tattoo of a sword on it. "That tattoo is a Crest, the mark of the Master of an Embryo. I can store myself inside of it and speak to you telepathically if needed. This way, I can come out whenever you need, and I can assume whichever of my forms you need when I emerge."

That…did sound convenient. The telepathy thing was weird and a bit unpleasant to think about, but hey, she had basically been downloading information from my mind for the entire month she had been in Zeroth Form, so a little bit of telepathy was scarcely something to be concerned about, I suppose.

"OK. Sounds like a plan." I smiled at her. "Looking forward to working with you, Iustitia."

"And I you, Master." Iustitia nodded back at me with a smile. "I am looking forward to becoming a Superior Embryo."

"A what now?" I asked.

"It is very hard to become a Seventh Form Embryo." My partner explained. "Those that manage it are known as 'Superior Embryos' and their Masters are known as 'Superior Masters', or just Superiors for short. I have a good feeling I will reach that level while walking by your side, Master."

"Is there anything special about the Seventh Form?" I wondered.

"Yes." Iustitia nodded emphatically. "At the Sixth and Seventh Forms, an Embryo learns their two ultimate skills, ones that involve their name. Mine would start with 'Iustitia' and then have the rest of the attack name after that. They are the pinnacle of an Embryo's existence and a symbol of their pride."

"Wow…OK, I really like the sound of that." I nodded. "I'll definitely try to get you that far, Iustitia."

"Thank you, Master!" my Embryo hugged me. "Now we'd better find a place for you to practice with the sword so you can earn a Job."

Yo. Been a while in this ficlet collection, hasn't it? This is taking inspiration from a Light Novel called Infinite Dendrogram, which I would highly advise that you check out. Amazon has it, at least in Britain. As with all of my Gamer-esque ficlets, I'll leave the Power Ranking as Shaker/Trump 10.