The words snapped her back into consciousness. Her eyes remained closed, and her body still refused to respond. The last thing she remembered was Cyrillus saying sorry for something. Then nothing… except a vague uneasiness that something unpleasant had happened to her.
< Hello? Can you hear me? >
She recognized the voice as belonging to the woman… Runa. She tried to answer, but she could not speak.
< By what name would like to be known? >
She wanted answers of her own. Screw their questions.
< Where am I? What is happening to me? Who the hell are these people? >
< I was trying to be polite and learn your name first, but if you’d like to start by demanding answers, then that’s what we’ll do. You are in the Temple of the Well, which lies at the heart of Nexus, the Capital of the Realms of Novalis. It is your home now... Not the Temple, of course... Nexus. >
Piper lost track of what the woman was saying as she realized her voice was coming from inside Piper’s mind. She wasn’t hearing with her ears, and that was one impossible thing too far for her to cope with.
< This is can’t be happening… wake up Piper, just wake up now. >
< You are not asleep. >
< Wait.. Did she just hear my thoughts? >
< Yes, we are communicating through a specialized Shard band designed specifically to help the newly harvested learn to interact with their interface. I am directing my thoughts to you. You, on the other hand, are projecting your thoughts to everyone on this floor, and probably the ones above and below. You might want to try to focus it in a little. >
Stunned by the answer, Piper couldn’t pull her thoughts together enough to respond. After a pause, Runa continued.
< I am Runa, your Harvester. My colleague, Cyrillus, is also in attendance. And now, by what name would like to be known? >
< It’s Piper, Piper Corbin. But… >
< What? No, Piper is fine. >
< Of course it is. It will strike fear into the hearts of your enemies. >
It was odd enough that she could recognize a voice when there was no sound to hear, but she could also recognize the tone—dry sarcasm.
“Runa, you’re doing it again,” Cyrillus spoke out loud.
“Do you want to take over?
“No, I want you to get this over with so we can go to the Harvest Festival, celebrate the end of the Season with a lot of beer, and then sleep for the next day or two.”
“Then you…”
Cyrillus loudly cleared his throat, interrupting Runa’s reply.
< Piper is a fine name. I am Cyrillus, and I will be your guide while the System completes its integration. >
< Let’s start by trying to focus your private thoughts inward, and directing your communication thoughts outward— but not too far, just to Runa and myself. >
< What the hell is all this? >
< Again, try to focus your private thoughts inward. It’s an important first step. Your ability to access your System interface depends on you being able to direct your thoughts appropriately. >
< What interface? What system? WHAT. THE. FUCK. Is happening here? >
< One thing at a time, Piper >
< Shit.>
< God damn it. >
She couldn’t control where her thoughts were going, but at least she could tell she had once again ‘said’ her personal thoughts out loud.
< You’ve been resurrected, Piper. You have the opportunity for a whole new life here. >
This thought had a different feel to it. She couldn’t explain how she knew it, but she knew. It sounded like a sort of whisper. Like he had spoken so that only she could hear him. Something clicked in her brain. She “whispered” back, focusing as hard as she could on making sure only he could hear her.
< That’s not Possible. >
< Good, you’re getting the hang of it. >
His thoughts broadened out again…
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
< What System? And... well, why me? >
She heard him sigh audibly.
< Because your soul came to the Well for just this purpose. Souls crave life, yours is no different in that regard. But not every soul has potential, and Runa, your Harvester, judged it worthy for a second chance at life. >
< If I focus hard enough inward, will my soul hear me tell it to bugger off? >
Cyrillus laughed, and Runa harrumphed in distaste.
< Now, since I haven’t heard any random thoughts pop out of you for the last few minutes. I think we’re ready for the next step. The System needs to verify your identity and stats. Let’s review them while we wait for your patronage offers. >
< My… my offers? >
< We’ll get to that later. Concentrate on opening your interface. Visualizing it helps. It could be a journal, a logbook, or anything, really. >
< This is crazy. >
Cyrillus spoke out loud to Runa. “I thought you said this was a modern soul. They’re usually quicker on the uptake.”
For someone calling himself her guide, he could stand to be less mean about it.
“She’s very fresh, the most recent soul I’ve ever encountered. Maybe they don’t play games like that in her era?
< What does that mean, ‘my era’? >
Oh crap, another slip of the thought.
“Can she hear us? What the hell, Runa? Did you bring her on-line early?
“Of course, I didn’t, you stupid…”
The sound of their bickering cut off abruptly.
Interesting, they didn’t know she could hear them. She would have chuckled if she could have. Just in case, she made sure she directed the mental urge to laugh decidedly inward.
And what was up with ‘eras’ and being “modern”? Did that mean others were not modern?
< Pardon our banter. You were obviously not supposed to hear any of that. I apologize on Runa’s behalf as well. >
Piper doubted Runa was the apologetic type, but whatever. She itched to get on with this, to be released from the trap they had made of her body. She wanted to move, to speak with her real voice, where her questions couldn’t be ignored. The quickest way to freedom seemed to lie through her interface.
She pictured a journal in her mind, bound in leather with yellowed pages. The sort you might find in a fantasy game, because despite what they might think, Piper had played games back in the day, her confusion came from not understanding why any of that applied to her.
It took a moment of effort, and the twinge of a headache, but it worked. Not exactly the way she had imagined it, more illustration than reality, but it bobbed in midair, just below her eye level. She turned her mind to opening the book. This also worked, accompanied by an animation as if some invisible gust of wind had rifled through a dozen or so pages in quick succession. The pages settled on the verification page. Her head throbbed again, the headache worsening.
New Adventurer Profile Verification:
Name: Piper Corbin
Age: 25
Rank: Untested
Stats:
The numbers ranged from a low of 7 in Charisma to a high of 14 in Intelligence and Will Power. The page also included her age, a nice low 25, which Piper knew was completely incorrect. She didn’t know what the rank “untested” applied to, but figure untested pretty much described everything about her at this point. At least in this... world?
< Good work. >
Cyrillus sounded pleased, but pleased by her stats, or because she had managed to access them?
< Can you see my stats? >
< Yes, it’s only a temporary access granted while you’re still physically connected to the System. Once integration is complete, no one can see your interface unless you show it to them, not even us. They are considered a personal matter. If you’re satisfied that they are correct, please confirm them.>
< How am I supposed to know if they’re correct? >
Runa piped in again.
< They are based on your previous life skills and capabilities. Ten is average for a starting stat. If you were particularly good at anything, the related stat will reflect that. If you were noticeably lacking, it will have a deduction. Before you ask, all of this information is determined by your soul. It remembers everything you were. In other words, your stats are correct. Your acceptance is only a formality required by the system.>
Great, why did her soul have to remember a Charisma of only seven? Ouch.
< Wait, if my soul remembers everything, then why don’t I remember everything? I mean, if I’ve been resurrected, then I must have died, but I don’t remember that at all. >
Cyrillus stepped in to explain.
< The System wipes certain memories for your own good. Nobody here remembers their death or any other traumatic experience, for that matter. We know from experience it’s better this way. >
Before Piper could dig deeper into that one, Runa took over again.
< You have an exceptional Intelligence and Will Power. You would make a fine Mage should you choose that path. A high Intelligence is a requisite of all magic-using classes, and it is the one stat that you cannot increase through training. You are as smart as you will ever be. Same as you were in your previous life. The System can’t make you smarter. Any bonuses to your intelligence will only effect various System calculations, not your actual mental acuity. You’re clever, I like that.
< I guess, they’re fine then. >
Honestly, without a frame of reference, both for what any of these stats would mean to her going forward, or what they meant to her in the past, she could hardly make an argument for their correctness in either direction.
There was a long pause. Piper missed being able to hear what they were saying out loud. Then Runa was back, sarcasm had creeped back in to her ‘voice’.
< Then, maybe you should Accept them. >
She hadn’t noticed another line at the bottom of the page…
ACCEPT Y/N
This time she didn’t ask how to accept and just willed a Y to appear, which it did. This wasn’t so hard, except that her headache was growing worse. She wished she had control of her body so she could massage her temples right about now.
< This blows… >
Did her soul have to remember her migraines, too?
< Pardon? >
Oh, for fuck’s sake! She had thought “out loud” again, and then again for good measure. Stupid migraines. They had always affected her ability to focus. She took a deep breath to get herself back under control.
< Sorry, I’m getting a migraine. It’s distracting. >
She waited for a response, but none came.
< Hello? You guys still there? >
The silence dragged on…