I regain consciousness at night, staring at a bright half moon. I don't even remember falling unconscious. I didn't even know a puddle can fall unconscious. Sighing, I rub my eyes... wait what the fuck. Holy shit I have arms! And a face! And legs!!
Somehow, I'm back to normal... well, with the minor detail that I don't have any clothes. Or hair? And now that I look carefully, my fingers are missing nails. I need to see my reflection. Luckily, there's a puddle right here. (Was that where I was?)
Looking at the reflection in the water, I'm met by what can best be described as N-64 levels of details. At first, I assumed it was because it was night and so I just couldn't see that well. But feeling my face, feeling the edges and corners, I confirmed that I was, in fact, as detailed as an old console character.
Whatever, I'll think about this later. First, I need clothes. Luckily, it feels like summer, so I'm not too cold right now. But that can change at any moment, so I need to be prepared. I'll also need food and shelter. And, no offense to the puddle I came from, but still water isn't really safe to drink. I need to purify it somehow.
Alright, just in case, let's see if there's still a system. 'Status'
Loading Status...
Name: Desmond Lee Johnson Race: Clone (Human) Level: 1 str: 1.14 rct: 0.347 spt: 1 dex: 1.02 prc: 1 stm: 1 con: 1.29 rgr: 0.89 fcs: 1
Alright, good to know. So why is my race listed as 'clone'? Wait, didn't I have a skill... oh. So that's how the skill works. It creates a new body that I control. Alright...yeah, I can work with this. And just in case, 'Generate Clone'...
Generate Clone cannot be activated. Reason; Clone did not inherit active.
Yep, I expected it wouldn't be easy. I guess I'll have to survive by myself. First order of business is to look around. Never thought I'd be grateful at just being able to see around me, but I guess I never thought I'd be a puddle.
Looking around, I quickly find out that I'm on the flat peak of a very thin mountain. Or maybe it's part of a bigger canyon; it's too dark to see farther than a few yards. This is bad, as there's no trees or bushes or anything that can be used for a fire. Nor is there any source of food. If I'm going to survive, I'll have to climb down the mountain. I wish I took those rock climbing classes now.
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Umph, ow. I guess I am getting frail. My back is killing me! I swear, just last week I was fine. Is it core decay? I guess I'm getting too old. If I don't find the fountain of youth this time, I doubt I'll live to search another mountain.
Let's see... about half way there I guess? Hard to tell since it's above the clouds. I'll take a rest soon. I need to reconsolidate the qi that I've spent. If the oracle is correct, then the fountain will be guarded. I won't know if I'll get a second chance, so no messing around this time. Either I win, or I die.
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Pov; the original
Ugh, fuck, that was disgusting. I didn't expect the skill to 3D print a new body right above me! Fuck, how do doctors look at this without throwing up? Dammit, can't even vomit as a puddle. The clone doesn't even look good! They look like a cheap low-poly version, with all of their features printed on as a texture. Which would be fine, except the organs inside are fully detailed!
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Anyways, now that the clone is here, how do I control it? 'get up'? No... 'left hand up'? 'Turn joint 1 clockwise'? 'cmd + alt + <'? Oh, maybe... 'turn on' 'power on' 'wake up' 'just fucking do something' 'activate clone' 'enable clone' 'clone...anything!'
...Nothing. The clone isn't moving at all. Maybe it's not done? In which case, how long is it supposed to take? Do I have to wait until it-
Oh! It got up! Ok, it's rubbing its eyes, so maybe it's automatic...? Wait, why is it acting surprised? Did it see something? Dammit, I can only look up! Say what you saw out loud please! Oh, wait, can the clone speak? It doesn't exactly have a mouth...
Whoa, why're you staring at me for? You're... are you using me as a fucking mirror!? You son of... moth... great, I can't curse you cause you're me. Seriously, stop playing with your face and go do... something! Oh, so you can hear me, you've just been ignoring me, huh? Yeah, walk away, you little...
Ah, wait, actually, can you go check out the surroundings and come tell me? I'd like to know if I'm missing out on anything. Also, sorry for berating you. I'm stressed cause, you know, I'm a puddle. Hey, you there? Please don't tell me you left me already. Please...
...
...
Whatever, screw him (me?), I can just make another clone. 'Generate Clone'!
Generate Clone cannot be activated. Reason; Cooldown; 0:000:23:02:14:933 remaining.
...there's a 24 hour cooldown? Oh, well, I guess that makes sense balance wise. Though the timer worries me. There's room for days and years. Does the cooldown increase the more clones I have? Or is it just a standard for all timers to include everything up to years? I hope it's the latter, cause I don't want to find out my clones are soft-capped.
Though... this does mean I have 23 hours of nothing... Fuck.
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"Hades, I have some unfortunate news for you."
"Is it about the missing soul?"
"Yes. I checked the reincarnation cycles of both me and the adjacent religions. None of them have the soul you're looking for."
"I see. Well, thanks for helping Buddha. Oh, right, before I forget, 'Coyote' is planning on running a game of 'Basement & Bees'. First session will be on the next solar eclipse, consider this an informal invitation."
"Thanks, I'll think about it. Goodbye."
"...Styx's damned. Who's left to check? Australia... no, I'm not fucking with that place. Let's see..."
...click...click click...click...
"Hello? Milu? Yeah, hi. No, I'm not planning a vacation yet. Yeah. I have a favor. I'm looking for a missing soul... yes. You haven't seen it? Alright, in that case, can you ask Eingana? Yep. Thanks, I'll owe you one. Oh, yeah, you can come. It's on the next solar eclipse. Alright, see you there."
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Pov; clone 1
I should've just waited until morning. I'm so fucking stupid. Why would you try and climb down a mountain while it's dark out. It isn't even a full moon tonight! Ugh, but I'm already so far down... about 10 feet? Which is far when you have no training and it's dark.
Screw it, I'm not in a rush anyways. I can wait until sunrise at least. There's a flat ledge just a bit below me. I can wait there.
Hm... it's getting quite cold now. Wish I had some clothes at least. The wind has been growing stronger for the past few minutes. At least the humid air feels manageable...
drip
Hm? Rain? Well, that wouldn't be ideal. I can't do anything about it though. Let's try and ignore it for...
crack
Oh, that didn't sound g- aaaahhhh~!
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Pov; original
Ugh, it's raining. Turns out I can feel rain, and it feels like a poorly done face massage across my entire non-existant body. Well, it's probably worse for the clone. They don't have any clothes or anything. Ah, wait, they might just be hinding under a tree or in a cave.
Unfortunately, while the panels block sunlight, they don't block rain. In other news, I still don't know how to get rid of these panels. The trash corner only grows each hour.
According to the cooldown, it's been 7 hours. Assuming the sun sets at around 8 pm, it's currently 3 am. I'd like to think the cooldown can work as a clock to keep track of time, but it's quite cumbersome to use. I have to think 'Generate Clone' every time I w-
Generate Clone cannot be activated. Reason; Cooldown; 0:000:15:55:36:417 remaining.
Ugh. That annoys me though. I swear, there needs to be some way to say words without causing any panels to pop up. I have way too many alread-
Fly consumed. Biomass; 0.012/1kg. Gained 0.002 xp.
...huh?