You know that feeling you get when you wake up in an unfamiliar place and have no idea how you got there for a few seconds? I have it. After waiting a few seconds and scouring my memory...I still have it.
That...is a suboptimal state of affairs.
I started fumbling around in the dark and came across what felt like a lamp. I switched it on and...I've never seen this room before in my life.
I started to breathe heavily as the worst possible situations flitted through my mind.
Have I been kidnapped? If so my kidnapper is oddly hospitable for leaving me on what has to be the most comfortable bed to ever grace my posterior bar none. The last thing I remember doing is sending that...oh. OH! Ohhhhhhh. I shut my eyes and sighed.
"No. There is just no way. I refuse." I muttered to myself. With my eyes shut however I began to notice something. I could "see" what seemed to be countless little stars.
They were everywhere. Many in the room itself but the largest concentration were outside it and...above it? Considerably far above it for that matter. For a second I didn't quite understand what they were but then it hit me. Shaper.
The power that I'd picked. They were living things.
They were living things and they were absolutely everywhere around me. They were on me. They were IN me. Good God that is creepy. Then the information hit. I started to understand them.
I could recreate any one of them.
Any rodent any bird or any insect could be sculpted through this power. With an effort of will I stopped focusing on them. The knowledge went with them but I could feel it was still available. I no longer had to "see" the creatures to call up their "blueprints."
"Okay well that's reasonably terrifying." I said. I started to examine the room I found myself in. A pretty bog standard bedroom all things considered.
Must be the secret lair perk I took.
I had to admit this beat waking up in an alleyway by a mile. Considering the city I was likely in I suspected that was a very good thing. Also from the positioning of the...life signs...I was assuming said lair was underground. Across the room I noticed a desk and computer...but the computer looked like some space age futuristic setup.
"...OH MY GOD IS THAT A TINKERTECH COMPUTER!?!" And I promptly lost all composure as I began to fawn over the sexy machine. Firing it up it loaded the OS in a split second. The prompt claimed it was Windows X.
A feminine voice called out from the speakers. "Hello chief! My name is Cortana and I'll be guiding you through the setup process."
Windows X...with actual Cortana...right. I like my ROB. He has class.
"So...Cortana is it? And what's with calling me 'chief?'" I asked.
"Actually...I'm not really sure." she replied. "I don't really remember anything before coming online just now. 'Chief' is the form of address I was programmed to use. Do you want me to change your designation in the system?"
"NO...um. I mean no that wont be necessary Cortana. For the record though my name is James."
"So noted chief. I'll create your user account under that name. Do you need anything else?"
"Uh...not at the moment. Thanks for the help. I'll come back in a bit."
"Sure thing chief. Signing you out." The computer's lock screen came up. Presumably I just had to ask Cortana if I wanted to use it again. For all her interactivity I was getting more of a Mass Effect VI feel from her rather than a Halo Smart AI. I felt like she probably wouldn't be taking initiative any time soon.
Well it's just as well.
The very last thing I needed was someone like Saint getting all over me. Not that I was particularly concerned about my eventual ability to handle Saint. It was just a hassle I didn't need at the moment. Plus I'd have to bug out since I didn't know
how to use any of my abilities just yet beyond the passive 'Detect Life' buff I'd picked up.
I sat back in my exquisitely comfortable desk chair.
"Okay. Let's take stock here."
My goal in this world was to survive for ten years. Scion would go genocidal at the end of that time or in two years if Jack Slash was allowed to run his mouth. Yeah...I'd want to off him sooner rather than later if at all possible.
Technically speaking I had two years to get around to it but...it was the Slaughterhouse 9 for God's sake. If I had the ludicrous power of the Kaleidoscope (which I didn't know how to use) at my disposal then didn't I have a responsibility to use it to deal with them if nothing else?
I mean Zelretch stopped the moon from falling and put it back into ORBIT with this power and nothing else. Surely I should be able to take the murder hobos.
There were a few issues with that plan. Firstly the S9 were terrifying. Seriously, my breathing was picking up from just considering this. If I somehow failed then I'd better hope I'm fortunate enough to die quickly.
The Kaleidoscope gives me unparalleled strategic ability and functionally infinite energy by channeling a tiny bit of energy from infinite other planes to focus in this one like a metaphysical pyramid sceme. However, in spite of the UNLIMITED POWER (cough) that I could potentially access it didn't make me very durable. At the moment I was the definition of a glass cannon.
Also, I didn't know how to do anything with that vast cosmic energy. I suspected that if I gathered it all I'd be capable of doing is firin' mah lazer and releasing it all at once. I figured the Siberian would rip me to shreds if I went after them now. If I focused on Manton then Jack Slash would cut me to shreds.
Okay so obviously I wasn't going after Jack Slash tomorrow that was for sure. I wouldn't wait two years either though. It shouldn't take that long to reach a point where I could take 'em.
The best thing to do for now would be to accumulate power as quickly as possible so I could actually afford to be proactive. I knew that I could just stock this lair and refuse to leave it and Taylor would eventually handle things but...I really felt like she shouldn't have to.
I suppose I could actually go to the Nasuverse and find Zelretch for instruction.
"Pffft AS FREAKING IF Hahahaha!" I double over laughing at the idiocy of that plan and wipe the tears from my eyes. Yeah. There was no way that could end well.
He'd probably just prank me or stick me in a skirt with cat ears on my head. Oh well. I'd enact my master plan to obtain supreme power tomorrow. For tonight I'm going to bed.