I awoke to the faint scent of dust and the soft hum of the refurbished air purifier. My head throbbed, feeling as if it had been pounded with a metal pipe. As I slowly opened my eyes, the dim pink light peeking through the large window illuminated the room, stabbing at my retinas and forcing me to squint. The soft creak of the old wooden bed frame beneath me echoed through my foggy mind.

My mom and dad slowly came into focus, seated in small folding chairs next to my bed. My mom's head remained slumped, her gentle snores a soothing melody, while my dad's worried eyes locked onto mine. The faint tang of last night's botched celebration – cake and the remnants of my stomach's acidic smell – lingered in the air, mingling with the musty smell of our old home. I showed a small smile to let him know I was okay, despite the splitting headache.

My gaze drifted towards the desk, where the Core Nexus sprawled in chaotic glory. Chunks of circuit boards clung to its circular frame, about the size of a serving platter, like barnacles on a shipwreck. A rat's nest of wiring snaked across its surface, held together by twists of electrical tape and hope. Amidst the chaos, an azure hologram floated serenely 15 cm above the device's body, radiating an otherworldly glow. The image displayed the Nexus itself, its intricate circuits pulsing with connections through the tangle of wiring.

I felt a faint mental pull, beckoning me to check my interface, and found two new notifications waiting.

— Mind Forge Invention Log —

Device Name: Neural Bridge

Description:

The Neural Bridge is a wearable neural interface device that establishes a secure connection between your mind and compatible technologies, enabling seamless interaction, real-time data exchange, and intuitive control for enhanced productivity and innovation.

Synthesis State duration: 23 minutes

Warning: Initial binding may cause temporary cognitive strain.

—

Device Name: Core Nexus

Description:

The Core Nexus is a device that captures and stores your Synthesis State creations via its connection to your Neural Bridge. It enables design modification, advanced assemblies, simulation testing, and serves as a potent computational platform for manufacturing control.

Synthesis State duration: 23 minutes

“Cognitive strain” seemed like an understatement, I snickered to myself sardonically as I rubbed the back of my neck. I froze, noticing a small, warm, metal band secured to the base of my skull. I lightly probed the rectangular device with my fingers – 6 cm wide, 2 cm tall, and the thickness of cardstock. My fingers found the edge, and I tried to lightly pry it off. Pain shot into my head, and I groaned. It wasn’t coming off.

Mom stirred, opening sleepy eyes. "Rowan, honey, how are you feeling?"

"Head hurts," I admitted, wincing. "I think installing this messed me up a bit," pointing to the band on my neck.

“I noticed that while you were sleeping, but didn’t want to mess with anything and make things worse for you,” my mom replied, her concern mixing with fascination. “Is that a neural-interface or something?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“My core interface gave me an Invention Log that said as much, so it must be,” I replied, shrugging. “It also told me that thing is called the ‘Core Nexus’,” I said pointing at my device sitting on the table.

“Does it just display your inventions?” she asked.

“Partly,” I said, slowly pulling the thick blue blanket off and shuffling towards the desk, my dad taking my arm to keep me steady. "The log said it lets me modify designs and do testing."

“Really?” my mom asked, her eyes sparkling. “That sounds like old-world computer modeling software. You know I used to be a design engineer before the collapse, right?”

“Yeah, mom,” I said, lowering my voice as I sat down. “I’ve been looking through your textbooks in the basement for years.”

Her eyes went wide, but she simply nodded and joined me at the table. “Show me how it works,” she requested. “Aidan, can you let Kaida and Lysander know Rowan is awake, please?”

“Of course, Elara,” he said, walking over to my nightstand to pick up the radio. “K and L, do you copy?”

“I copy, Mr. P,” Ly’s voice responded over the radio. “Let me go wake up K.” After nearly a minute of silence, his voice returned, “Alright, we’re both here. How is R?”

“R is awake and doing okay. I think you’re both good to head over if you’d like,” my dad replied.

“We’ll be there soon,” Ly said.

Dad set down the radio and returned to our side to watch as we began experimenting.

“So, how does it work?” mom asked.

I wasn’t sure, but had a lingering feeling that I just needed to think about what I wanted to happen. I willed the cerulean image to rotate. It responded instantly. I began playing with the design, rotating it in all directions, moving parts individually, and adding new components. "I think you can also do things by touching the hologram," I said.

Her hand eagerly reached out, grabbing the translucent object as if it were real. "Wow, I can feel it. It doesn't have weight, but I'm gripping it and my fingers aren't going through." She pinched the edges of it and pulled apart, causing the model to grow until it reached about a meter and a half in diameter and grew fuzzy at the edges before they disappeared completely. Shrinking the model back down to a more manageable size, she began delicately plucking wires from the design.

"This is amazing," she said. "I have a feeling this is just a prototype, though. As much as I don't fully understand how this works, I think you can definitely improve on this design."

"I think so too," I said. "I don't think I could ever explain how the device works exactly, but I can feel exactly how it works. If I had better materials and manufacturing tools, I could definitely improve on this design." Another niggling feeling akin to last night began to bubble up, but I forcefully shoved it down. There was no way I could let my ability take over right now. I could barely walk without help, and I was in no shape to go into an inventing frenzy.

Luckily, that was the moment Kaida and Ly knocked at the front door. Our modest home was small enough that we had no trouble hearing the knock through my open bedroom door.

"I'll get it," mom said, throwing a glance at my dad as she got up.

"Let me grab you some meds for your head," dad said, following her.

I heard the sound of the front door opening and Ly saying, "Hey, Ms. Pierce. Rowan is still in their room?"

"Yeah, Ly, can we have a second with you two first, though?" she responded, her voice lowering as she reached the end of the sentence. They all continued talking for half a minute, quieter than I could make out, before the sound of footsteps came down the hall.

"What were y'all talking about out there?" I asked, slightly irritated. They never hid things from me.

"We're going to need to go into Selah's Haven today to do paperwork with the Core Ascendency," my mom replied with a grim look. "We were asking your friends to accompany us, since they've been through the process recently."

I felt my blood run cold at her words. "I hate going into Selah. Why do I have to do paperwork on my birthday?"

"You know the Ascendency has a registry of everyone and whether or not they have a core ability?" Ly explained. "This is how they do that. They have a registrar on the clergy's staff whose core ability can detect if you're powered or not. Everyone is obligated to go in on their birthday."

Kaida added, her expression dark. "You got your ability, you have nothing to worry about," she said, clenching her fist. Her older brother hadn't been as lucky.

“We can deal with that in a bit.”, mom said, putting an arm around Kaida and lightly squeezing. Kaida relaxed slightly at my moms gesture. “For now though, why don't you continue resting and show your friends the Nexus?”