Chapter Two
Reality Check
Waking a second time in 24 confused is not something I would highly recommend. Although in my case there wasn’t much I could do about it. I blinked my eyes open, blearily taking in the early morning light creeping its way through the apartment window. The first thing I noticed was that while I was still pretty sore, my mind felt clear and my head free of any aches. The second thing was the still pulsing red notification hanging right in the middle of my vision, taunting me.
“Oh god…” I groaned in exasperation. Looking at the blinking notification I somehow instinctively knew that it wasn’t a normal function of my interface. Huh, I thought as I mentally clicked the notification. Boy, let me tell you, nothing would have prepared me for what I saw.
The notification flickered out and was immediately replaced by a large red icon of a stylized dragon in the shape of the letter S. “Hey wait a-” before I could finish my sentence, the icon faded into a complex menu drawn with a buzzing neon red. On the left, occupying 1/4th of the screen in was a column where the only elements were two buttons, reading Journal and Qualities respectively. The other 3/4ths were dominated by six hexagonal buttons arranged in a hexagonal pattern each holding an icon in its center. Going clockwise from top left you had an arm flexing its bicep, an open hand with an eye in the palm, a razor blade, a mask with a happy expression on its left side and a sad one on its right and a brain half made of circuits. The final button was a flickering and glitching mess, making any attempt to discern its iconography impossible. By focusing on each icon, it would expand to provide more information as follows:
Body: 2
Agility: 1
Edge: 1(7)
Charisma: 2
Logic: 3
███ : 0̥̊⃝/̥̊⃝7̥̊⃝
Seeing the dragon icon got me 99% of the way there, but seeing the Edge attribute took me all the way. “I’m playing Shadowrun?” I uttered in sheer disbelief. Saying that word brought my memories back with a surge and with them I felt bile rising up from my empty stomach and my heart starting to pound.
“I died.” My words barely coming out as a whisper.
It was supposed to be a calm and relaxing Friday. I even took a sick day off from work after working almost a year straight without a leave. I had spent a sizable chunk of my day treating myself to fast food and coffee when on a whim, I decided to make a quick visit to my local RPG store. Since I mostly played online with my buddies I didn’t even have a need for dice, so I only visited once in a blue moon when I needed a rule book.
I spent some time browsing the inventory when my eyes caught the latest source book for Shadowrun. I found the setting with it’s fusion of bleak cyberpunk dystopia and magic really compelling but I never had the opportunity to actually play since all my online friends were DnD die-hards and thus never interested in giving Shadowrun a go. I thought to myself, I have disposable income, so why not indulge myself? And like that, the cashier rang me up and I went on my merry way.
Although, going back home didn’t turn out so merry. You know how they say that all it takes is one bad decision for your life to go down the drain? Well that was one of those days. Like a rube, I decided to take a shortcut by going through a narrow alley, full of reeking trash bins and rain puddles, the tops of the buildings being high enough to keep it shadow. That’s when it happened. One moment I was minding my business, blasting my tunes through my headphones, the next I got jumped.
If you were to ask me what the guy looked like, I couldn’t even tell you. All I could focus on was the business end of a pistol being jabbed towards my face, the dark depths of the barrel an abyss waiting for me to make one wrong move.
“EMPTY YOUR FUCKING POCKETS OR YOU’LL GET IT,” he shouted, his spittle flying all over the place.
While I couldn’t tear my eyes from the gun, I could tell that he was tweaking. He was either hopped up on something or just fiending for his next dose and I was unlucky enough to be his next payday.
“Sure thing,” I said placatingly. “Take everything bud.”
Who knew that reaching for my pocket was the wrong thing to do. First I saw the flash and before the crack of the gunshot could reverberate like thunder in the alley, I felt the bullet ripping through my chest.
I could barely feel anything. Must have been the shock.
The murky puddle on the alley floor rose to meet my face and I greeted it with gusto. I could see the junkie’s eyes move from me to the gun in his hands, shock written on his face like he walked in on his wife cheating on him with another guy. And just as suddenly as he appeared, he took off in a panicked run.
As I lay there bleeding on the cold alley floor, all I could think of was that it was kinda funny that he killed me and forgot to take anything. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in a different type of puddle in a very different type of place.
Tears where streaming down my face and a small sob escaped my lips. “I died,” I muttered again in sheer disbelief. “I died and woke up in a dystopian hellhole.” Everything felt wrong and confusing.
I took a deep breath and tried to center myself. You’re okay Jack. You’re here, you’re alive and breathing. You’re resourceful and you’re dependable. Step by step you’ll figure things out. I wiped my face with my sleeve and stood up, wincing from the soreness of my ribs.
I made my way to the bathroom parting the shimmering bead curtain. I paid no mind to state of squalor the bathroom was in as I moved directly to the mirror. Even though the mirror was speckled with grime, it was clear enough to see the face reflected in it. And what a relief it was to see that the face was indeed mine. Well, it was a me that looked like he was put through the ringer and starved for a month but nevertheless me.
My hair was the same raven-black but hung oily at shoulder length. I was clearly underweight as my cheeks were sunken making my normally sharp facial features even more pronounced. The pallor of my skin and black circles round my eyes, made what I considered my best feature, my emerald eyes, look positively ghastly. I won’t lie, it was a fair bit disheartening to find my self in this state but at the same time, it was self-affirming and grounding to still feel like myself.
“Ok, first shower and I figure out what’s going on,” I said to no one in particular.
I threw everything I was wearing into the garbage bag with the rest of the laundry, and step into the shower.
Miracle of miracles! There’s hot water! I thought. Needless to say, I spent an embarrassing amount of time in the shower, just standing there luxuriating in the warmth. While there were no specialized separate products to wash with, a bottle of body wash puzzlingly labeled Kline’s 13-in-1 proved adequate enough. Alternate me didn’t seem like a guy for who hygiene or even good taste was something he concerned himself with often.
I finally decided I had scalded myself enough and stepped out of the shower, feeling like a proper human. I avoided the crusty looking towel hanging from the towel rack and moved into the room using a relatively clean t-shirt to dry myself. I put on a gray pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt with an angular stylized bee graphic thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t have to wear my dirty clothes again.
I took a long look around the room, taking in the mess. When I go out I’m getting cleaning supplies first thing! Well maybe after food… Also I was going to need somewhere to sit if I was going to stay here from now on.
“Wait, do I even have any money?” I thought in a rush of panic. As if by a long forgotten instinct resurfacing, I thought of my bank account and a small window appeared in my field of vision displaying 931¥. That’s right! I though to myself. As a result of Japanese technological and financial dominance, most of the world had switched to the Nuyen as the accepted reserve currency. “I have no idea what my buying power is with that amount of money but at least it’s something!”
I needed to get my bearings before committing to anything and that meant finding out where I was as well getting a handle on the weird tech I had on me. Determined to get to the bottom of things I sat down on my mattress, my back against the wall. I pulled up the attribute interface I was beginning to think of as my character sheet and started prodding around.
First I clicked on the Journal button and besides expanding a bit, nothing else happened. I was hoping there was gonna be some clue hidden in there, but for now it appeared to be empty.
Next I clicked the Qualities button, surprised to find the list populated with a few entries:
-Lucky -Gamer -Exceptional Attribute(███)
“Huh. How curious,” I murmured in wonder. Focusing on each one brought a description of the quality.
Lucky
The dice roll and the coin flips your way more often than not. Finding money on the ground is a common occurrence for you. When others curse their fate, you find yourself in the right place at the right time with alarming frequency. You posses Edge at one point higher than your human limit.
Lucky my ass, I thought bitterly.
Gamer Due to your nature, you have manifested a familiar interface to guide you through this world.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Exceptional Attribute(███) This is how you get to be special! You posses one attribute at one point higher than your human limit.
Huh???? I guess this refers to my mysterious corrupted attribute, I assumed as I highly doubted a 3 in Logic is the peak of human intellect.
That wasn’t much help. I found it kind of disturbing that some sort of power reincarnated me and bestowed this system upon me, although there wasn’t much I could do about it. At least the system considered me lucky, so I had that going for me.
Next I turned my attention towards my attributes.
Body Current: 2 Human Maximum: 10 Experience: 0/1000
Represents your physical capabilities. Constitution, Stamina and Strength are all governed by the Body attribute. The growth of skills like swimming, running and climbing is limited by your current Body attribute.
Agility Current: 1 Human Maximum: 10 Experience: 0/1000
Represents your proficiency with moving and controlling your body. Hand-Eye coordination, flexibility and reflexes are all governed by the Agility attribute. The growth of skills like gymnastics, sneaking and locksmith as well as many weapon skills is limited by your current Agility attribute.
Edge Current: 1
Human Maximum: 6
(7 from Lucky)
Experience: -
Represents your luck. Maximum attribute governs the likelihood of things going your way. Current Edge Points may be consumed during extraordinary circumstances for a more favorable outcome. A warm meal and a good nights sleep recover 1 Point of Edge.
“Delightfully cryptic.”
Charisma Current: 2 Human Maximum: 10 Experience: 0/1000
Represents your social prowess. Your ability to get others to like you, to convince, lead and intimidate are all governed by this attribute. The growth of skills like etiquette, acting and negotiation is limited by your current Charisma attribute.
Logic Current: 3 Human Maximum: 10 Experience: 0/1000
Represents your reasoning. Your ability to perform calculations, form deductions, absorb and utilize information are all governed by this attribute. The growth of knowledge, science and technology skills is limited by your current Logic attribute.
Despite my efforts at prodding the glitchy attribute, I could not get anything out of it. Although while trying to open it up I discovered some form of synesthesia where the flickering and glitching felt like putting your head over a fizzy drink, the carbonation tickling your face. “So bizarre.”
Playing around with the attributes, I figured I could make the skills I have unlocked appear in a list tethered to its governing attribute, although the only skill unlocked was computers.
Computers [Logic] Level: 1 Experience 0/1000 Computers is the base skill for interacting with technology. It represents the ability to use computing devices and other Matrix connected devices. The Computers skill focuses on understanding multiple operating systems, user interfaces and the intended function of such devices. It does not allow for the ability to exploit and write code (Hacking and Software) or to design, assemble and disassemble components(Hardware). Enables actions such as Edit File, Matrix Perception, Matrix Search, etc.
“Hoo boy.” Apparently I can improve various aspects of my self, although how experience gain works is a mystery. Also, I wondered whether a rank up represented the accumulated growth reaching a critical point or if it actually imparted a magical increase in ability. Furthermore, if I understood things correctly, demonstrating a very basic use of a skill grants you the first level to that skill.
According to my Computers skill I should be able to use the technology of this world at a very basic level. Mentions of the Matrix had me salivating. Although I was very fuzzy on the history of it, due to multiple internet crashes, the development and function of the net diverged greatly from our own. As a result, augmented reality(AR) was an everyday thing and meaningfully navigating the net or well, Matrix as it’s called, involves diving in in virtual reality(VR) where you experience not only sight and sound but also touch, taste and smell. Although it wasn’t without its dangers, if this was all real, I was chomping at the bit to experience it all.
Thinking about my Computers skill lead to a very weird experience. If I didn’t think too hard, I knew I could use my devices and much more on an instinctual level. It wasn’t like I learned something new, it felt like I always knew but just remembered. Focusing more on the skill, I realized that it was all devoid of context or more accurately the skill was concerned with the how and not with the why. I realized what I was doing till now was like a baby barely crawling and now I could stand on feet and walk.
First, I made some very simple adjustments to my interface. The date and time appeared on the top right of my vision reading 09:33 September 20th 2071. Damn, seeing that date is gonna take a while to get used to… Thinking it will be useful, I also added a weather widget under the time and date.
Next, I had my money displayed on the bottom right. Baby steps.
I opened up GridGuide, an apparently supercharged version of Google Maps which could overlay navigational AR objects on your field of vision, summon taxis and even autopilot any vehicles you own with or without you in them. Looking at the map, I confirmed that I was currently in Seattle Downtown which was coincidentally the main setting of Shadowrun. More specifically I was in a neighborhood called the International District. While a quick glance at the map of North America showed some really weird stuff, I chose to ignore them for now and minimized GridGuide to the bottom left of my vision, displaying a 3D representation of my surrounding area in a radius of 6 blocks. I pleasantly discovered that the minimap would automatically adjust its zoom level depending on my focus. “Damn, this is so nifty,” I uttered, whistling in appreciation.
My last adjustment was for any future notifications to appear in small cascading windows dropping down from the top left of my vision. Also, I found out that while my peripheral vision was really good at discerning movement and color/brightness changes, it wasn’t that good with detail. To adjust for that, I moved everything a bit closer to the center of my vision. Then, I heard a ding and at the middle of my vision was hanging a notification.
Computers has gained 100 XP!
"Nifty!"
In spite of everything that happened so far, I couldn’t help but find myself smiling in wonder. Even though alternate me lived in such horrid conditions, he had conveniences I could only dream of before now and I was only scratching the surface.
“For my next trick…” I said in faux theatricism. I spread my arms wide and a white ring the thickness of string with me in the center came into focus. The ring started waving and moving, forming peaks and valleys reminiscent of an audio waveform. All along the ring, in 360 degrees, holographic icons depicting everyday objects like lights, fridges, ovens and even a handgun flickered into existence.
According to my skill these devices where supposedly within 110 yards/100 meters (free metric knowledge included) and anything that was within that distance and wireless enabled would always be visible to me. Although all I would get is a general sense of direction. My skill told me I couldn’t tell their location unless they explicitly broadcasting it. I could also attempt to connect to each one although in most cases, since I wasn’t the icon’s owner, I wouldn’t be able to do much with it besides learn the information the manufacturer wanted the item to broadcast.
Turning my focus inside the circle, I could see a yellow sphere overlapping with where I supposed my heart would be and out of that sphere, strings connecting it to other icons extended. This I knew represented my Personal Area Network (PAN), that meant all the devices I owned, were on my person and slaved to my personal computing device. I heard a familiar ding and another notification popped up.
Computers has gained 100 XP!
That brings me to my personal tech. In 2071 a cellphone would be considered trash. What I had in my pocket instead was called a commlink. Even the most basic of them has the equivalent processing power of high-end desktop of my world, AR Matrix browsing capabilities, multiple phone and radio modes of real-time talk and text, music player, mini hologram projectors, 32K video and still image cameras, image/text and RFID scanner, built-in GPS systems, chip players and many more all in a size and price that would seem absurd. Keeping in theme, mine was apparently the shittiest one on the market, called a Meta Link [Rank 1].
From what I could see my commlink was also equipped with was labeled as a simsense module. According to description attached, this module was what allowed users to experience simulated senses and by extension browse the matrix in full VR.
Now the astute of you might be asking, “But Jack, even with what you described it still doesn’t make sense how your commlink can beam all this information straight to your brain.”
To that I answer “Huh, good point.”
My eyes dropped once again to the icon representing my commlink and realized one of the threads was crawling along my chest and leading to a spot behind my ear. Before I could even process what I was seeing, I reached a hand to touch the spot. What my fingers could only guess to, my newfangled Matrix Perception confirmed:
Datajack (simple) [IMPLANTED] Chip Slots: 2 Universal Access Cable Direct Neural Interface Rating 1 Noise Reduction
I almost screamed in horror before I quickly covered my mouth with my hand. I had slots in the back of my head. Not only that, those slots were directly connected to my brain. It was a miracle that I didn’t threw up then and there. All the while my fingers couldn’t stop running over the spot. It was like an itch or much like how when you had a chipped tooth or a sore on the inside of you cheek you couldn’t help but probe it with your tongue. Every time my fingers ran over the ports I would shiver in revulsion.
I immediately ran to the bathroom mirror to inspect the spot. If I didn’t know it was there, I wouldn’t even notice. Right behind my right ear were nestled two small slits and a socket which I knew but didn’t dare try, that if I pushed on it, would pop out with a wire that could unspool up to about 7 feet (2 meters) long.
All in all it didn’t look bad. Despite my panic and sudden sense of body dysphoria, I had to admit the results of it were pretty cool. Even through my new awareness of the implant, my Computers skill to me that it was harmless. The sheer utility of it far outweighed any misgivings I had and it wasn’t like I could rip it out and go on my way. I steeled myself and tried to put it out of my mind.
As if right on queue, a gentle ding rang in my head and a message from Orion popped up.
-Orion: GET UP DREKFACE YOU BUYIN FOOD!
Followed by a very graphic 3d gif of a dragon devouring a whole ass horse.