Sam awoke to the sound of a low hum. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. He was in a dark room, lying on a cold, hard floor. The air was thick with the smell of dust and plaster. He tried to move, but his body felt heavy and sluggish. He groaned as he pushed himself up, his muscles protesting with every movement.
No, not his muscles. Something felt wrong. He looked down at his hands and gasped. Plastic and metal gleamed in the dim light from the doorway. He shifted his eyes to his legs and saw more of the same. Prosthetics? He tried to stand, but his legs buckled under him. He fell to the ground.
Just in that moment, the door creaked open, and a figure stepped into the room. Sam squinted, trying to make out the features of the person.
"Don't move! You'll break my work," the figure said, stepping closer. "I haven't callibrated that body yet, its still in beta."
"Beta?" Sam croaked, his voice hoarse. No, not his voice. The voice was too deep, too unfamiliar. He tried to speak again, but the words came out garbled.
"Yes, the one you're using now is a prototype. I'm still working out the kinks." The figure turned on a light. Sam blinked against the sudden brightness.
The figure was a tall lady with long, silver hair and sharp, angular features. She was wearing blue jeans and a hoodie with the words "I'm an engineer, not tech support" emblazoned on the front. She was holding a tablet in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. She looked at Sam with a pained expression.
Sam's eyes widened as he took in her appearance, on her face were three eyes, one on her forehead and two on her cheeks. And were those cat ears on her head?
"They are not cat ears, they are fox ears," the lady said, as if reading his mind. "And I'm a Kitsune, not a cat." She sighed and put down the tablet. "I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. I'm Gray, and you are in my workshop." she said.
"A workshop?" Sam questioned, looking around. The room was filled with miscellaneous junk, boxes of cables, and half-finished projects.
"Well, actually, you are in my basement, I didn't have enough space in my main workshop,"
"What did you do to me?" Sam asked, waving his hands in front of him. "Why do I have these... these... prosthetics?"
"Well, to be precise, they are not mere prosthetics but a full-body replacement. You see, you died, and I brought you back to life," Samian Gray said, matter-of-factly.
"Died?" Sam gasped, his mind reeling. Oh right, he remembered now. The car crash, the blinding light, the voice in his head. Wait, the voice in his head? He looked at Gray. "Were you the one who spoke to me when I died?"
"Oh hell no," Gray said, rolling her eyes. "That was INTELLECT. I'm not that powerful. Do you know how much energy it takes to pull matter across the void? Only INTELLECT can do that. They brought you here. I'm just the one who put you back together."
"INTELLECT?" Sam repeated, the name sending shivers down his spine. "Who is INTELLECT?"
"Well, that's a long story," Gray said, sitting down on a nearby stool. "But the short version is that INTELLECT is the source of all power in the universe. They needed a god, and you were the lucky one chosen."
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"Right," Sam said, his head spinning. "So, how does that work? Do I get magical powers or something?"
Gray chuckled. "Not exactly. I wish it was that simple." She stood up and walked over to a nearby table. She picked up a small device and handed it to Sam. "Here, take this."
Sam took the device and examined it. It was a small, circular disc with a single button at the center. He looked at Gray, who nodded encouragingly. He pressed the button.
"AUTOMATED ARBITRATION PROTOCOL INITIATED," a robotic voice said. A holographic screen appeared in front of Sam, displaying a list of options. "Please enter a docket number"
"What is this?" Sam asked, looking at Gray.
"It's an arbitration device," Gray explained. "With it, you can access pre-calculated strategies from a database to request INTELLECT's intervention in reality. Now, go ahead and enter 493:15-3048."
Sam entered the docket number, and the screen changed to display a modal. "Would you like to request a change in the cosmic order? Y/N"
Sam hesitated. "What does that mean? The cosmic order?"
Gray sighed. "It's a long story. But basically, the cosmic order is the set of rules that govern the universe. INTELLECT enforces those rules, but sometimes they can be... flexible. If you want to change something, you can request an arbitration. click 'Y'."
Sam clicked 'Y'. A loading bar appeared on the screen, and a few seconds later, a message popped up. "Request accepted. Please wait for INTELLECT's response."
Sam looked at Gray, who was watching him intently. "What happens now?"
"Watch," Gray said, pointing to the holographic screen. The loading bar disappeared, and a new message appeared. "INTELLECT has accepted your request."
The room began to shake. Sam stumbled, trying to keep his balance. The walls around him shimmered and dissolved, revealing a vast, empty void. Stars twinkled in the distance. No, not stars. Eyes. One by one, they blinked open, staring at Sam with an intensity that made his skin crawl.
Just as Sam thought he would go mad from the sight, the eyes-not-stars dissapeared, and the room returned to normal. Sam blinked, trying to process what he had just seen. "What... what was that?"
"That was INTELLECT," Gray said, a hint of awe in her voice. "INTELLECT unfolded it's domain to respond to your request. Don't think about it too much, you'll break your brain."
Sam shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "So? What did I request?"
Gray smiled. "Take a look at that table over there."
Sam turned around and saw a plate set on the table. On it was a strawberry cheesecake, with a single candle burning on top. He looked at Gray, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Happy apotheosis day, Sam," she said. "Welcome to godhood."
"Now let's fix that broken body of yours, shall we? I have a lot of work to do."