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Every time with this, Xera thought as she laid back on her bed. She rarely had to sleep with her current body, but when it hit, it hit hard. And, unfortunately, due to her physiology, she had to ‘offload’ a whole heap of data from the partially organic, partially mechanical brain in her skull. Otherwise, it would just get too cramped in there.
Okay…deep breaths. Inhaling, she opened the interface that would effectively suck out, compress, and then re-insert memories.
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[Hello, Xera.]
[Welcome to you-]
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“Cut it out,” Xera said quickly. “Just jump to the program start.”
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[Confirmed. Engaging memory extraction and compression protocol…]
[Standby…]
[Initialized.]
[State your name and designation.]
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“Xera’tal Pen’arkon, tech support for The Cosmic System.”
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[Confirmed identity.]
[Discuss events that you wish to withdraw and compress.]
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Xera took a deep breath before beginning what would be a several-hour process. Keeping her voice measured and terse, she began. “Since my last sleep cycle there has been one world subjected to Cosmogenic Merging – Earth.”
Cosmogenic Merging being the process by which a world had reached a certain population threshold (relative to the world’s size) where it had hosted a ‘successful’ species. This, then, resulted in The Cosmic System taking over and connecting that world to The Cosmic Corridor, and Khrox – the Eternal City.
“Out of the millions of Aspirants, only approximately five-hundred homo-sapiens-sapiens survived the Aspirant Trials. Many joined the Nebula Alliance, a handful joined other factions…and I got a very…promising Signer for the Dark Between Stars faction.”
Jace Seren. A street kid who showed grit, determination, and unconventional intelligence. Not book smart, but street-smart. Capable as a thief thanks to his on-the-fringes upbringing. But, most importantly, he wanted to achieve what none had reached before. Tier 10. Enabling him to get his sister, Chroma, from beyond the grave. After completing his Trial, he chose the custom Class she had designed for Dark Matter – the Swordmage.
“He spent time on Velenar Prime and grew closer with his Wayfinder, Oliver – aka Ollie – and through that progressed through levels rapidly. I threw him some Quests and a bunch of rewards. Tough Quests, too. And he pulled it off.” He has such potential, she thought. As long as he keeps playing it smart and not taking unnecessary risks. He had lost an arm, but a replacement was easy enough to provide.
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[Please continue.]
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“Ah, right. Well, he rescued a Star Council Signer named Quinn Cipher, and the hired bodyguard of hers Greg Bhastal. Both Aspirants; Star Broker and Planet Protector, respectively. After saving them from one of the Vyrknadine – giant chitin-covered apex predators – he sabotaged operations for a Black Hole Conclave project. A drill that would have made the way for an engine to drive a planet towards the supermassive black hole at the center of our universe.”
And towards Troxanir, she thought. The leader of the Black Hole Conclave, who sought for all of the universe to be consumed by what he termed ‘oblivion’ – his name for that mega-singularity. An entity of extreme power and one of the strongest Ascendants in the whole System.
“Jace got in and out undetected…or so we thought. An Ascendant, two Tiers higher than him, chased him and they fought. Jace lost another arm but won the fight. He got to The Cosmic Corridor, and I set him up with a doctor. Jonsar. He also fixed the ferrofluid inside Jace’s body enabling his cybernetics to integrate more efficiently.”
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And then the girlfriend. She sighed and continued, “He took some downtime and met Shhiv-zal, a Churkun who had helped him out by redeeming a bunch of Boons and bypass requests she had saved up from her years of work as a Civilian. We had a party, where I introduced myself as Sera.”
Xera felt…mixed emotions. For one, Jace was her Signer, and he worked for her. Second, and more pressing, she knew that manipulating him by replacing his maternal-figure – as his real one had effectively abandoned him – was going to keep him loyal. But that manipulation felt…icky. Every time she replayed that scene in the hallway where she told him she would never abandon him…when he broke down in her arms…
She wiped away a slight tear and continued speaking in her measured tone. “Shhiv-zal became his girlfriend and I provided Jace and his allies - anyone who could be used against him - with an apartment. I have full control over its functions and location. The perfect safe place to keep him stashed when he’s in Khrox.”
Taking a deep breath, she rolled onto her side. “I sent him to Nihilethelea; a pure-magic world where the Archmage Ascendant ruled. The Nethal – the home species that lived there once – were gone. Exiled, by the Archmage Ascendant.”
The man coordinated a Dungeon Run every few years. A means for him to get Aspirants to harvest the Dungeon Cores – crystallized, raw magic from the world – that he could then consume to grow his spell repertoire…which, thanks to The Cosmic System’s integration, meant new Skills. One of the few ways to ‘sidestep’ the System’s no-advancement-post-Ascension restrictions.
“Jace conquered Complex after Complex that surrounded these Dungeon Cores. He also found World Pillars, claimed their power, and gained pure-magic based Skills that are quite potent. He was ambushed by a Nebula Mage who took Jace’s eye but lost his own life. Then, Jace fought a dragon – two, actually; but the fire one was easy since it was weakened from fighting two Black Hole Conclave Signers.”
She recalled watching the ingenious play that Jace had completed, using his newly acquired Archmage Hydromancy Skill to ‘steam’ the dragon in a volcano’s caldera. Really interesting use of Skills, she thought. Once more, I chose well. “Oh, he also encountered a System Glitch and learned that the Archmage Ascendant had some type of phylactery or soul storage container that he would have to break if he wanted to kill him.”
That goal was prompted ever so slightly by Xera, but she did not need to push too hard. The Nethal, the home species to that world, were dying after hitting the 150-year lifespan threshold, unable to return home and live out their 1,000-year average longevity. All because of the Archmage Ascendant. It wasn’t manipulative in any way. Jace came to the conclusion that the Archmage was just as evil as the megacorporations that took everything from him. That was all on his own.
“Oh, then he met Priam Westerfold. An Oslia, the last of his clan. A Pulsar Priest. The Aspirant reminded Jace of his childhood friend, and so after sort of rescuing him from abusive allies, Priam became my Signer as well. The two kept clearing dungeons, got the Archmage’s phylactery’s other half, and headed back to finish the Dungeon Run. But the Archmage knew what they were up to and sicced the rest of the competitors on the duo.”
Xera smiled, recalling vividly from the videos she viewed via Ollie’s perspective, where Jace with Priam’s support was able to take out several Black Hole power users. One of the few types capable of detecting Jace while his Dark Matter Cloak – his stealth Skill – was active. Then, getting past the blockade of Aspirants to enter the Archmage’s city. All excellent uses of tactics and outsmarting opponents.
“After beating those sent after them, they won the Dungeon Run and claimed their reward…and then…” Xera took a deep breath, letting out in a shuddering exhalation of tension being released. “He took on the Archmage. It was a fierce fight. Priam lost an arm that we got grown back; but it knocked him out of the fight. Jace…channeled his hatred and anger, unlocking the
She smiled as she thought of how quickly events had wrapped up and how favorably things turned out. “Then, we turned over the world to the Pulsar Coalition who let the native Nethal return. Jace was gifted an Artifact rarity (Equipment) Boon as a gift from the species. Then…they came back to Khrox. Jace gave something special to Shhiv, a ring that would protect her from harm for a set time period – not that she will ever need it, since I can warp her away from harm easily enough.”
Xera sighed and frowned as she thought about what would come next. “Soon…they are heading to Earth to destroy the megacorporations that are angling the world towards the Nebula Alliance. Jace and Priam, with Quinn from the Star Council, and Greg from his contract with the Star Broker…” she rubbed here closed eyes, and groaned. “It’s going to be a tough experience.”
And I hope that Jace can handle it.
“Alright, compress and re-file.”
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[Confirmed.]
[Data extraction of described events in process.
[Stand by…]
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Xera felt an icy chill go through her skull. The small cord next to her headboard unfurled, socketed into the hidden slot in her hair, and she felt her body go limp as her mind entered a hidden storage compartment within The Cosmic System. Her consciousness quite literally leaving her body behind so that the physical form could be subjected to a hyper-sleep cycle that would accelerate the required downtime.
But…that was unpleasant to experience. Hence, why Xera extracted her consciousness for this process.
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[All data extracted and compressed.]
[Confirm re-upload?]
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“Yes,” Xera replied. She felt her consciousness surge back into her body, and took a deep breath. Her stomach rumbled mightily. “Josie! Breakfast!”
“Coming!” her personal Wayfinder replied.