This wasn't heaven or hell.

It wasn't a place, and time didn't pass here... Not really.

There weren't any dimensions, nor did matter exist.

But still, somewhere, somewhen, a lost Soul existed.

They had long ago forgotten who they were, in some ways.

Madness had come here, where sensations were deprived... But that too, only lasted so long.

Memories forgotten and forged and crafted and lost and replaced.

But in the end, they were still here. Alone. Wherever here was.

At least, if nothing else, there was a point of interest...

When nothing could be sensed, Imagination thrived.

It was all they had, and they CLUNG to it.

The cost of forgetting 'important' things or confusing the past with fiction? Negligible.

What use was information here, in this place?

What benefit was an identity here, with solitude?

With the only fertile soil being the thoughts of a Soul, Imagination thrived.

So it was that when something changed, the Soul failed to notice.

They didn't detect the actual alteration to the Abyss for many... For a long time. If time existed here.

But eventually, even if the change was impossible and the concepts unimaginable and the potential hope unbearable... Well, options were lacking.

They 'read' the invisible, undetectable message again. Even if the language wasn't English, and the words were not written in letters.

[[Conceptual System Seed Obtained.]]
{{Initiate?}}

Time continued to not pass, but eventually they sent a vague agreement.

Why not?

At least it was something new they were imagining.

Maybe it would be nice?

[[Conceptual System Seed Initiated.]]
}}Reconstructing Framework.{{
~Concept not detected.
~~Constructing Concepts.
~Time not defined.
~~Constructing temporal framework, local.
~Space not defined.
~~Constructing spatial framework, local.
~Networks not detected.
~~Defining network, local.
~Modules not detected.
~~Begin recovery/regrowth procedures.

}}Detecting User.{{
~Soul Detected: Unstable.
~~Soul Recovery initiated.
~~Backup scheduled and initiated.
~Mind Detected: Fractured.
~~Mind Recovery initiated.
~~Backup scheduled and initiated.
~Body not Detected.
~~Construction Protocol initiated.
~~Backup to be scheduled after Detection.
~Interface Connectivity Level: Recovery Mode.
~~Constructing full Interface Integration Module.

Something felt... Better. More defined?

They felt less lost.

There was stability now. It was easier to focus. Easier to clear their mind, even if those empty spaces of the past were simply more clear rather than revealing information long since lost.

Hello?

}}Recovery/Regrowth procedures initiated.{{
~User Interface Integration Module Rebuilt.
~Startup Procedures initiated.

Huh?

[[Hello, HOST. Please advise.]]
~Welcome to the Conceptual System, Seed of Genesis Variant.
~Due to missing information, please define priorities!
~~This order can be modified at a later point.

{{Order the following from 'Most' to 'Least'!}}
~Applied Effects
~Energy
~HOST
~Realm Transfer
~Recovery
~Redundancy
~Resource
~Storage
~System

More time passed... And this time, they could actually feel it passing.

Eventually, they began to play with the order, not entirely clear what was going on... But somehow understanding that this wasn't an unalterable choice. That mistakes could be made.

In the end, they found themselves conflicted... But metaphorically shrugged their non-existent shoulders and submitted their choices.

System/Recovery/Energy/Storage/Resource/HOST/Redundancy/Realm Transfer/Applied Effects.

The logic felt right... First, if this wasn't more madness, fix yourself. So prioritize the System and then it's ability to fix whatever the hell this was.

Secondly, make sure it has the energy to keep operating, space to put stuff, and stuff to put in that space.

Thirdly, help. Help them. Please.

The rest were sort of random, as they didn't care about the rest... As long as they were getting some sort of help.

After emoting raw and pointless hope, they felt the unseen words alter once more.

[[Emergency Construction Initiated]]
}}Priorities Established.{{
~HOST requires modification.
~~Emergency HOST standby initiated.
~~~Estimated duration: ####.

What?

But they were already drifting away.

As they fell into slumber, they had to wonder...

Had they ever actually slept before?

Maybe it would be nice.

~~~Pocket System~~~

A mind that was fractured and used to grow anew made many unseen choices.

He was now a male.

They were fairly young, but mature.

They wished to be somewhere interesting... Or at least, anywhere but here.

His genetics fluctuated as a System began to grow in his Soul, a System that did impossible things with impossible means... Including creating backups of itself while it was inside itself.

Not much of him survived this place, and even that would be a shock to some people/things/entities... But as the System continued to grow, his odd existence affected the alterations.

Because most people, if asked what they would wish for if granted anything, tended to desire the same things... Friends, happiness, health, marriage, money, success, self-improvement, to help other people.

But he was damaged.

And his memories were faulty.

The idea of others felt confusing. The thought of happiness, the possibility of success or anything changing? Alien.

Did other people even exist?

When the System began to search for answers, for a direction to grow, this young man felt something else at that moment.

A small, selfish, but innocent wish.

He wanted something.

Anything.

Just... A thing. To keep. To hold. To covet. To protect.

Something real, that he could tuck away somewhere and never lose, never be so alone and empty and lost ever again.

Something he could grasp that would let him know he still existed. That anything else might exist too.

So as the System rebuilt itself from less than nothing, his desires and prioritized direction found a symbolic resonance, of a sort.

And of all the new modules, more and more of the Resources and Energy modules that became available were redirected...

Towards Storage.

Here, now, there was nothing.

But when he found something, something to keep... The System would allow him a Pocket to protect that thing.

To others, this would be a terrible choice, a waste of a wish!

Any power!? Any ability!? Any skill or talent or feature!?

But to a boy who had nothing, who remembered nothing, the concept of his own secret space to keep his own special thing?

That was priceless.

Better than eye lasers or mind bullets or infinite gold...

That would be enough.

Unaware and with his new 'body' on Standby, the System continued to construct itself and its Concepts with growing complexity and deftness.

And eventually, it crossed a critical threshold.

[[Realm Transfer.]]

And the nothingness was slightly more empty.

~~~Pocket System~~~

"How is he even alive right now!?"

"Focus. Scalpel."

"Yes, doctor."

Things hurt... Less?

"The anesthesia is wearing off again, that's far too soon!"

"Give him another dose, he does NOT need to wake up during this."

"Yes sir. 20 ccs."

What was... What was going on?

[[HOST was rebuilt with available resources. Resources were insufficient.]]

Wha?

[[HOST is receiving medical care.]]

"Right, he's stabilized but... Damn it, he's waking up again! Another dose!"

Was... Was he going to be okay?

[[HOST body will fully recover. Estimated initial recovery duration: 38 hours, 12 minutes, 33 seconds.]]

"Shh, you'll be okay kid... Just stay calm..."

Was... Was this pain?

[[HOST recovery duration adjusted: 29 hours, 33 min, 09 sec.]]

Feeling pain felt strange.

Still... Better than before, with the nothingness.

"That's it... We'll take care of you kid, calm down… There you go…"

Falling unconscious again, he attempted to keep the pain and the soft and the words and... Just a little longer...

[[HOST recovery duration adjus...]]

~~~Pocket System~~~

It was the silence that woke him.

The bed was... Odd? sort of half sitting up, half not? Plastic rails on either side, a plastic tube in his right arm leading off somewhere, tape holding it still against his skin.

How did he know all this?

[[Realm Background Information is gathered per transfer and provided to the HOST.]]

...That didn't mean anything, did it? But it should, right?

He felt his limbs heavy against the soft and thin covers as he rested in the sheets.

Light from the curtain covered window... Too dim. Most likely night.

He gently gripped the covers... His weary fingers attempting to hold tight.

It felt real.

That was enough, for now.

Slumber pulled him down again into a soft embrace.

[[Priority List Review!]]
~System: Stable.
~Recovery: Unstable.
~Energy: Unstable.
~Storage: Unstable.
~Resource: Unstable.
~HOST: Stable.
~Redundancy: Unstable.
~Realm Transfer: Unstable.
~Applied Effects: Unstable.
}}Instabilities detected!{{

[[HOST Evaluation in Progress!]]
~~Soul Detected: Stable.
~~~Backup scheduled, fully updated.
~~Mind Detected: Unstable.
~~~Mind Recovery initiated.
~~~Backup scheduled and initiated.
~~Body Detected: Stable.
~~~Backup scheduled and initiated.
~~Interface Connectivity Level: Base Mode.
~~~Further features temporarily restricted.
}}Mind instability detected!{{
}}Recovery instability detected!{{

[[Emergency Construction Initiated]]
}}Priorities Established.{{
~Recovery requires modification.
~~Emergency HOST standby initiated.
~~~Estimated duration: ####.

He was pulled away from consciousness once more.

~~~Pocket System~~~

Wha?

A woman was opening the door, and it was morning now?

She moved with an absent minded routine built from habit. "Good morning, Mr. Doe. Just the usual care and time to change out your intravenous medications. I swear, Jenny nearly missed your appointment this time! That girl really needs to keep her head in the game."

What was… What happened?

[[Recovery stabilized. Mind stabilized. Energy instability detected and modified: Is now stabilized. Further stabilization scheduled for a later date. HOST is no longer on standby.]]

Oh? That… That seems like a lot.

She was unplugging bags of something and had injectors of something else. "Don't get me wrong, Jenny does her best, but sometimes when she gets a heavy schedule I just feel better double checking to make sure nothing slips, you know?"

Why did he feel so sluggish?

[[HOST recovery duration was substantial.]]

That… That sounded bad?

[[Due to limited resources, priorities had to be addressed. HOST is now closer to baseline stability.]]

Uh. Good?

She was now cheerfully removing a blanket from his lap and preparing to do something or other. "I'm sure you'll feel clean with a bit of a sponge bath and then I've got a nice fresh set of… Set of…"

He blinked as he met her eyes… And she froze staring back at him.

She seemed lost. "Ah. You… You are awake?"

He nodded.

The woman didn't move. "That… That's good? I… Doctor! I need to get… Wait, you stay here! No, of course you will stay here, just… Just give me a moment!"

He watched in confusion as she began pushing buttons to call for assistance and then began to rapidly and carefully take notes about what the machines around him were reading at the moment. "Yes, the long term patient ward, room 12b, call the night shift staff! Our John Doe, yes. No, I'm going to stay here, I don't want to leave him alone confused like this… Yes, I'm documenting all I can, and the medications he received most recently."

It continued onwards from there, then there were more people, and questions, and he answered what he could, but that wasn't as much as he think they expected, and…

Well, things became a bit blurry and confusing and eventually he fell asleep half answering things while cautious medical professionals continued to care for him.

It was a new experience… He treasured it.

~~~Pocket System~~~

John Doe, for want of a better name, found life to be odd but thrilling in the hospital.

Although his caretakers seemed… Disturbed by his lack of memories and knowledge, combined with his unusual knowledge of nearly everything else (As memory loss should NOT work that way), it wasn't like this was the ONLY unusual aspect of the child.

For one, he should be dead.

VERY dead!

He had been found and initially called in to the officials as a discovered dead body! Only when the police showed up were they shocked to know that he was somehow struggling to live, and then things got very frantic indeed.

But despite massive issues, his heart managed to beat. What little blood he had still circulated. His lungs still managed to breathe, eventually. Despite all judgment and logic? He made it to the hospital's emergency room.

Then things just kept getting stranger.

Despite the desperate and dangerous procedures taken during the attempt to save his life, he didn't just survive… He thrived!

He rapidly shifted from near death to nearly waking up despite medication attempting to keep him pacified and unconscious! Bag after bag of fluids and medications just… Vanished into his system, nearly visibly increasing his survival rate DURING active surgery!

Luckily, the operating doctors on duty had seen some shit, and managed to stay professional long enough to keep their staff focused and mostly efficient… At least when it mattered.

The boy then dropped into the strangest coma ever documented for literally months, and basically became a resident of the long term care ward… And maybe a bit of a mystery as well.

Those who cared for him always felt something was off about all this… But somehow, nothing was done. No one acted on these oddities.

Maybe it was because everyone was busy. They had a hectic career, after all.

Perhaps it was due to other causes, ones not easily noticed by science or even magic.

But for conceptual reasons or not, 'John Doe' had been a silent slumbering resident for this place for a while… And his sudden and unexpected awareness really set off the hens of the henhouse.

John found it all fascinating!

There were new colors! Sounds! Smells! Things to touch! Things to eat and drink!

It was all so new! So DIFFERENT!

So despite the many confusing and never ending questions, he was happy here in the hospital. Or a care center. Or a therapy ward? He wasn't actually sure where he was, really, and it was hard to move around with all the sensors and stuff hooked up to him.

[[HOST is located within a secured long term care facility: Harley Street Care; Located in London, England, Earth, Realm #2213233282923B33233282393…]]

John, or whatever his actual name really was, idly listened with interest as the number and letter string went on and on and… Well, the voice was soothing.

Not quite male or female, and more of an idea than an actual sound, it felt real in a way that not much else did.

Ooh, a symbol! Those were rare. Looked like an inverted arrow that had a headache!

Eventually though, he mentally dismissed the ongoing comment as lunch was being served. A nutritious paste, like usual… But today he was going to get something special!

Apple slices!

The nice woman gave a wry smile when she saw his eyes light up. "Yes John, I got permission to let you try an apple slice today instead of your usual toast. Are you up for it?"

YES! Yes yes yes! He nodded!

She grinned back at him, and carefully helped him eat a tiny chewable bite…

Mmm! It was so juicy!

Well, probably not compared to a fresh apple or whatever, but considering the cautious improvement of his cuisine recently it was head and shoulders above the competition! Made toast look pale by comparison, for sure!

Apples are awesome!

The nice woman, named Jessica, helped him have another slice before moving back to the fortified oatmeal (AKA, nutrient paste, because… Well, yeah.) "Alright John, let's make sure your stomach handles those two slices first, okay? Now, how about some oatmeal!"

But… But the apple slices!

As she carefully fed him another spoonful, his eyes couldn't help but be locked on the green peeled heaven only inches away…

If only he could keep it…

[[Storage Module activated.]]

[[Pocket.]]

John blinked as one of the small apple slices vanished… And something unseen within himself felt full!

What had happened!?

[[Due to Energy constraints and passive recovery, ability is limited.]]

Huh?

[[Status Update]]
~System: Stable.
~Recovery: Stable.
~Energy: Stable, Limited.
~Storage: Unstable, Partially active.
~Resource: Unstable.
~HOST: Stable.
~Redundancy: Unstable.
~Realm Transfer: Unstable.
~Applied Effects: Unstable.

[[Ability 'Pocket' is Limited due to following:]]
~Energy: Stable, Limited.
~Storage: Unstable, Partially active.
~Resource: Unstable.
~Applied Effects: Unstable.

Oh. But that full feeling was his 'Pocket'?

[[Confirmed.]]

John blinked, accepting another spoonful of mush, as he felt something inside shift slightly…

And he understood.

His Pocket had an apple slice.

The slice was… Honestly a bit too big for his Pocket. But Recovery was adjusting his System to handle the situation, even if this felt a bit discomforting. Plus, he wouldn't need to go into 'Emergency Host Standby' mode, which was good.

But… But he had something now.

It may only be a tiny slice of green apple, a bit dry and worth nothing to anyone else…

Yet here, in this strained and hidden place no one else could access, John held it close as a treasure.

It was his.

His apple slice.

…He was going to name it Wedgie.

They were going to be best friends!

Jessica frowned. "You alright John?"

Oh, wait! He was eating! "Yeah."

She smiled! "Oh, another word today? SOMEONE deserves an EXTRA apple slice, I think! It will be our little secret, alright?"

Don't be jealous Wedgie!