Matt awakened sometime later to a bored Kate.

“Congratulations on level 2,” Kate said.

“What happened? I felt like I blacked out,” Matt said, worried how long he was unconscious.

“When you level, your core expands, which increases your core’s durability, density, mana capacity, and regeneration rate. That causes shock to your core, and the system shuts you down while the changes take effect,” Kate responded, “The process of leveling, condensing, and leveling will become easier when you can finally establish your domain.”

“Domain? How will that help?” Matt asked.

“You will infuse your mana into everything around you, not just use your field to sense things. This will increase your mana regeneration because it will aid in mana circulation. It will lessen the burden and pain of your mana compression. It will even speed up your recovery process, as the mana circulation will revitalize your core faster. It is why Valdek told you it was smart to establish a domain,” Kate replied.

“Oh wow, that is a lot of benefits,” Matt said.

“Plus, in your domain, you can absorb without having a line of sight. Right now, what you absorb has to have a direct line to your core. Your mana can’t twist or be blocked by anything. Your mana permeates everything in your domain, so you can absorb anything not alive within it. One hundred floors, and something dies on the first floor? No problem, you can absorb it,” Kate said, strangely acting like a car salesman.

Matt got a weird feeling from her.

“I agree it sounds like a good idea, but why are you acting weird? Why do I feel you are trying to sell me on the idea,” Matt asked cautiously.

“Because I am,” Kate said bluntly, “I know Valdek was telling you that you could move and making it sound like you were a mobile being, but that is not where your strength lies. Valdek didn’t tell you this because I think he wanted you to become a system core, but every core that did not establish a domain and thought they were mobile fortresses has been killed. Every. Single. One. Hundreds of cores thought that they would be the exception,” Kate said on the verge of tears.

“I get it…” Matt began.

Kate interrupted him, “No, you don’t, Matt. The cores think that because they can create life and hide, they are invincible, but they aren’t even close. Just using your influence isn’t enough. If the people above knew about you and what you could do, what do you think they would do?”

“Um…” Matt hummed, speechless.

“I’ll tell you because I have memories of it. They will either try to turn you into their own personal toy box or they will kill you because they fear your power. In the open, you can be surrounded and rushed. In your domain, they have to play by your rules, and your abilities will take effect,” Kate said earnestly.

That caught Matt’s attention.

“Abilities?” Matt asked.

Kate waved her hand as if it were common knowledge: “As you level, you will gain abilities to aid you in the creation of your domain. Some will aid in your defense, and others will encourage sentient life to explore you. For example, at level 2, you gain Analyze.”

“Huh?” Matt said, just now realizing that he had ignored his level-up notifications.

You have reached Level 2

You have unlocked the skill "Analyze"

Matt looked at his status window.

General Skills Name: Matthew Cohen

Species: Core (Variant)

Affinities: Unknown

Level: 2

Level Progress: 0%

Mana: 4/20

Mana Regeneration: 0.02 per hour

Core Absorption Level 1

Core Creation Level 1

Analyze Level 1

Blueprints

Resources

>Glass

Matt was pleased. His mana capacity increased, and he learned a new skill.

“What does Analyze do?” Matt asked.

“Gives you basic information about an object or being. As you level it up, it will give you more information,” Kate said.

“How do I use it?” Matt asked once more, excited to try out a new ability.

“Just focus on what you want to use it on and think about analyzing them. A lot of your abilities rely on intent,” Kate answered.

Matt focused on Kate and thought about analyzing her. He stared at her messy shoulder-length brown hair and could see her looking back at him, her brown eyes seeming to know he was analyzing her. She crossed her arms across her chest, pressing against her black tank top.

A box popped above her head.

Dungeon Fairy

Level: 2

“Hey, you’re level two as well!” Matt said excitedly.

Kate smiled at his innocent jubilation, “I level up with you. When you get stronger, so do I.”

Matt was about to continue questioning when Kate perked up and disappeared from the sphere of influence. He screamed after her when he saw a massive shape enter his sphere.

It was a human.

Matt didn’t realize how big a person would be compared to him. For some reason, he still compared humans to the size they were when he had a body. Now that he was significantly smaller, they looked like giants from a fairy tale.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The human was setting down a bag next to the computer below him. Now that his range increased to four feet with the level up to 2, he could detect the desktop and the bag when the man set it down.

The man looked tired. He wore a Neurotech badge. The name ‘Michael Barnhill’ was printed at the top, and a terrible portrait picture of Michael was below it.

“Well, Mike. Looks like you need to have your badge photo updated,” Matt said out loud, wanting to see if anyone other than Kate could hear him.

They couldn’t.

Matt watched Mike most of the morning as he typed on his computer. Occasionally, Matt would try to absorb something from Mike's pocket but was unable to. By the time Mike took a break, Matt had discovered he couldn’t absorb anything within five feet of Mike, which made it challenging because Matt’s influence was only four feet.

Eventually, Mike stood up. “Ready for lunch, Steve? Today, there is grilled chicken in the cafeteria.”

Mike stretched and walked out of Matt’s range.

After five minutes, Kate came flying back to Matt.

“Whew, that was close,” Kate said, looking behind her, “I listened to that Steve guy on the phone, and it looks like they are here to research you. They plan on running some tests on you after they get back from lunch.”

“That is concerning,” Matt said.

Matt only really had two options. He could have Kate pick him up and run or let them run their tests. The latter would allow him to keep his cover for a bit longer.

“I don’t want to blow my cover yet and have to defend myself,” Matt said, “Plus, I doubt they will damage their prize processor.”

Kate nodded in acknowledgment, “Then, when they return, I will try to spend the time scouting. I found a hole in the ceiling that I can fit through.”

That was a good idea. If they ever did want to escape, they needed to know where to escape to. Matt poked around in the desk below him to see if he could find anything interesting. He absorbed some paper clips, folder tags, and other random tools.

New Blueprint Learned - Copper New Blueprint Learned - Galvanized Steel New Blueprint Learned - Stainless Steel New Blueprint Learned - Plastic Skill 'Core Absorption' upgraded to Level 2

A euphoria came with unlocking new blueprints, almost like collecting trading cards. He had to resist the urge to just absorb everything he could reach. When he looked at his list he did grow curious why the steel was separated into ‘Galvanized’ and ‘Stainless’. He asked Kate.

“Your menu is custom-made for your mind. Your subconscious is grouping them to make it easier for you to understand. You see a difference between the two, so they are separate. If you didn’t, then they wouldn’t be separate,” Kate answered.

“What about items I know nothing about?” Matt replied.

“Then, as your core imprints the blueprints, your mind categorizes them based on its understanding at the time. If your understanding changes, then its categories will change. You can even actively categorize things. Just think about how you want your screen to look, and it will change to meet your needs,” Kate said.

Matt thought about reorganizing his screen and wanted to separate his screen into different tabs instead of seeing everything simultaneously. He moved his general status to the front and his skills and blueprints to one tab each. When his screen complied, he smiled in his thoughts.

After thirty more minutes passed, Matt let Kate go ahead and scout. He didn’t want to risk her being seen. He passed the time until Mike got back by absorbing some more items from Mike’s desktop.

New Blueprint Learned - Ink New Blueprint Learned - Ballpoint Pen New Blueprint Learned - Pencil

Ten minutes later, Mike returned.

“Let me get these diagnostics started,” Mike said. Matt assumed he was talking to Steve.

Mike grabbed Matt and placed him on the desk. Mike then opened his desk and pulled out additional hardware. He connected the hardware to the computer and clamped Matt inside of it.

This wasn’t a good sign.

After Matt was secure, Mike connected more wires to the contraption. Once everything was hooked up and Mike had double-checked all of the connections, he turned to call over his shoulder, “This diagnostic will take the rest of the afternoon. It has to run through hundreds of tests. If I don’t get it started now, then both of us will be staying over until it’s complete.”

Matt didn’t know what he was talking about, but he did know the second the diagnostic was started. Pain like you wouldn’t believe shook Matt. He imagined the feeling similar to using a defibrillator on a completely healthy person—only that the shock was constant and not a quick jolt.

Mistakes were made.

He should have run. Screw his cover. He wished Kate would save him. He wished Valdek would save him. He hoped that anyone would come to save him. His life was pain and he wanted no more part of it.

He couldn’t think from the agony. If he had had a body, all his muscles would have been locked, and he would be seizing. He couldn’t take it any longer.

Matt began to absorb the hardware that kept him clamped in place. It took a moment before he could feel his processor shake around in the rig. He kept absorbing. Soon, sparks started to shoot out as he became dislodged from the connections. He kept absorbing.

Matt briefly observed Mike in a panic. He was swatting at the sparks to get to the device and disconnect it. Matt was absorbing everything he could to stop the pain: sparks, electricity, the silicon circuitry of the device, and copper connectors. It didn’t matter what it was; if it was near him now, kill it. Kill it dead.

Finally, the pain stopped, and Matt could rest. He stopped his absorbing.

Mike waved the smoke away and pulled Matt from the torture chamber.

“Maaannnn, it’s fried. Jameson is going to be so angry,” Mike whined as he checked Matt for damage. He found no damage as he sat Matt back on his acrylic stand.

Mike sat at his computer and clicked through a few screens.

“Steve! Get over here! Now!” Mike said excitedly.

Another man entered Matt’s influence. He looked to be in his early forties with a shaved head. Stubble was starting to grow back in on the sides.

“What is it?” Steve asked.

Mike didn’t answer. He just pointed at the monitor.

“That’s impossible. This amount of power output is impossible from the implant. This amount of power output is more like the output of a nuclear reactor. We need to get Dr. Seers and rerun the test,” Steve said excitedly.

Oh no, we don’t!

“You go take these results to Seers, and I’ll get another ATE,” Steve said.

Mike nodded and hurriedly printed the test results. Both men took off out of Matt’s range.

Matt knew he did not want to be around for round two of the torture session, and he screamed for Kate as loud as he could. He didn’t know how long the men would be gone and didn’t want to be here when they returned.

Kate came flying in like a missile a few moments later.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Kate asked frantically.

“T-test was pain. Need to get out of here before th-they get back,” Matt got out the best he could.

Kate didn’t say anything or even hesitate; she picked Matt up and flew back to the air event. When they got through, she set Matt down and asked what happened exactly. Matt relayed the horrific event, and Kate nodded sympathetically.

“We need to get out of here and somewhere safe for you to build up slowly,” Kate said after Matt finished his traumatic retelling. I have discovered that we are in an underground facility with seven levels. We are on the fifth level. Before we escape, we need to get you the ability to create living blueprints. The facility has a lot of animals that are used for testing on the bottom level. A central elevator shaft connects everything.”

“How do you know all of this? You were only gone for an hour,” Matt asked Kate.

“The air ducts are connected directly to the elevator shaft. I started at the bottom and found the animals, but on the way back up, I felt your emotional state over our bond. I came as soon as I could after that,” Kate answered with remorse, “I shouldn’t have left to begin with.”

Matt felt terrible, but he knew one thing: He wouldn’t let a human touch him ever again.

“Let’s go get those animals,” Matt said, snapping Kate out of her depression.

Kate took him through the winding air ducts until they reached a ventilation grate. Kate was able to wiggle through the narrow slats easily. The shaft opened up, and Kate slowly descended. While in the open air, Matt asked Kate to describe everything because he couldn’t detect anything around them, which made Matt very uncomfortable.

Kate described the tunnel as a long grey shaft approximately twenty feet across. One side had a pair of metal cables in the center, and the other had a ladder bolted to the wall, running vertically up its entire length.

“So, in addition to an elevator, they have a manual access tunnel to reach the facility,” Matt asked rhetorically.

“It looks like it,” Kate said. She didn’t realize Matt was saying it out loud and was not expecting an answer.

They had just descended and entered the air ducts of the bio-labs when sirens blared.

I guess they discovered me missing…