Snap!
Carl startled at the loud sound of fingers snapping. He had been blankly staring at the ceiling with nothing running through his mind for a quite a while, so the sudden noise had sounded like a firecracker in his ears.
Inspecting the man sitting across the table from him that had presumably snapped his fingers, Carl idly noted that he looked a lot like that actor Morgan Freeman.
"Job interview? I didn't know you were producing a movie, Mr. Freeman." Carl deadpanned, while inwardly wondering about his current circumstances.
The man smiled at him with amusement evident in his charismatic smile.
"In a manner of speaking." The Morgan Freeman look-a-like stated. "Although you've already been chosen for the position, and this is more like filling out the HR forms."
Carl took a moment to process that statement before ruefully shaking his head.
"I can't decide if that statement is actually terrifying or hopeful under the circumstances, seeing as my last memories before being woken up here was the sound of the flatline just before the doctors called it. So. I died?"
"Indeed. And I'm well aware of your attitude towards TANSTAAFL. But this is more like an example of you having purchased yourself a lottery ticket and won, rather than being charged hidden fees while being fooled by a prize." The Morgan Freemen look-a-like that was in charge of Carl's afterlife placement raised an eyebrow, practically inviting more questions.
It sort of terrified Carl that the man was able to so easily know what he was thinking and preempt his questions. Carl got the impression that he was only waiting for Carl to talk this time to be polite.
And just what need does someone so powerful as to be in charge of afterlife affairs need to be polite to a regular guy like him?
"Uh…won the grand prize? Or won a prize worth only a couple of bucks?" Carl muttered before he could stop himself. He knew he shouldn't be sniffing the gift fish in the mouth. At least he kept himself from blurting out anything about the enormous taxes they charge lottery winners.
"That depends entirely on the results of the roll of the dice." The smile seemed a bit…toothier. "The way I've done these placements in the past for the lucky winners of the 'Departing-Your-Previous-Life-With-One-Act-Of-Heroism-And-Bravery Lottery' is to allow them to choose their preferred world, gift them with three wishes, and let them decide who they would be in their new life."
So his act of jumping in between the man with the gun and his hostages had somehow paid off. It had been pretty stupid of him to do so, and somewhat uncharacteristic of him. But seeing the family that looked like they were about to be shot to death cling to each other with love and caring instead of throwing each other to the wolves had touched something inside him.
Even though he was still grieving the death of his last family member's death from months ago, and had no one else to care for in that life, he somehow didn't want that family to disappear from the world. It felt like something precious would be lost.
What was that quote about not asking for who the bells toll?
So, he had acted impulsively.
"That method doesn't sound so bad." Carl tentatively said after thinking through the information he received from the Morgan Freeman look-a-like. If he had three wishes, he could come up with some nice powerups to see him living it up in his new life.
"Exactly. It's boring. Not imaginative at all. It's always Path to Godhood this, Money and Easy Living that. And you would not believe how many requests for harems I get. Well, maybe you would. But I'm not about to use my power to abrogate the Agency of the girls these people lust after. If they choose to use their new powers in such a manner, then they are free to do so. They just have to deal with the consequences of their actions by making those choices."
"Hell?" Carl asked, assuming he was talking about sin and afterlife placements.
"No. Women troubles." Morgan deadpanned. "You have any idea how many men that wished for immortality find themselves wishing for the sweet release of death when their 100 member Harem has gone on a rampage and caused them to become henpecked because all of their times of the month synchronized, and then the dude went and carelessly forgot some two week anniversary or other?"
"So, hell it is, then." Carl dryly chuckled, while hoping that no female angels or goddesses of any kind were overhearing the jokes. Morgan Freeman dryly chuckled a bit before continuing explaining things.
"I've seen too many of the Lottery Winners do everything they can to grasp hold of Ultimate PowerTM and live out their fantasies, and it's grown somewhat stale, seeing their greedy faces and similar choices. So I've decided to change it up a bit in your case. A roll of the dice will determine what you have to work with when you arrive in your new life."
"I've got myself a Database of Powers that you'll use to randomly roll for in place of your three wishes. Then you'll roll for the strength tier of those powers. And finally, you'll roll for the identity of your new body from a character list of those relevant to the plot of that world."
Carl gulped a bit at hearing at just how little control he would have over this whole afterlife placement. Never mind that he had only learned about it a few minutes ago, he was already cursing out those other lottery winners in his mind for being so boring as to encourage this entity to mess with him.
"You'll be placed in your new life, and hopefully you'll have a nice interesting life with whatever you win here. If the luck of the dice gives you strong powers or weak ones, you'll have to figure out how to use them to the best of your ability."
Carl focused again, and nodded thoughtfully at the advice he took from Morgan Freeman. It would be better for him to simply accept what he wins, rather than sulking over not getting more. What the entity had said earlier about the other lottery winners reminded him of the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. He wasn't sure if that…yeah, that was probably intentional on his part.
"So, you mentioned characters relevant to the plot for the world." Carl's mind circled back around to something Morgan Freeman had said. "It sounds like I'll be going to a world that was considered fiction in my previous world. Which world will I be going to?" Carl asked as he looked down at the dice that appeared on the table from out of nowhere.
"Now where would be the fun in telling you that? I'm sure it will be a lot more exciting to let you discover that on your own." Morgan Freeman placed his index finger alongside his nose with a smile. "Now, go ahead and roll the dice."
He sighed. While he would much prefer to go in knowing what world he would be in, he couldn't deny that as far as "excitement" went, the unknown was definitely high up there. It was why horror movies that showed the monster right at the beginning lost a lot of the suspense and horror. He just found that a lot of the excitement was already lost when he wasn't the one deciding to put himself in a place where the unknown would fire up the old adrenalin.
Carl picked up the large die that looked like a 100 sider. It was nearly the size of his palm, but as he looked closer, it seemed like the numbers on the sides were shifting in and out of focus. And there were a lot more numbers than just 100. Carl spotted that one of the sides facing him had the number 65,637. Multidimensional dice, apparently. With an impressed eyebrow raise and a fatalistic shrug, Carl rolled.
He knew these rolls would determine his future, so he anxiously watched as the die rolled across the table and came to a stop.
"Hmm. Interesting first power."
Carl looked up and saw Morgan Freeman had a sheet of paper in his hand. He reached across the table and placed it on top of a manila folder that was suddenly sitting in front of Carl. Carl picked up the paper and saw the title of the power with an empty box next to it.
"Now, roll for the power level."
Carl placed the paper down on the folder when he saw an eight sided die that was numbered from 3-10. Apparently he was getting a slight bonus so that he wouldn't get stuck with a level 1 power. He found he could live with that. Carl rolled a 7. Not bad. The empty box next to the name of the power automatically filled in the 7. Carl then spent a moment reading the description of the power.
Unchosen One [7]
The circumstances of gaining associated abilities when one makes their own destiny.
Capabilities
The circumstances through which the user gains or is given powers is related to the Role of their own making in the fulfillment of a particular goal created by their own choices. In-story users are never chosen by fate, god, or sorcerers, but rather create a destiny of their own making that will forever be bound to the user, making said user a self created being who decides for themselves to follow the path they made for themselves.
Applications
·Personal Probability Manipulation
·Self-Power Bestowal
·Reincarnation
Variations
·Assailant
·Causa Sui Physiology
·Dark Lord
·Destiny Chosen
·Freedom
·Guardianship
·True Hero
Associations
·Path Maker
·Self-Title Bestowal
Limitations
·May not be able to change their fates once they make it.
·Cannot alter the fate of others.
'Is this a chicken or egg thing?' Carl wondered to himself at seeing that Reincarnation was one of the applications of that power. 'Did I gain this power specifically because of winning the lottery? Or did I win the lottery and reincarnation because of this power? No, it was the dice roll that gave it to me, right? Well, no matter. It's best to ignore questions I'll likely never get an answer to.'
"I can mostly figure out all of it except for the Causa Sui Physiology. Could you explain it to me?" Carl asked, hoping that Morgan Freeman would feel chatty.
"You'll have to figure that out on your own." Morgan Freeman stated with a smirk.
Carl shrugged. He could always look it up in a dictionary when he got wherever he was going. And since it had to do with a power that freed him from destiny and fate and whatnot, it probably had to do with that. Maybe self-developing powers according to what he chooses for his life purpose?
While Morgan Freeman sat back and hummed a tune, clearly enjoying the suspense, Carl once more picked up the large power deciding die and rolled it. After rolling for the randomized power, and seeing the paper with his power description appear in Morgan Freeman's hands, Carl once more grabbed the eight sided die and rolled for the power level. Morgan Freeman placed the newly created power sheet in front of him.
After reading the name of his power, he felt he was quite lucky this go around.
Dimensional Storage [10]
The power to store anything in a fold of dimension/space and re-materialize at will.
Capabilities
The user can put items/beings into a separate dimension for safekeeping and can summon them back with relative ease.
There are various different methods of "Pocketing": have holes or areas on the body that "suck" objects in. "Bag of Tricks" or "Magic Satchel" to hold infinite amount of objects inside. "Floating" portal or simply reach behind/in anything and pull out the wanted item. Even "Trade-In/Out" for any items that they have right now and the items that they want from their dimension.
Example: Trading a pistol for a shotgun, or changing outfits.
Variations
·Attack Interface
·Dimensional Pocket
·Personal Void
·Sealing
·Zipper Generation
Associations
·Area Blending
·Body Storage
·Gut Storage
·Hidden Arsenal
·Infinite Supply
·Inventory Expansion
·Pocket Dimension Creation
·Summoning
·Weapon Summoning
Limitations
·Heavier objects may strain the user.
·The entry-point may place limits on the size of the stored object.
Carl immediately decided that since he rolled the highest tier, he wasn't going to decide to put artificial limiters on his Dimensional Storage power. He didn't want his Unchosen Power to decide to limit his other powers like that. After all, it was all his choice. He would have to be creative. And with a Tier 10 power, it was bound to be strong and versatile.
"Last power." Morgan Freeman said. Carl grabbed the dice and rolled.
Mammal Manipulation [3]
The power to influence and control all forms of mammals.
Capabilities
Users can control various mammalians. They control them to do their bidding like helping them during situations, use them against foes, use them to see locations and get information about a particular place, use them for battle, use them for spying on others. The controlled mammals may cultivate bonds with the user, thus creating friendships. Also may empathize or communicate with them.
Applications
·Animal Scrying
·Mammal Empathy
·Mind Control
·Mind Link
·Taming
·Zoolingualism
Techniques
·Animal Empowerment
Associations
·Animal Creation / Summoning
·Animal Manipulation
·Animal Telepathy
·Mammal Magic
·Mammalian Physiology
·Psychic Persuasion / Mind Control
Limitations
·May be limited to only certain species
·Some can only control the mammals they create or summon
·Range maybe limited
·Depends on environment
Once more Carl consciously chose to ignore the limitations and focus on exploring the possibilities and making this power strong. Even if Mammal Manipulation wasn't a power that he would have ever picked for himself, there were possibilities in this power. And even though it didn't start off as powerful with its rating of a 3, he decided that with Unchosen One, he could grow and do what he wanted with his powers in this new world. It was up to him.
"Okay. That's it for your "three wishes". Now you get to roll for your new identity." Morgan Freeman said, and a 20 sided die appeared on the table.
"Any chance I could give up one of my powers to choose for myself who I'll be, rather than roll?" Carl asked hopefully. After all, he would have the Unchosen One power soon, right? He should get to decide himself, right? And rolling a 20 sided die had some nerve wracking implementations for Carl based on past life Dungeon and Dragons games. He had always been really bad at saving rolls in D&D.
"No." Morgan Freeman stated with an amused air.
Carl sighed and shrugged, resigning himself. He hadn't really expected to be allowed that privilege, but it was worth a shot.
He figured he did have the freedom to simply sit there, hoping that filibustering would work on the Morgan Freeman entity in front of him. But more than likely that would simply annoy the being in front of him. And since he could only choose his own actions that decided his destiny, not others, he really was limited in his choices at the moment since he wouldn't be able to affect Morgan Freeman's choices, which would directly impact him.
He picked up the die and rolled. Carl groaned. He had rolled a 1.
'That could either be really good, or really bad. Probably bad in this case.' Carl decided after seeing the smile widen on Morgan Freeman's face.
Rolling a 1 on an attack in Dungeons and Dragons? It represented a critical failure. Anything from falling to the ground, to stabbing himself like an idiot with his own sword, accidental decapitation of a friend, self immolation…the horrible possibilities were endless! Why did his luck desert him when he needed it most?
"Enjoy your new life."
The world faded to black.
Carl opened his eyes, and looked around, curious about his new circumstances. He was currently sitting on an airplane that was only half full. And he was feeling a bit different from normal.
Which, when he thought about it was normal since, according to Morgan Freeman, he was being reincarnated into a different person.
He felt decidedly skinnier, that was for sure. Looking down at his new body, his long hair fell around his ears. One of his pale slender hands rose up to pull some hair in front of his face to examine it. It was brown. And long. And his hands looked small, almost feminine.
Morgan Freeman's smile of schadenfreude when he rolled that 1 came to mind. Carl sighed, depressed.
He unbuckled and stood up. And resolutely ignored the oddities of his new body for the time being. Like how his center of gravity was changed. Or that he was damned short.
He was short!
Grasping the backs of unoccupied seats to keep steady as he made his way to the bathroom on the plane, Carl waited until he had locked the door to turn around and resolutely stare in the mirror.
'Yup. That being was a bastard.' Was Carl's stunned thought as he looked at his clearly female face and hair with his new brown eyes.
There was absolutely nothing left of the original Carl to be seen in the face in front of him.
Thankfully there was a lid on the toilet to sit on, so he…she…didn't fall into it as he collapsed onto it to try to get a grasp over what was done to him. To wrap his head around it.
And that's when the film of memories started playing in his head.
Carl abruptly focused, ignoring his girl problem for the moment. Memories of his new life were important, since he was starting at his teenager years rather than from birth. He needed those memories to be able to cope!
And Carl worked hard to burn the details of the memories in his mind. As much as he wanted to rail about the unfairness of it all, he needed information more than anything.
So Carl watched the life of one Isabella Marie Swan from birth until the current date of 17 January 2005 as she was flying to Forks, Washington to live with her father.
It was a very different life from what Carl had lived. So he needed all the tips and info he could get to blend in and live as a girl. Because he knew that his life would definitely get interesting in the future, seeing as how he had been chucked into the supernatural teen drama of Twilight.
The life and times of Bella Swan finished playing in his head. Carl got back up from the toilet and splashed some water on his face to cool his head down a bit.
A knocking on the bathroom door interrupted Carl's thoughts.
"Are you okay in there? We're on landing approach, so the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelts sign. If you could return to your seat, please."
Carl gave himself a final grimace in the mirror before he unlocked the bathroom and stepped out. The stewardess or whatever they called themselves now-a-days was a cute blonde in her 20s that stood several inches above him. Carl felt another stab of frustration at his short stature that he shoved back down.
"I'm fine. Thanks for the heads up." Carl gave a polite nod to the nice lady and made his way back to his seat. After he turned his back to the lady, he grimaced at the sound of his new feminine voice. It had a nice quality to it that he would have enjoyed hearing when he was a guy. Now that it was his voice, it was…less pleasant to him.
As he made his way to his seat, he mentally wiped the sweat from his brow. He would have totally forgotten what seat he was in due to rushing to the bathroom if not for the memories that were floating in his head.
'At least I got the memories. It would have been even more difficult to do this if I didn't have the memories to know how to handle things like a period. Or to know what my new name was; or who my relatives are.' Carl muttered in his mind. 'Or an endless list of problems that would have come about from being an "amnesiac".'
After buckling up, he sat back to consider his options and new life. And what he knew about the setting of the world he found himself in.
First of all, after experiencing the memories of Bella Swan, he was now emotionally connected to the people she was. Which pretty much meant her mother and estranged father at the moment. She didn't have any friends at school back in Scottsdale since she was too busy sinking herself into a book or her studies.
Which was good since he hadn't exactly been the most studious person around and had forgotten a lot from his high school years. It was nice to now have that information floating around in his head that would help him finish out his Junior and Senior years of high school.
Despite Bella's apparently low self esteem in herself and her appearance, since she wasn't an outgoing personality, Carl could tell that Bella's hardware specs, at least as far as her brain and processing power, was much higher than his were in his old body. He was able to remember so much more and think faster.
Having the upgraded brain was a nice bonus for the shitty hand he was dealt. Maybe he shouldn't have been cracking jokes about the nature of girls where goddesses and angels probably overheard him? Was that why he rolled that 1?
He sighed and returned back to thinking about his new body. Despite the memories he'd inherited from Bella and her critically unfair opinion of herself, she actually looked quite pretty. He'd heard that teenagers were often too sensitive about their looks and such. He hadn't suffered from that in his past life because he simply didn't care.
It wasn't to say he looked down on people who did care about their appearance and looking good, since he knew everyone had important things to them. Maybe it was the fact that he had enormous jug ears that stuck out like handles on a pot? The fact that in order to not feel embarrassed about it he had done such a thorough job of repressing any care for appearance that it became a sort of blind spot in his mind?
Carl shrugged. Who knew? The human mind was weird.
But now that he experienced Bella's self confidence issues, he could feel some sympathy for silly teenagers that he had burned out long ago.
Despite her lack of confidence in her appearance, Bella did look good. But the biggest downside about his new body was that she was now 8 inches too short at 5'4", clumsy, and un-athletic.
She could change the un-athletic and clumsiness through exercise. No problem. But there didn't seem to be much she could do at the moment for the height problem.
'Well, that might not necessarily be true.' Carl-turned-Isabella Swan thought as she pretty much ignored the final approach and landing in favor of considering important matters. 'One of my new powers is Mammal Manipulation, and one of the associations with that power was Mammalian Physiology, and it had a technique of Animal Enhancement. So maybe I could use my power to manipulate my body to grow taller, as well as tougher. At least there are possibilities here, even if I have to adjust to a completely different life.'