Start of Part 6__________________________________________________________________________________________
I picked up a pen with the intention of using it as materials and it turned into a golden fog before entering my hand and disappearing beneath my skin. That was relatively simple and freaky. It’s one thing reading that you aren’t human and having people say you aren’t human. It’s another thing entirely to confirm for yourself that you aren’t human anymore.
“Core systems online…..BETA.0.4.5.72V
Name, 52BUAAHW401SA(Haris Yurman).
Gender, N/A(Human-Male cosmetic option).
Age, 21.
Species, Admin Server(Unknown Variant).
Racial Talent, Curiosity of the Ancients, Core Programmer.
Unique Talent, Backup Server Assembly, System link, System Transfer, Auto System Transfer, Assembly options.
Mana, 3(28,000,003)
Materials, 0S,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,1F,0G.
Primary values-/-/-/
Physical Prowess, 37. G
Physical Agility, 52. G
Physical Durability, 64. G
Processing, 50. G
Secondary values-/-/-/
Vitality, 95. G
Strength, 19. G
Speed, 31. G
Intelligence, 22. G”
So a pen is considered an F rank material? I don’t know if that good or bad. Next I thought about trying to use my Backup Server Assembly talent and a black screen with grey writing filled my vision.
“Create.
Customize.
Cancel.”
Was listed. I didn’t know how to select one of them but it somehow just knew what I wanted. The screen changed over to a customization interface. Listing a number of things. Before I could do anything I was forced to chose what materials to use so I selected the one F rank material I had. This gave me ten points to use. Gender was set to female so I switched it to male. However I was denied because it apparently costs one hundred points to change it from the default. As a result I wasn’t able to change hair colour, skin colour, species or ethnicity. I would have just given up and come back when I had more materials but it refused to let me leave the menu while I still had unspend points. I wasn’t able to turn the points back into materials and I couldn’t leave the screen while I still had points. So I was being forced into completing it. I tried just pressing complete but again I couldn’t proceed without spending my points. The only thing I could spend my points on was its stats so I put a point into every one and was left over with two points. I put both in processing. Looking over its stats it was pretty bad. What am I making, a new born child? I tried going back again just in case and was again unable to leave the menu. So with no other choice I completed the customization and the screen closed. From my hands gold glowing mist flowed into the air before me and suddenly condensed in on itself and a naked young girl fell on the ground.
“It’s a girl.” I said dumbly.
On the floor laid a sickly young girl that looked no older than in her early teens. She took quick short breaths like she was having trouble breathing and wasn’t moving. She was nothing but skin and bones. Her black hair had a greyish tint to it and was rough like straw. Then I felt it. Absolute and utter weakness. A feeling like I was on the verge of death. Like I hadn’t eaten for months and was on borrowed time. The cold of the hard tiles. I felt everything she felt and I somehow knew that there was no mind to that body other than my own mind. I was in two places at once. Half of me feared for my life and the other was confused as to why.
“Whoa! Malinda, I think he just had a kid.” Welkin said exaggeratedly and motioned toward me.
I snapped out of it and ordered myself. The part of me that feared for its life was small. Miniscule compared to the majority. If I focused I could stop it from spreading to the rest of me. A four to my fifty I thought to myself absently.
“Is she okay?” Malinda asked me seriously.
I bent down back picked her up. She was far too light. She seemed to be suffering from malnutrition. So this is having one in every stat. I took her to my armchair and placed her in it carefully. I went and grabbed a blanket before placing it on her and tucking it in as carefully as I could. That small part of my mind quieted down a bit and now only complained about feeling weak and being hungry, so hungry. Shit. This is so fucked up.
“No. She’s anything but okay.” I said finally turning to Malinda.
“So this is what your talent does? It makes people?” She asked me. Her voice held a mix curiosity, disgust, outrage and sorrow.
I just nodded my head and turned away from her. I had no right to be angry, I knew that. But the little voice in the back of my head was begging me to cut off the rotten limb. I had every right to be angry with myself. So I walked into the kitchen and started boiling some water in a pot. I think I remember that you need to start someone like this on watered down broth before moving them onto something more. If I were thinking I probably would have looked it up on the internet to be sure. I however just wanted the part of my mind that makes up her to stop complaining. When it was done I came over with a bowl and started spoon small amounts of it into her mouth. She didn’t swallow and even move. This was because I hadn’t made her I realized. With little effort, as if I was moving my own mouth. I opened her lips and swallowed a mouthful of the broth. As I worked through the broth I felt her hunger die down and stopped just before she was full. I kneeled by the side of the armchair and just stared at her. This was really such bullshit it wasn’t fair.
“This is because I didn’t have enough materials.” I finally said.
“Then why’d you make her? Couldn't you have just gotten more materials?” Welkin asked me. It wasn’t accusatory but I felt like it was.
“I didn’t have a choice. Once I started I couldn’t go back. So I had to proceed and this was the result.” I said unhappily.
I stood and saw Malinda looking at the kid with sad eyes. I sighed.
“What kind of mechanist makes people?” She asked without looking at me.
“Animals can be seen as just incredibly complex machines made of renewable materials.” I said emotionlessly before I realized what I was saying.
“Well at least you have one thing in common with normal mechanists.” Malinda told me. A tear fell from her eye and she wiped it away with the sleeve of the jacket.
I’m a fucking asshole. I should just fucking die in a gutter. Ahh, shit. Why’d I fucking say that? Time and place, fuck! I should have said anything but my opinion on the matter. Damn! I am an idiot!
“I’m sorry.” I said and went to my room to catch some Z’s. I’m not well rested enough to deal with this interacting with people shit at the moment. Let alone weirdly human like aliens.
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I opened the girl's eyes and looked around with them. Even though I’m asleep the girl was still awake. With my main body asleep I now felt nothing but what this sickly girl felt. It was like moving away from the noise of the highway and ending up in the country. Everything was so much simpler here. Just grass plains and fields for kilometers in every direction. I could feel myself thinking more simply and the talk Malinda and Welkin were having barely made sense some of the time. The two stopped upon seeing the girl open her eyes. Malinda came over and said some reassuring words that I didn’t catch. I decided it would be best if both I and the girl slept, and so she slept.
That afternoon when I woke up it was actually the girl that woke up first. She was awoken by Malinda who had brought food. It was a bowl of death. I mean cereal. Thankfully it was just corn flakes but I wasn’t sure how the girls body would react to the milk. Unfortunately I was asleep and couldn’t force myself awake. It’s not abnormal for people suffering from severe malnutrition to outright die after eating something to nutritional. I don’t know the science behind it but I remember it being mentioned during history class while we were doing a project on WWII. I thought of all this latter however because at this moment all I could understand was the girl is hungry and there is food.
“That mean mechanist giving you that watery soup. Let Malli feed you.” Malinda said in addition to a bunch of baby speak and noises that made no sense to me through the filter of the girls mind.
I opened the girl's mouth to eat. She was hungry and there was food. The solution was simple. Eat. I felt satisfied with solving the apparent problem. It was only after the food had gone down the girl's throat that I realized I messed up. Pain shot through the girl's body from her stomach and she threw up after a few tens of seconds of suffering. All of which was under my guidance. I felt satisfied with myself after throwing up because the pain stopped. Malinda freaked out, grabbed paper towels and wiped up the vomit. I felt my original body stir slightly from Malinda raised and worried voice. However I missed the timing and and couldn’t rouse myself. I wasn’t really sure why I needed to do that at this moment anyway. Thankfully Welkin stopped Malinda.
“It’s probably a human thing Malinda. You may not be happy with our new employee at the moment. He’s maybe not human. But he knows more about humans than we do.” Welkin patted Malinda on the shoulder in an attempt to reassure her.
“But she’s just skin and bones. Her mana circuit started to repair itself after Haris fed her. Why is my food no good?” Malinda sulked.
“Maybe that broth had some kind of healing potion mixed in it?” Welkin hypothesized.
Malinda nodded her head, “I found numerous herbs in the kitchen while I was looking for more coffee. He’s definitely a hobby alchemist.”
Welkin scowled, “I guess that means if he wanted to kill us then we’d be dead. We should have been more cauious. Just because Alchemy is a dead proficiency we overlooked it.”
“Well at least we can trust him not to kill us. My Racial Talent and personal Talent have also taken hold of him. So he should be loyal within reason.” Malinda sighed and seemed a bit disgusted with herself.
“I had to push enough mana to make most people go crazy and rip my clothes off. At first I’d thought he was gay. But now that I know he’s a mechanist it makes perfect sense.” She mused after taking a few moment to settle her thoughts.
Welkin nodded, “He probably doesn’t even realize his ego was altered by his racial change. You can’t hold his cold outlook against him. He obviously seems to be trying hard to be the same person he was before he became like that. Even if he doesn't realize he’s doing it. Any emotional response from a mechanist is already an unheard of anomaly. Yet he seemed genuinely scared out on the veranda with my gun pointed at him. He also obviously wasn’t happy with himself after making her.” Welkin pointed at the girl and sighed.
“Unless he’s a really good actor. Then he’s a new variant of Mechanist we haven’t seen before. One things for sure. He’s at the very least a High monster like us.” Welkin added.
Malinda sighed louder, “Fine. I’m sorry it was just too big of a shock all of a sudden. I was still adjusting to the fact that I was in the same room as a machinist and he wasn’t trying to disassemble me and use me as materials.” She put took the bowl of cereal, sat on the couch and started eating it.
“Our return window should be in fourteen hours. We’ll have Haris lead us to some magical devices and then we’ll get back to Almahawn City. And we’re taking that girl with us.” Malinda nudged her chin in the sickly girls direction.
“We can’t j-” Welkin began. But before he could even get mid way through the word Malinda interrupted him.
“Not hearing it Welkin. She’s coming with us. I don’t care what Haris thinks about it. This is our fault for making him use his Talent.” Malinda pointed her spoon at Welkin angrily. Standing her ground against the giant of a man that was Welkin.
“Fine. I already know I can’t change your mind.” Welkin sighed. After a moment he sat down, turned on the TV and started getting absorbed in the afternoon airing of children's shows.
End of Part 6__________________________________________________________________________________________
AUTHOR Comments: The gender was bent. I guess? Near death experiences really suck though. Especially malnutrition! I had an issue when I was starting collage where my stomach just couldn't handle food. Whenever I ate I felt indescribable pain and I lost near a hundred pounds. I couldn't bring myself to eat anything for near three weeks. We didn't go to the hospital straight away because my family has a weird thing about admitting to being ill to anyone. This event fixed my aversion to that though. Nothing like mild malnutrition, a lack of vitamins, a hole in your stomach and a malfunctioning gall bladder to kick a family policy out of you. But hey what a way to lose weight! As effective as doing drugs, am I right? No, don't do either of those things ever. Especially not just to lose weight, they really aren't worth the issues that come with them. I was actually I pretty confident athlete before my body cannibalized my muscles to keep me alive. Never cared enough to build them back up. Though they will always be remembered for their year of service and devotion to being useless masses of flesh that I never used for anything meaningful. There's a masturbation joke in there somewhere, regardless of how distasteful it may be.