One morning I was asleep in the luxurious bed formerly occupied by the Gorgon when I found myself getting shaken awake.

“Get up,” said an angry voice. “Get up, get up, get up.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m awake.” I squinted up at the person looming over me. “Who is that? Why do you look like that?” I said to the Doppelganger who looked like Sigrid.

“What’s wrong with the way I look?” they said with a scowl.

“Wait, what?” I blinked the grogginess out of my eyes and took another look. She was wearing Sigrid's usual exercise clothes, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail.

“What’s with skipping out on morning training, huh? I haven’t seen you in days.”

“Sigrid?” It could be the real her. I did give everyone on Team Maple Leaf and the Round Table free access to the dungeon.

“Yes it’s me, dummy.” She shoved me over and flopped down on the bed beside me. “I know you’re upset that you’re not getting any quests, but you’re still not allowed to lock yourself away in here.”

“Sorry, I—”

“I gave you time and space but enough is enough.” She stretched beside me like a cat in the sun. “Although I do sort of get it because this bed is nice!” She writhed on her back, then rolled onto her side to face me, throwing one arm over my chest and snuggling against my side.

"Make yourself comfy," I mumbled.

She hooked a leg around mine. “It might be worth adding benefits to our friendship just so I can sleep here.”

“Speaking of, how are things with Andy?”

She groaned and rolled onto her back again. “You wouldn’t think it would be so hard to find a guy who’s happy with just sex. Why do I get all the needy ones?”

“Situationships are tough. I can’t really speak to how great you are in the sheets, but maybe you wouldn’t have this problem if you weren’t also so amazing to be around outside of bed too.”

“Dummy.” She reached across herself and thumped me in the stomach with her fist. “If I’m so amazing to be with, why do I have to come looking for you to make sure you’re still alive?”

I grabbed her fist. “I'm sorry.” I felt her fingers unclench in my hand.

“Better be.” Her fingers stretched out and entwined with mine. “We’re supposed to be partners, remember?”

“How’d you find me in the labyrinth, anyway?”

“Oh, an extremely attractive woman named Alice helped me. I assume it was a Doppelganger?”

“Ah. She is quite efficient.”

Alice was the name I'd given to the Doppel I’d placed in charge of things, the same one who'd copied Chika. She’d become a very capable assistant and I’d come to rely on her quite a bit.

“We ran into quite a few more gorgeous women on the way here, more Doppelgangers, no doubt. You got a thing for surrounding yourself with hotties, Daniel? Is that why you don’t need me anymore?”

“No comment.”

We lay there for a while, side by side, holding hands, until Sigrid abruptly let go and elbowed me.

“Right,” she said, “get dressed. You’re coming back to the city with me.”

“I am?” I slithered to the edge of the bed and got out.

“Yup. Sifu wants to see you.”

“He does?”

“And Morgan will be there,” Sigrid said with a big grin.

“So?”

She laughed. “Please. Don’t even.”

I went to the chest and pulled out my adventuring clothes.

“Nuh uh,” Sigrid said. “Wear something else. As punishment for ignoring me for so long we are not teleporting, we’re running.”

“Sure,” I said. I peeled off the t-shirt I’d slept in and Sigrid whistled.

“Nice to see you’ve still been keeping up with your exercising. It shows.”

I pulled on a clean shirt and turned to look at her. She was still lying on the bed, watching me. “Thanks,” I said.

She crawled across the bed toward me, then reached out with one hand to lift the front of my shirt and rubbed my tummy with the other. “Hard to believe this is the same string bean who was once so terrified to talk to me,” she said, licking her lips.

“Oh I’m still that guy,” I said, smacking her hands away. Sigrid’s efforts to get me into shape had borne some fruit, but nobody would be washing clothes on my abs any time soon. “Just a bit more buff, maybe.”

“A bit. Now hurry up, you don’t want to keep Morgan waiting.”

“You mean Sifu.”

“I know what I mean.”

The run to the city was invigorating. Barely a few weeks ago I could never have dreamed of such a thing, but now I’d trained my Player body to the point where I could easily keep up with Sigrid’s pace and enjoy the exercise instead of simply enduring it wishing it was over. Not that long ago I would’ve said that my dungeon in Olympus Mountain was way too far away from the city to run between them, but it was only the adjacent hex. It was nothing, really.

It’s funny how perspective can change.

Of course, I owed most of it to the Player body itself. It was much more...pliable...than the one I was born in. It's true I had worked hard, but the same amount of effort back on Earth would not have borne the same results as it did here; it would've taken me a lot longer to get into this kind of shape back home. Honestly, if given the choice, I don't know if I would have chosen to go back to Earth in my old body.

When we'd been copied into these bodies, we'd been copied exactly. Flaws and all. Bad eyesight remained bad eyesight. Allergies, scars, cavities in our teeth, crappy cardio, chronic depression, we retained them all. At first I'd thought it was a minor miracle that nobody who'd been brought here had come with any more serious medical conditions, but when I'd asked System about it, I was told that it would not have been fair to bring Players who relied upon life saving medical support that was unavailable on Crucible.

In my ample alone time, I'd started chatting with System a lot. System was surprisingly generous with information if asked directly, although there were still a lot of things I couldn't get answers to. For example, when I asked why their illnesses couldn't have been cured during the process of putting them into a brand new body, I was told that it was against the rules to alter a person's fundamental composition. I couldn't help but notice that System hadn't said whether or not it was possible, just that it wasn't allowed. It made me wonder about how effective Nina's healing powers would be on a normal human. What if she used them on, say, someone with cancer?

I didn't have much time to ponder things while running with Sigrid. She barely stopped talking the whole time, regaling me with stories about how everyone was doing. It made me realize how much I missed her, and it occurred to me that she may have been missing me just as much. I had a sharp pang of regret for hiding myself away. I didn't quite understand the deep connection that had grown between us but there was no denying she'd become someone very important to me, perhaps even the best friend I'd always secretly wished I'd had.

Sifu was indeed waiting for me when we reached the dojo, as was Morgan. Sifu hardly registered any emotion, but Morgan could barely contain herself. As soon as she saw me and Sigrid at the door to Sifu’s apothecary she ran over and grabbed my hand, dragging me into the room.

“What’s got you so giddy?” I said.

“We’ve got a present for you,” Morgan said in a singsong voice. “Come, come.”

On the work table in front of Sifu there was a single vial containing a clear liquid. A potion.

“What’s this?” I said.

"Don't evaluate it yet!" Sigrid said, jumping between me and the table. "Let Morgan explain it first."

"Oh? Well okay." I turned to Morgan, who was practically bouncing with excitement. It was adorable. I couldn't help but smile. "Hit me," I said.

“Okay, so,” Morgan said, “it all started with that Jackalope venom sac you got. Apparently those are, like, super rare drop items from super rare monsters. The fact that you found and defeated one on the first day is, well, it’s crazy. And you got the venom. So lucky.”

“Wow. I had no idea.” My thoughts flashed back to that first encounter and the gory mess I'd left clumsily hidden under some leaves and brush on the forest floor. I suppose I had been pretty lucky in the end.

“But it wasn’t until you brought back the second one that Sifu got the idea to make this. Which was crazy. I mean, this potion is impossibly hard to make because the ingredients are so rare. Sifu wasn't even sure it was actually real.”

“I’m getting the picture.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“So yeah. One Jackalope venom sac is hard enough to come by, but you found two, which is what this particular potion needed. First you distill the venom and add it to an emulsification of pureed Doppelganger’s brain in honey—”

“Honey? Why honey?”

“Cuts the bitter taste of the brain,” Sifu said, speaking for the first time since we arrived.

“Forget I asked,” I said. I’d grown too attached to my Doppel companions at the dungeon to think too much about the bitterness of their pureed brains.

“—and you’ve got the foundation of a very cool potion,” Morgan continued through my interruption, too busy nerding out on alchemy to slow down. “There are a few more ingredients, various herbs and stuff, but the end result is...can you guess?”

“Well...”

“Think about it. Jackalope venom and Doppelganger brain. What do those monsters have in common?”

“Um, they—”

“Mimic!” she said, not waiting for me to answer. “This potion lets you mimic a power.”

“Really?” I reached for the vial, then stopped and looked at Sifu. He nodded, so I took it and held it up to the light. It was completely transparent, not even a hint of brain to be seen. Thank god. "That is amazing."

“Wait for it, it gets better. Normally the effects of the potion wear off after a day, but we also added extracts from the Chimera’s heart and the Gorgon’s eye.”

“What does that do?” I said.

“Get this: it makes it permanent,” Morgan said. “Drink the potion then copy a power, any power, and because of the extra ingredients you have that power permanently.”

“Wow,” I said. “That's incredible.”

“Thanks,” Morgan said, “but it was mostly Sifu. I did level up my own Alchemy power a bunch through helping him, though.”

“Impressive,” I said, finally using All Shall Be Revealed on it before putting the vial back down onto the table.

Potion of Power (Enhanced)

An incredibly rare potion that grants the drinker the ability to copy a Power, this one has been enhanced to make the copy permanent. Powers: Mimic - Copy any Player’s power you can see being used

“So?” Morgan said, looking at me with big brown eyes.

“So what?” I said.

“So, what power are you going to copy?”

“What, you mean...?”

“Yes, dumdum,” Sigrid said, “this is for you.”

“Me? Why me? Shouldn’t we give it to Jane or Arthur or someone more important? They could use it to—”

“Dang,” Morgan said, “I owe Jane a gold piece.”

“Why?”

“She told me you’d say something stupid like that and I said no way so we made a bet. Which I just lost, thank you very much.”

Sigrid laughed. "I hadn't heard about that. Serves you right for taking that bet, Morgan." Sigrid's arm closed around my neck and she pulled me down into a headlock, her free hand ruffling my hair. "Guess you don't know this guy well enough yet."

Morgan rolled her eyes in response.

“So it’s really mine?” I said, wriggling out of Sigrid's grip.

Morgan nodded. "And don't even try to give it away. We made this for you, Daniel."

Sigrid laughed again. "Okay, maybe you do know him pretty well after all."

“Wow, I don't know what to say," I said.

"Thank you is traditional,” Sigrid said.

"Of course," I said. "Thank you."

Morgan beamed at me. “So what power are you gonna get? There are so many to choose from, I don’t blame you if you have a hard time deciding.”

“Actually,” I said, picking up the vial again. “I know exactly what to do with this.” I unstoppered the potion.

“You’re gonna drink it now?” Morgan said. “You know what new power you want already?”

“Yes,” I said. “I want the mimic power.” And I drank the potion. I glanced privately at my Status and saw a new power in the list.

Powers:

Mimic - Special (Temporary): Copy any Player’s power you can see being used

“But...” Morgan looked confused.

“Trust me,” I said to her with a smile. Then I said, “System, activate Synthesis.”

Combining all my combat skills together into omni-do had helped me rank my Synthesis power up to Adept, and along with being able to combine more things together at once I also developed an innate sense of what can happen when certain things are combined. When I looked at the potion, I could feel the potential for something very special, something that shouldn’t be possible but -- thanks to my unique combination of abilities -- just might be.

I had talked with System enough that I believed I understood how the rules worked, even if I didn't know what they were. I was betting that this was such a bizarre confluence of abilities that nobody had considered the possibility of anyone being able to attempt doing what I was about to do. And if they hadn't considered it, then also wouldn't have created a rule to forbid it. From my understanding, things here worked on the principle that everything which is not forbidden is allowed. I was also betting that I was right, and I was betting a lot.

System: Synthesis ready. Select ability to modify

“Select Mimic.”

System: Select abilities to combine with Mimic

“Daniel,” Morgan said, “what are you doing?”

“Shhh,” Sigrid said. “Let the man work.”

“Select All Shall Be Revealed and Eidetic Memory, so I can copy any power I’ve seen used before. Add Jack Of All Trades, because my intuition tells me that will expand the things I’ll be able to copy. Then add Good At Everything, which I think should let me copy more than one at a time.”

System: Add another ability?

“No,” I said. “Wait, yes! Add Murder Hobo, because you never know.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Morgan said.

System: Synthesis of Mimic with All Shall Be Revealed, Eidetic Memory, Jack Of All Trades, Good At Everything, and Murder Hobo will result in a new power; select name for new synthesized power

“Huh. A name. Oh, I know. Call it Versatility For The Win.”

System: Synthesizing Versatility For The Win

“Let’s hope this works,” I muttered under my breath, but apparently still loud enough for others to hear.

“What happens if it doesn’t?” Morgan said, looking worried.

Should I tell her that all that work to collect materials and create the potion would be wasted? Probably not.

“I'm sure it will,” I said, trying to sound convincing. Morgan looked at me, then at Sigrid. Sigrid nodded, then Morgan looked back at me and nodded too, and I knew she'd just made the conscious choice to trust me.

System: Synthesis mana requirements exceed Player’s mana capacity

“Uh oh,” Sigrid said.

System: Supplementing from I Can Keep Going And Going

“What’s that?” Morgan said.

“A mana battery,” I said.

Morgan’s eyes widened and her jaw literally dropped. “Is that a new power? Where the heck did you get that?” Morgan said.

Sigrid put her hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “Whatever you do, do not ask to see his Status. It’ll just make you cry.”

System: Synthesis successful

System: You have a new power: Versatility For The Win

“It worked!” Sigrid said. “So what does it mean?”

My knees suddenly buckled and only by lurching for the edge of the table and grabbing it was I able to keep myself from collapsing on the floor. Even with my mana battery, the synthesis of so many abilities together at once had completely zapped me of all strength. “Just give me a sec,” I said, leaning heavily on the table.

“Oh crap!” Sigrid said, and put her arm around me for support.

“Food,” I croaked.

Morgan reached into her inventory and pulled out a sandwich. “I was saving this for later, but...”

I took the sandwich and scarfed it down, feeling some energy begin to flow back into me.

“Thank you,” I said.

Morgan watched wistfully as I gobbled down the last bites of her sandwich, then smacked her forehead with her palm. The dark oval of her own inventory appeared and she reached in to withdraw a potion. "I should've just given you a mana potion. I've made a bunch with the mana crytals we picked up in the labyrinth."

"Whoops," I said. "Sorry."

Morgan waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine," she said, "but now you owe me lunch."

“He owes you a lot more,” Sigrid said. “But for starters he’ll take you out for a really nice dinner.”

“He will?” Morgan said, curling a lock of her hair around her finger.

“I will?”

Sigrid winked at Morgan and Morgan’s face flushed.

“Anyway,” Morgan said, “what about the new power, does it do what you wanted?”

I checked my Status. The temporary Mimic power had been replaced with the new one. I shared its description.

Powers:

Versatility For The Win - Novice: Copy any seen power; powers copied [0/1]

“Holy bonkers,” Morgan said. “You really made the actual mimic power itself permanent.”

“And improved it, too,” I croaked.

"Who would've thought that would even be possible?"

"Nobody, which is why there are no rules against it. If there was, System would not have allowed it."

"That is so OP," Morgan said, shaking her head.

Sigrid put her hand on my shoulder. “Are you strong enough to try it out yet?”

“Probably not."

"I can’t wait," Morgan said, handing me the mana potion. "Here, drink this."

I chugged the potion and felt its strength flow into me. "Thanks. So what should I copy first?”

“I have an idea,” Sigrid said.

The look of surprise on Jane’s face a few moments later when I used her own power to blink out into the courtyard where she was practicing with her rapier was worth a thousand words. Then her look when I gave her a single gold coin and told her it was from Morgan with the message “Congratulations on winning the bet” was worth a million. I only wished I could’ve seen the look after I blinked away before she could say anything.

“What did she say?” Morgan said when I appeared back in the apothecary.

“I didn’t give her a chance to,” I said.

“Aw.”

“I needed to get back here right away.”

“What for?” Morgan said.

“For this,” I said, and I grabbed her in a big hug. “Morgan, thank you so so much. This is amazing.”

She tensed up at first, then relaxed and hugged me back. “My pleasure.”

“Ugh, gross. Save it for after dinner tonight,” Sigrid groaned, but she was smiling.

I let go of Morgan then turned to Sifu. He held up a hand, palm out.

“An embrace is not necessary,” he said.