Bergen, Kalmar Federation: 12/08/2070

"mmhh..."

He turned and tossed in a bed, and was slowly waking up, feeling like he had been run over by a truck of some kind.

I was going to space. Then suddenly, an alarm went off, and then everything went white... Wait, where am I?

He began to slowly wake up, only to look down on herself in horror.

Wha... Wait, this can't be real, can it!?

She hurriedly grabbed at her crotch, only to find it... missing.

"...It's gone..."

She collapses back into the bed, a terrible headache still assaulting her relentlessly, and stares up at the... unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar ceiling?

No... Don't tell me... I've ended up like one of those Japanese isekai protagonists!?

Looking across the room, she spots a computer and some kind of strange VR headset sitting on a desk in the corner of her room. Well, maybe not... But that stil doesn't explai-

Her mind suddenly goes blank for a split second as memories begin forcefully shoving themselves back into her head. What this place is, where she is, and who she is.

"Hehehehahaha... Now this is really something, isn't it?"

Memories of an unfamiliar world had entered her mind. The Kalmar Federation, United States of North America, European Free Trade Organization, the Republic of China, and the Soviet Union. Many slightly familiar, yet alien countries.

If I go by these memories, I've somehow ended up in Norway of all places. But not exactly. This isn't exactly an entirely "another" world, but this definitely isn't the earth I know. So, I've been kinda-isekai'd..? Something like that. Also...

She reaches towards her chest and touches it. What greets her is a soft sensation.

Why the hell did I have to be reincarnated as a fucking girl!? What the hell! Is this some sick joke!? My manly astronaut bod, trained to survive outer space, gone like that... Ya, not like it survived anyway, now that I think about it. Probably went kaboom with the rest of the rocket, since I am suddenly here now.

She gets out of the bed, and walks over to the mirror. Looking at herself, a somewhat cute girl with short black hair and a mildly tomboyish look greeted her stare, but with a mean looking face. She tried shifting it into a more... approachable expression, only to be greeted by a creepy ass smile.

And add onto that a very bad case of resting bitch face. Damn.

"Norah, breakfast is ready! Come and eat!"

A female voice came from downstairs in a language that could only be described as a weird mix of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.

Hmm... Scandinavian, was it? Seems like I could speak it before this... revelation, but will I be fine? I mean, I could still understand it even if I only spoke Danish, a nifty feature of the compatible Nordic languages... But will I have a weird accent? and wouldn't it be weird if a Norwegian began speaking Danish all of a sudden!?

"...Røt grøt me fløte."

Ya, seems like I'll be fine. Don't even think I can speak Danish anymore without this new accent either, heh.

"I'm coming, mom!"

Delving into her memories further, she realized that she was going to one of the few technical gymnasiums in Bergen. She had been a rather quiet and lazy girl, and yet she still got straight 6's(1), even though she regularly slept in class. Seems like she has photographic memory of some kind. And now that she notices it, it seems like the rest of the world is slower... No, she is thinking faster?

I think I can see better as well. Hear better as well. Huh. This body might be pretty nifty after all, even with the whole... girl thing. Rest in peace, little partner. You will be fondly remembered.

Despite her inner emotions flaring up at the memory of her little partner, her face still remained as mean as it always was. Despite that, her mom still greeted her with a smile. She had tried to fix Norah's RBF in the past, but gave up after all Norah could muster up were creepy or ominous expressions.

"How's school going, dear?"

"It's going well, mom."

The two went quiet as they began eating breakfast. Sitting at the exact opposite end of the table, was Norah's little brother. He was still a little scared of her, despite living together for their hole life. The first time he saw Norah as a baby, he immediately began crying.

That one really hurt. Still stings after 12 years... Hey, don't look at me like that!

When Norah looked at Lukas, he immediately turned his face away. If her memory served her right, the only time the little brat had actually talked to her properly was when he had a bullying problem. That problem immediately went away when they saw his "scary sister". He was a little less distant afterwards, but this is still a normal interaction between them.

Damn it, I helped him solve his bullying problem! Why is he still so... I mean... I can't exactly blame him... My mug isn't exactly... Approachable.

Norah attempted to smile at him, which ended up sending shivers down the spine of the poor boy. Realising her mistake, she immediately went back to her food and finished it.

"Have you remembered to charge the bike, dear?"

"I think... Yes."

Norah was about to start her final year in the gymnasium. Like her own brother, most people in her class were... intimidated by Norah's rather unfriendly expression. Most.

△▽△▽△

Norah was zooming down the roads on her bike. She had recently gotten it on her 18th birthday, and it was now her primary form of transport to and from school.

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And this thing is magic powered, apparently. Now that is really something, magic. Hehehe...

Yes, magic. On the planet she has ended up on, magic is something commonly used by the people and machines here. Her motorcycle for example is powered by magicules, being stored in a metallic crystal battery that supplies magicules directly to a rotation drive, that activates a magic sequence that then applies torque to the wheels. While magicule powered things could have some absurdly long ranges, the batteries are prohibitively expensive. For instance, a magicule powered car with a range of 5.000km would cost around 3.000.000 kroner(2) at best.

Her bike, on the other hand, had only cost her family about 50.000 kroner. While it only has a range of 75km, it is still plenty fast for normal road use, and is well within range of a round trip to her school and back.

Ya, magic is cool and all... Sucks that I can't use it, though. I've always been magically inept, and couldn't even muster up a tiny spell execution.

While Norah sulked at her inability to use magic, she shifted her focus to her surroundings in an attempt to distract herself.

Well, that is quite the view. Not something you'd normally expect from Bergen based on the pictures I've seen in my... Past life? Yeah, that. Then again, this is another world, after all.

In the distance, you could see giant towers quite literally scraping the clouds. All the cars on the road around her had a sleek near-future look to them, and the buildings had many LED lights and screens advertising all sorts of different things. While a lot about this felt quite alien to her inner Scandinavian, the buildings behind the fancy LED lights and displays all still had a noticeable style that you could find in Nordic cities.

Whoops, gotta take a left here.

She began driving through a tunnel, appearing on the other end with a nice view of the sea and the many boats out in the ocean. She drove down past the Bergen Magic Arts University, and found her way to her own gymnasium. The city had built all the educational institutions on the other side of this mountain, shielding them from the hustle & bustle of the city and hiding all but the tall skyscrapers behind it's silhouette, while also giving the students an ocean to stare at, should they get bored.

Though, the Gymnasium that Norah went to didn't get that exact privilege. Directly blocking their view of the ocean, was the Bergen Educational Activity Center. A big building with all sorts of sports facilities for the surrounding gymnasiums, hers included.

She pulled her bike into one of the bike sheds on the other side of the parking garage. While Bergen didn't usually have especially good weather, today was sunny with a clear sky, save for the few airplanes flying high above. Then again, trusting the weatherman completely is not exactly a good idea. Even with the AIs that they have predicting the weather now, it could still not predict the occasional sudden anomalies in the weather. Better safe than sorry, as they say.

Looking up the schedule on her phone, she could see that today's classes were focused on technology, with a single Scandinavian class plopped down into the start of the day.

Damn, I was never good at all that artsy analysis stuff... Though, since it is the first class of the year, I'd expect it to be mostly introduction stuff for what we are about to do this year and all that.

Norah followed the large crowd of students as they walked into the large building.

Magic, huh... Like hell I'd pass up the opportunity to research something as cool as that! Even if I myself am unable to use magic directly, there must be a way, right? Damn, this is exciting...

The students walking around Norah began distancing themselves from her as an ominous smile formed on her face.

△▽△▽△

The entire school was now in the common area, with the cafeteria connected to it. The principal welcomed the new first years, along with the rest of the students returning from summer break. They went over several different activities happening around the city, along with some youth initiatives and a few short speeches from speakers who were invited for opening day. Afterwards, we had a 10 minute break till the first module of the day.

"Norah!"

An overly cheerful girl came running up to Norah from behind, and hugged her.

"How was your summer? Same as usual? :D"

"...Yeah, pretty uneventful. Went to Denmark and stayed with a few relatives in Djursland. Went to the beach a few times as well."

"That's not uneventful at all, hehe! Did you also see some fishies?"

The girl detached from Norah's back, removing the two soft sensations assaulting Norah through her bike suit. Norah removed her bike helmet, her short black hair flopping back down onto the sides of her head shortly after.

Oh yeah, Sarah if I recall correctly. This moron is one of the few people who actually talk to me here. She barely passes her classes, and the only reason she is still here is probably due to her strong magic abilities. She's already set up with the BMAU, and is gonna enroll there right after graduating from the gymnasium. Lucky girl.

She was a genius when it came to the application of magic abilities, but had a perplexing lack of talent when it comes to literally everything else. Her grades are terrible in most subjects outside of magic, she is a horrendous cook, and everything she does other than magic, she fails spectacularly at. She had to retake her driving test 58 times before she barely passed. 58 times!

Norah and Sarah are polar opposites in most regards. Norah is intelligent, lazy, tomboyish and magically inept. Sarah is incredibly popular with the boys, a moron, yet still diligent and a magic prodigy. Then why are these two friends?

When Sarah first met Norah, she was just as put off as everyone else, but after a while, she realized that Norah is an all-natural boy repellent. She began hanging out with Norah to get a break from them, and soon after grew to like Norah, despite her unfortunate facial complexion.

Now when she talks to people about Norah, she always adds that they are "besties", and she always clings to Norah when possible.

Well... She might be a complete and utter idiot, but she is still fun to hang around, I guess. She is also awfully nice to people as well...

But some things have caused issues for Sarah in her past. Her family is very wealthy, and they own a massive magitech fabrication plant in the harbor that manufactures both civilian and military vessels. This easily makes her one of the richest people in the entire school.

But this caused a big issue: Most of the people who talked to her were after her money. She had a lot of "friends", but they were in reality nothing more than mooches. After getting screwed over one too many times, she has developed a good sense for a person's character, and began avoiding most people in general, remaining cold and distant to the vast majority of people who attempt to talk to her. But there are still a few that she willingly hangs around, including Norah.

The two girls walked towards their class, one of them happily talking about their trip to Italy where they met the president.

△▼△▼△

She has always been really intimidating, but SHE IS SUDDENLY REALLY FUCKING TERRIFYING, HOLY SHIT!

A young man, suddenly breaking into a cold sweat when he notices the presence behind him, peeks behind himself and spots her. Norah Berg. She has a nice figure, but also an intimidating air around her, spooking most people away from talking to her. Most.

Sarah Kromgaard... She is beautiful, rich, and has massive... assets. She is way out of my League, but still hangs around that spooky ass girl...

As if hearing his thoughts, Norah began smiling ominously in his general direction.

OH HELL FUCKING NO, I'M GETTING THE HELL OUT OF HERE!

He immediately began speed-walking away, off towards the common area where the principal will hold the opening ceremony.

△▽△▽△

After the opening ceremony and all the different speeches and introductions, he checked his phone to see who he was going to be classmates with.

Let's see... Ooh, Karl! Jacob too!.. Sarah is there as well, HELL YEAH! Wait...

Emil suddenly noticed a certain name on the class roster, and his heart almost gave out right there and then.

...Fuck... Let's hope she doesn't put me in a wood chipper or something crazy like that...

He began making his way to his class, resigning himself to his fate.

△▼△▼△

Norah Berg. She is very talented, but wastes her talents doing the bare minimum to barely get high grades. Her social situation is also very worrying. She has a rather... Unpleasant expression on her face at all times of day, and scares away most other students. Though she does make sure to have at least a somewhat pleasant relationship with her teachers.

Well, things have changed a little. She has requested a key to the fabrication room, and has paid the deposit from her own account. She has also been accessing the school's databanks a lot more frequently, specifically on the topic of magic.

She has also acquired a license to handle dangerous machinery, and seems to have begun experimenting with magitech of her own design in the blast chambers. Most have had rather... Explosive results, but some had shown promise.

This sudden change in behavior is rather concerning, and it is recommended that Norah Berg sees the school nurse. An appointment has been set up ahead of time.

- Bjørn Skau, Technology Teacher