Charlie felt like he would die for one searing, blinding moment. Again. His stomach churned, and his head pulsed as righteous pain shot through every atom of his being. He felt as if he'd been run across one of those cleaning boards people used to clean clothes with. Hell, for a moment, he thought he was on a hospital bed, recovering from having a 2002 Honda Accord fall on him. Then, of course, he noticed the dirt beneath him. Glorious dirt. He took a big breath in and a bigger breath out. He focused on the smell of the earth beneath him, using it to center himself and to draw attention away from the aching emanating from the rest of his body. With how much agony he was in, he figured she had to have fucking thrown him at the planet. "Fuuuuck," he groaned, slowly rolling over onto his side. She coulda warned me of this, he thought as he tried to let his body relax. He felt the pain begin to recede, and achingly, he began to open his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was the road stretched out before him and the buildings that followed it. Charlie breathed in the earthy tones and, this time, caught the scent of rotting wood mixed in with them. Slowly, he began to rise to his feet. He looked about as he did, and sure enough, the place was abandoned. He just hadn't been expecting an entire city. He had been expecting a lone temple on the side of the road, not this. Oh well. He supposed that was his fault for assuming. Regardless, he had a mission to accomplish. Find that altar, understand his abilities, and achieve his dreams. And then maybe save the world. He wasn't too worried about that part. There were nine others working on that; he hardly expected they would need his help with that. Anyways.

He looked around until he noticed a great spire just down the way, decorated with various paints and scriptures. Must be the place, he thought to himself. Taking his time, he slowly jogged over while checking himself out. She really hadn't changed much. He was still the same old man. He felt at his face and found that he still had the same old beard, brown and speckled gray from his years of stress and labor. He reached up and felt the same old short-cut hair on his head. Looking down, he saw that same pudgy belly that he could never get rid of after his thirties, the same one he blamed for his inability to get a girlfriend. Further down, he saw his cargo pants, the same pair he was wearing when he died. It seemed he was still wearing his uniform from when he died. Huh. At that realization, he reached up and tore off the patch that marked him as an employee of Dick's Garage. He smiled cheekily at that. Not anymore, Dick, he thought, not anymore.

Charlie slowed as he came upon the church, though he had to admit to himself it looked more like a cathedral. It was tall and domineering, demanding to be seen among the other buildings on the street. Though admittedly, it was decorated a bit differently from the churches he was used to. It was slathered with paints of all sorts, completely covered from head to toe in the stuff. All colors were present, and they were splattered all over with no seeming rhyme or reason to their placement. It almost looked like graffiti. Over the paint were scriptures that he couldn't quite make out. Oh shit. Do they speak a different language here? Or write differently? Nevermind. Not important. Robots, he thought. There were more important things than language.

Continuing forward, Charlie marched through the open and frankly rotted doors to take a look inside. Beyond the ample rotting piers, inside was a statue of Aleph—or at least what must have used to be a statue of Aleph. It was missing from the waist up. Or, rather than missing, all over the floor. Huh. Not my problem, he thought. And so he continued onwards, towards the altar behind the debris. Upon the altar, he found a big, red-stained stone bowl with a rusted needle attached and positioned above it. He supposed it was pretty obvious what he had to do. He wasn't worried; he was up to date on his tetanus shot. Or was he? Not important. He pricked his finger on the needle and let his blood drip into the bowl. He felt his mind sink into his body a moment later, as if being dragged towards his soul. There, he found the information he sought.

MEMORANDUM

Mechanister

REMEMBRANCES

none

MEMENTOS

Master Mechanister

SOUVENIRS

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Assisted Evolution

Functionally Immortal

Professionally Graded

Selective Engineering

Sacrificial Strength

TROPHIES

none

TOKENS

none

Charlie felt his soul pulse as the information entered his head. It was confusing and exhilarating all at once, but there was one confusing bit. What is a 'Mechanister'? Did she mean Mechanist? Whatever. Need more information. He focused on his Memorandum.

Mechanister- Master of Mechanical Wonders, the Mechanister creates and controls magnificent creations of another realm. They thrive in all circumstances as long as they are accompanied by their many projects.

Excellent! he thought before focusing on his Memento.

Master Mechanister-The Mechanister may control created Mechanical Wonders to an infinite degree or to no degree, allowing for free will among their Wonders. The Mechanister may create Mechanical Wonders using Tokens to the limit of their found Remembrances, following the rules as follows and in order of strength as follows:

1 Alpha class Wonder per Remembrance, at the cost of 1 token

1 Beta class Wonder per every second Remembrance, at the cost of 2 tokens

1 Gamma class Wonder per every fifth Remembrance, at the cost of 3 tokens

1 Delta class Wonder per every tenth Remembrance, at the cost of 5 tokens

1 Omega class Wonder per every twentieth Remembrance, at the cost of 10 tokens

The Mechanister may create 1 Zeta class Wonder at a cost of 0 tokens, instead using a part of their soul as the cost. This Wonder does not follow the same rules as those stated previously. This Wonder may not have its free will deactivated, but also may be empowered to whatever degree the Mechanister desires. It will develop its own soul over time.

Charlie thought that sounded great. And ominous. But more great. He couldn't wait to get to work. This Zeta-class wonder sounded straight out of his childhood dreams. Before that, however, he focused on his souvenirs.

Assisted Evolution- The Mechanister may change and upgrade their Wonders as long as materials and a blueprint are available. The Mechanister must stay within the confines of the Wonder's class.

Functionally Immortal- The Mechanister may bring any defunct Wonders back with all previous memories intact at no additional cost. All repairs, however, defunct or not, must be carried out manually.

Professionally Graded- During creation, the Mechanister may grade a wonder to enhance its abilities within that grade. The grades are as follows: Assault, Defense, Utility, Aid, and General.

Selective Engineering- The Mechanist may limit or sacrifice attributes of a Wonder in order to enhance its abilities to the absolute limit of its class. These attributes include but are not limited to: emotion, morality, free will, processing, and mobility.

Sacrificial Strength- The Mechanister forfeits all personal strength in favor of increasing the abilities of their Wonders. For every Remembrance found, the Mechanister's Wonders will increase in strength instead of the Mechanister. The only object of the Mechanister to increase in strength is their soul.

Charlie's mind was buzzing with ideas. He absolutely needed some materials and fast. He felt as if his mind would explode with all of the possibilities presented before him. He had no idea what a Trophy was, and he didn't care. All he could think of was that damned Zeta-class robot.