"Fern is it, follow me," the clerk from earlier waved Fern over, "My name is Anderson." He was a normal height man, light brown hair, with the traditional black and green guild short coat over tan pants and a tan collared button down shirt.

  "Yes that's me, so what happens now, I've got like no idea of what is happening," Fern replied in a choking laugh. Seriously, I have no idea what I'm doing. Please by the divines, I really hope someone helps me out here.

  Fern followed Anderson upstairs and was presented with a dorm room. The room was small, maybe 8 feet wide and 10 feet long with a small bed and a dresser claiming the area next to the door. There was just a small wooden desk with an overhead shelf at the far end with a narrow bench. It's a small space, but honestly, it's the nicest I've ever had.

  Anderson paused for a moment while letting Fern take in the space before saying, "I know it's a bit small, but your sponsorship only includes the lowest tier of housing. Once you graduate and begin earning your own income, the guild offers significantly higher quality rooming facilities. However, we've only got limited space in the building and we have nearly 100 students in training at a time so most of you will be in similar rooms. We're surrounded by a low mana density zone and have a Mother Dungeon nearby so we're a pretty popular branch for training and early adventuring."

  "Oh don't worry, this is plenty, it's clean and private! I mean what more can a person ask for," replied Fern.

  The clerk briefly smiled and continued relaying his due diligence. "Glad to hear your acceptance of our humble accommodations. Anyways, We have your surgery scheduled for four hours from now. I'd advise you to avoid eating or drinking anything other than water before then, and a nap wouldn't be bad. We'll come grab you from this room. To keep you entertained, feel free to read through your training syllabus, as well as the code of conduct and on the bookshelf you'll find a copy of The Adventurer's Handbook. Just make sure you leave that behind when you move, or else we'll charge it to your account."

  Fern smiled and nodded. "Ok, sounds good." Anderson left and Fern proceeded to shut the door. He lay down in the bed, the emotional excitement and tumultuousness of the prior night's events catching up. He fell asleep immediately. He awoke four hours later to the sound of insistent knocking on the door.

  A woman in guild uniform was waiting outside, who immediately commented in a bored voice, "Fern is it? Yes?" she said in response to his nodding, "Come along, time for your core surgery."

  Fern followed behind. They walked past countless doors equally spaced apart, before turning down another hall and walking down a stairwell deep into the basement. Wow, this isn't just deep thought Fern, It's extremely deep. The lady didn't say a thing. She forged ahead and Fern struggled to keep up.

  After maybe 10 flights, Fern was beginning to feel the weight of the earth above him. "Why are we going so deep?" he asked?

  The lady replied placidly, the rhythm of her stride down the stairs uninterrupted, "A localized system node is below. We isolate them since their signals attract trouble from certain enemies of humanity. And the system node performs the surgery.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Eventually they emerged in a sterile room with long strips of light illuminating from the ceiling. Everything was coated in a silvery alloy that absorbed noise. Fern could no longer hear his footsteps. This was the first time he had ever seen a space like this, and he felt unsettled by the uniform color and silence.

  They approached a huge vault door. Above the door was a sign written in a cursive golden script that read, Survival Comes First.

  The woman paused a few feet from the vault door, and a series of magic scripts erupted in hues of green and blue. The door swung open and we entered a second room. Inside this room was another door, with the same style of script reading, Each to grow their power.

  When this door unlocked, it separated in dozens of small sections that retracted into the floor and ceiling. The door was nearly two feet thick.

  In the third room there was yet another door. This door was simpler, like a house door. In the middle was written in 3 short lines, Add knowledge, Reach Ascension, Prevent Eradication. Around the lines were a series of symbols that seemed to include books, figures surrounded by light, and a field of skulls. As Fern stared at the drawings for a brief moment he felt, By the twin suns, I seriously lack the education to decipher this stuff.

  The woman walked to the door and grasped the handle. She waited a moment, then turned, and held the door open for Fern to go through. When he entered, he gasped as the room hit him with a pressure, a presence that filled him with a sense of something epic and mighty.

  The woman spoke to his back. "Welcome to the Local Processing Node of Brandersburg. I am a Keeper's construct, a golem with the job of maintaining the security of this location. Do not be alarmed when the node speaks to you. You may speak aloud or think directly towards it. Answer truthfully. If you wish, give it permission to scan your body, mind, and soul. Doing so will improve the success of implantation. When you are ready, sit in the chair."

  Fern looked forward and saw the chair. The room was curved, like a sphere. In the center was a vast machine that radiated power. In the middle of the room was a complex reclining chair that appeared to be surrounded by a number of gizmos and machines. It had simple white cushions.

  Fern thought, By the wall, this is creepy. But I guess it makes sense. The nodes are humanity's greatest secrets, and truly this thing is powerful. But I want to get stronger. I need to, or else I might be at the mercy of my father again. Seriously though, how did he enter a place like this and turn out the way he did. Those messages on the doors felt important, like commandments, or instructions. Like a warning. Prevent eradication. I should ask someone about that later. Anyways, time to sit in the creepy chair.

  Fern sat in the chair. He felt it shift below him and conform to his shape. He felt a presence enter his mind, and he did his best to think accepting thoughts. Come on in, we can speak, he thought.

  Greetings prospective one. You can call me HAL-C. I am a localized node derived from from the Hybrid Autonomous Logistics Center series of Magical and Technological Fusion Autonomous Intelligence Systems, also known as MATFAIS models. My duties include outfitting humanity with essence cores and sharing and collecting further data. My preliminary scan indicates that your body is sufficiently developed to accept a core. Please indicate if you would prefer me to do a true scan of your being to make the optimal choice, or if you would rather consent to questioning and choosing your destiny.

  Fern thought for a moment then replied, "Why don't you choose for me? I don't really know what I want to be yet."

  Very well. Please close your eyes. When you open them next, the implantation shall be complete.

  Fern closed his eyes and steadied his breath as he felt the weight of an unnatural and calculating attention settle over him.

  He felt a brief prickle in the back of his neck, and immediately lost consciousness.