[Hello,] said a feminine voice. [I am your Gamified Intelligence Assistant. Or GIA, for short.]
“Woah.” Zack glanced around the room, expecting to see the source of the strange voice. He met Camille’s eyes instead. “Did you hear that?”
“Um . . .” She glanced nervously around the room. “Hear what?”
[She can’t hear me,] said the voice. [I can only speak with you and your squadmates.]
“Never mind,” Zack said to Camille. “It’s in my head.”
Her expression grew more tense. “Um, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said. “It didn’t hurt at all.” He ran a hand over his sternum where he’d placed the sphere a few seconds before. A faint blue light shone from beneath the fabric of his t-shirt, but it wasn’t half as bright as Daudilus’s sphere had been.
“Are you sure?” She leaned forward. “I could drive you to see Doctor Gilder.”
Zack waved that away. “Hello, Gia? Are you there?”
[Yes, Zack?] The voice in his head sounded cheerful enough, but also a bit unnatural.
He blinked. “You know my name?”
[Yes. Your companion just told me.]
“Oh.” Zack gestured to the aforementioned companion, who looked even more nervous than before. “This is Camille. Camille ”—Zack gestured to his chest. “The magic ball’s name is Gia.”
[I am a mana core, not a magic ball,] said Gia.
“This is creeping me out,” said Camille. Her knuckles were white as she clutched the hem of her sweater.
“Sorry.” Zack held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Hey, Gia? Can you make your voice audible for Camille?”
[Unfortunately, you don’t meet the mana requirements for that technique. Or any technique, for that matter.] Her voice sounded slightly amused by this fact. [But I see another core on the bed. If Camille inserts that core, I can speak with you both.]
Zack met Camille’s eyes and shook his head. “She can’t talk to you unless you have a core”
“She?” Camille asked with a raised eyebrow.
Zack frowned and glanced to the side. “Are you a she, Gia?”
[As a mana-powered artificial intelligence, I don't have a physical form or gender. But yes, you can call me whatever you prefer.]
Zack gave a slow nod and relayed this to Camille, hoping that it would help her relax. He’d heard of dense knowledge mana networks that could form mana spirits, so this wasn’t entirely unheard of.
He shifted back to his talk with Gia. “What are you, exactly?”
[I am your Gamified Intelligence Assistant. Or GIA, for short.]
“Right, I got that part. But what can you do?”
[I help gnome Commandos like you track your personal growth, skills, quests, and techniques. Would you like information on any of these subjects?]
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Zack wasn’t a gnome, but he ignored that part for now. “Show me my skills.”
This time, a block of text appeared in his mind’s eye. The text was white, on a mana-blue background.
You have zero skills.
“What? But I’m a martial artist! I’ve been training for five years. Why don’t I have some fighting skills?”
[My apologies. I can see your actions, but I don’t have access to your memories. You will need to demonstrate these so-called combat skills to me.] Her voice sounded skeptical, as if she didn’t expect much from him.
“Fine,” Zack said. “You mentioned quests?”
You currently have zero active quests.
Would you like me to start generating quests for you?
Yes / No
“Sure,” Zack said. “Might as well.”
Camille put her face in her palm. “Zack, please tell me you didn’t just sell your soul or something.”
“Of course not.” He glanced at the other core, which still sat on his bed. “Are you sure you don’t want to try one of these? Might make things easier.”
“No!” Camille slid back in her chair and raised her hands. “But why are you asking it about skills and quests? Why not ask it something important?
He frowned. “Like what?”
She gave him a frank look. “Gee, I don’t know. Is this thing going to kill you? Can you remove the sphere, or is it stuck in your chest forever? Are there any side effects? Like lethal mana poisoning?”
[I am capable of answering all three of those questions,] Gia said. [Would you like me to?]
“Yes,” Zack said. “Please answer Camille’s questions before she has a heart attack.”
[No, I’m not going to kill you. That much should be obvious from my primary function. Yes, you can remove the core with the ‘Eject Core’ command. Verbal or mental. And no, I’m aware of no negative side effects. My designers believed that all races once had mana cores, and your body has evolved to handle it.]
Zack repeated this all for Camille’s benefit.
“No negative side effects?” She narrowed her eyes at Zack’s chest. “Doesn’t that sound too good to be true?”
[Ah,] Gia said. [I see her point. I didn’t mean to imply side effects don’t exist, only that my designers fixed the ones they discovered.]
“What’d they discovered?” Zack echoed.
[Some users experienced dopamine desensitization from too many spikes. Others doubled down on their favorite skills and neglected others, usually at the expense of their social lives or mental health. I’m designed to notice these problems and encourage balance.]
Zack took another drink of coffee as he processed it. He wasn’t sure he understood the dopamine part, but he repeated it out loud as best he could. Camille actually seemed somewhat appeased this time.
“Okay.” She said. “Try that eject command. That’s a good test to see if it’s lying.”
Zack hesitated. “If I eject the core, can I put it back?” He saw Camille’s reasoning, but he didn’t want to stop using this thing permanently.
[Yes,] Gia said. [This can result in lost progress. But in your case, you have little progress to lose.]
“Okay.” Zack drew in a deep breath. “Eject core.”
Another block of text appeared in his mind’s eye.
Are you sure you want to eject your core?
Progress might be lost.
Say ‘confirm,’ verbally or mentally.
“Confirm,” Zack said.
Mana flowed out from the center of his chest, coalescing into a glass-like sphere beneath his t-shirt. The sphere fell onto Zack’s lap, and he held it up for Camille to see. “There. Happy now?”
“Is the voice gone?” she asked.
Zack looked around the room. “Gia? Are you still there?”
No reply.
“Yeah,” he said after a short pause. “She’s gone.”
Camille relaxed a little. “I guess that’s a good sign, then.” She shot a glance at the nearby alarm clock. “I have to get Ashton to school, and then I have work right after that.”
“Okay,” Zack said. “I’ll be okay here on my own.”
She gave a slow nod. “I know you’re going to keep playing with that thing after I’m gone. Just promise me you won’t die of mana poisoning or something?”
“Promise,” Zack said with a grin.
She spent a few minutes gathering her books, along with her little brother. They said their goodbyes after that, leaving Zack alone in his family suite. Camille was his second best friend, and she’d asked some good questions—things Zack never would have thought to ask on his own.
For all that, it was hard to have a three-way conversation between her and Gia. Maybe now, he could make some real progress on this thing.
Zack lifted his shirt and pushed the sphere back through his skin.
[Hello Zack. Ready to start your training?]
Zack grinned. “Let’s do it.”