(Helix Studio, Skylark Island)

[https://i.imgur.com/75nCyiZ.png]

> Hello, welcome to Skylark Island. Whereas most character limbos tend to be obvious, this one is heavily inspired by the Simulacrum scenario Wordly Abyss, and it is magic based. In order to acclimate the host, the tutorial messages will show up as you explore the areas. For now, keep in mind that you can access the spell list whenever you wish for it.

Before I copied myself, I wasn't aware of what I would pick, so this limbo is new to me. I remember seeing it in passing during past selections. The controller me picked something weird this time. I guess he didn't want to duplicate the Regent Suite.

This place was interesting, it was like a cottage made of wood. There was a table, chairs for it. It wasn't too big, certainly smaller than the Regent Suite. But whereas regular wood cottages were made of modular wood planks and boards, walls, the floors, and the ceiling and indeed the furniture seems to be made of molded wood, as if it were grown. It was how I'd imagine a fantasy druid would build it. He wouldn't use saws and nails, but magic to guide nature into the shape he desired. Looking behind me, I realize what I see is a bed.

It isn't really obvious at first glance, as it looked like some furry, green plant. It had some oversized leaves that felt like animal fur to my touch and bended flexibly as I'd moved it. The pillows were some kind of membranes and I could see liquid inside them. I poke it a bit and realize that while it is flexible, it is also tough and won't burst easily. It felt smooth to the touch. I tried the bed out and found that it felt comfortable to rest here.

I like this place. As I walked, I noted than unlike the regular floor, this one was a slightly uneven due to being bark. My first thought was that this would make it difficult to position furniture, but when I tried out the chair and sat on it, I found that it had a bit of springiness, which ensured its seat was always balanced horizontally. The chair legs had some kinds of cushions as well that balanced the unevenness.

The table itself, unlike the floor, was made of smooth polished wood. I brushed my hand along its surface, liking how it feels.

This is a really nice feeling of adventure. It is like being a child during its first days in the world.

I take a look at the windows from my sets in the middle of the room, and realize that instead of glass, they seemed to be some kind of translucent membrane. I come up to it, touch it a bit, push it and note how flexible it is. I give it a punch. My fist sinks into it, but the membrane does not tear, instead it bounces me backwards and comes into the original straight position. I approve, it feels reliable as a window.

[https://i.imgur.com/TMhwNPI.png]

Looking through the window I realize that the place I am in is quite high up. My cottage in particular is high in the island, but beyond the island it feels like it is a very deep drop given how high it is. It reminds me looking over the edge of the city in Heaven's Key, though not quite that high. In the distance I can see the sea, the mountains and the forests. Sunlight gleams off it, and I get the impression of looking at another natural wonder.

In the minds of people, when people think of technology, they think of steel and concrete. Cars, robots, machines. Guns, tanks, airplanes. Skyscrapers.

[https://i.imgur.com/uLXV1Dk.png]

[https://i.imgur.com/E0vpQ8s.png]

[https://i.imgur.com/jcmU1OG.png]

But maybe that is wrong. They haven't realized it yet, but maybe the true form of technology is celestial in nature. These simulated worlds. Can breathtaking wonders that I've seen, and the powers that I am trying to attain be anything other than divine?

The brain cores that I've gotten are supposedly mostly made of carbon. Experiencing them from the inside, they don't feel technological in nature at all.

I brush away these thoughts and come to the door. It doesn't have a handle, but two wooden hooks on the side. I detach them and the door slides inward as if it were a measuring tape. Like the windows, the door was made of sturdy and flexible biological material that looked like wood, but was more like plant matter that I'd guess doesn't exist in the real world.

I poke my head outside and realize there is a huge drop below. As I imagine splattering myself below, I get a sense of vertigo and take a step backward.

> If you want to exit the building to explore the rest of the island, please use the Wings spell.

I get a helpful notification and do as instructed. As I do some large fairy wings manifest themselves on my back, and my body feels weightless. This reminds me of being a disembodied entity in the Heaven's Key title menu, and I find that it is much the same. Rather than having to beat them against the air to take flight, they are more like an antigravity device attached to my back.

I have no trouble controlling my flight and exit the room to explore the island beyond.

I spend some time playing like that and then I create a fork of myself and plug it into the game.

(Heaven's Key, Inn room)

[https://i.imgur.com/2tEUSC0.png]

"I am visualizing my hands at twice their usual size. How are my recordings?" I ask the controller who is at Skylark Island.

[https://i.imgur.com/6wntTwm.png]

Back in the game, I am seated in front of the big mirror. I have my hands raised in front. I think it is due to the latest batch of improvements, but my imagination is very vivid compared to before. I can almost see my enlarged hands overlaid over my regular ones as if they were real. No amount of desiring they are real will be enough to make it so. instead the controller me has to be the one to make the step. While I am focusing on visualization, right now he should be looking directly at my brain and studying the neural messaging as it occurs.

"I've recorded it, but it is a bit hard. Instead try imagining yourself pinching your hand." I do as instructed.

"Good, now actually pinch yourself lightly." I do it just enough to be a bit painful.

"I see it. Now relax. Don't try to think of anything." I do so. What happens next is that I get a bizarre feeling of having my hand in front of me and pinching it with the other. It feels a bit dissonant, but eventually that fixes itself by me focusing on it. Just like before, I seem to be imagining pinching myself, but there is an obsessive streak to it. I am finding it difficult to focus on anything else. I endure it for a while and then feel relief.

"Good. I've aborted the program, how is your mental state?" He messages me.

"I seem to be fine." I replied. "The obsession is gone."

"Is that how it feels like? Anyway, I'll try the actual pinching next."

"Ah!" Feeling being pinched, I raise my hand to look at it. I expected to see some pain, but I am surprised to see that my skin is physically twisted. It is as if an invisible hand was pinching it. I try to relax the skin with my other hand, but it does not help. The feeling of my skin being pulled remains and after I remove it, I see the pinching fold again. "Are you seeing this?" I show it triumphantly.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"It is a success! I think I understand this. Let's try the hands again. This is like hacking memory states to cheat in games. Focus on the hands and I'll try to edit the relevant thought vectors based on the previous recording. I don't want to make everything real."

I raise my hands in front of me and focus, imagining them to be oversized. As I do so something in me shifts, and to my surprise, it works. What was once imagination turns into reality. I clench and unclench them, marveling at the unfamiliar sensations. I try using them to lift the water bottle and unscrew the bottle. It feels so weird, but they aren't clumsy. I take a gulp, and screw the cap back on.

"This is pretty cool." I show off my hands in front of me. The controller can't see or feel anything my senses can't. He doesn't have direct access to them through his own mind, instead he is looking at what I am seeing through the screen. Eventually what we have planned is to integrate the rest of the senses into him, so he can feel directly what I feel through separate neural channels. If the controller had that kind of ability, it would make his work a lot easier. At the end of that road, what the controller will become is a higher order consciousness for myself, able to control me as I would a video game character.

At that point, we'll be able to do these transformations instinctively. For now...

"This is cool, but let's turn them back. I'll imagine them being normal. You do your thing." I message him.

I look at my hands and imagine them being the same as before. As I watch, I again get that strange impulse like a gear in my head has skipped a turn and the hands transform back into their previous shape. I flex them to test them out and satisfied, I let out a breath.

"Phew. We've got it!"

That white hair dude is going to get what is coming to him. Right now I could go back to that dead end, and try to resurrect myself. Except, it is one thing to imagine my hands changing shape, but quite another to imagine having a living body. I am getting ahead of myself. We did just the very first step. The program we have is not capable of flexible whole-identity transformations. We should challenge him when we are ready.

Right now, how about we beat on some noobs?

I think back to Lily and Dale's group.

They are the ideal testing ground to develop our skills at programming the language of the mind.

Back then I just scammed them out of a ton of chips, but then they sent the tough white haired guy after me. This time I am not going to do it using saveloading, but with my own skills. Maybe if I did it that way, something different would happen.

Me and the controller burned the candle late into the night, creating some simple cheating methods and trying out what we would call the True Belief Modification. It wasn't until later that we realized that the method we invented was the legendary hallmark of the stories of the Inspired. Their titular ability was called the Inspired Desire. This was its embryonic form.

(Heaven's Key, Raven's Eye Casino, Shadow realm)

[https://i.imgur.com/PW0bHJx.png]

"Fold." On the small button, Lily folded.

"Check." The thin guy who has been looking down on me, follows up.

"Fold."

"Fold." The two guys behind me toss away their cards.

"Call." I limp into the pot. I look to my left, and see Dale deliberating. He raises from 4 to 12. I look at his face down card, and based on the red markings, I note that he has suited Ah Th.

My own hand is crap, an unsuited Jd 7h. To Dale's left, the thin guy thinks for a bit and folds. Unlike Dale's card, only one of his cards had a marking. Even though my hand is weaker than Dale's, since I know what he is holding it is hugely beneficial to enter the pot regardless, so I call.

[https://i.imgur.com/29nEScX.png]

The flop manifests.

Ks Qc Tc.

There is a flush draw on this board, but Dale has hearts rather than clubs. He hit a low pair. A very dangerous flop for him. I do not hesitate and lead out by betting 20 into the pot. Dale hesitates and stupidly makes a call, bringing it up to 70.

On the turn, 5c comes out. Not hesitating, I shove my entire pile and go all in.

Dale stares at me for a while, trying to read my mind.

"Fold." He makes the sensible decision, and I increase my pile by 38 chips.

In this hand, I happened to have a straight draw, but I'd have played it the same way regardless of what I was holding.

The hands we are holding get purged, and the next round starts promptly. I get dealt two cards, and luckily, they don't have markings on them. I check my hand to see what it is, 2d 9c, and silently message the controller.

> Manifest the UV pigment on my fingertips.

I feel the familiar feel of something skipping in my brain and with a light touch put two marks in the right places. With a light brush, as I move the cards, I make two angular lines at 30-60 degree angle to either of the edges. That way if the card is rotated, I won't be confused as to which is the rank and which is the suit marking.

As I look at the group, each of them is covered in a film of blue, or more more to the point, my entire vision is that way. I've modified my eyes so I am capable of seeing in UV. It wasn't too difficult, it used to be the case that laser surgery of cataract got rid of the membrane protecting the lens, which allowed the patients to see UV. I had to study the structure of the eyeball for a while, but after that I modified my true belief to change my eyes’ structure and got the ability to see in UV. After that it was just a matter of doing research on pigments and finding the right one.

Thanks to this cheating method, I can take it easy during the first few revolutions, just marking cards and only playing strong preflop hands. After that once the blinds go up, I can loosen and jump into the fray to land a sneak attack.

A few days ago, I started the matches at 240 chips, and now I am up to 600. My winnings are a lot slower than when I was saveloading, but I am really happy regardless. This is real power! I worked hard to get to this point and my reward is that now I can beat these people. It might be possible to use something like this in real life, but the method is too unrefined and would easily be found out in a casino. Here I have my improved eyes, and can manifest the pigment directly on my fingers. If I had to carry around a can of it in my pocket, it would quickly get spent. Moreover, I wouldn't want to damage my eyes just to cheat at cards. My vision is crap so there is no need to make it even worse. But if I came to the table wearing fancy UV glasses, it would raise some eyebrows.

Using this method in reality is beneath me. I have much better things planned.

Anyway, I continue playing and notice that things are moving quicker this time. Whereas before the party tried really hard to bust me, now that I am winning by what looks like actual good play, the party is close to breaking. I can tell that the others are hesitating and exchanging looks when I propose duels.

A few days earlier than last time, Lily doesn't arrive and her place is instead taken by an old guy named Geoffrey.

After a few games with him, I get the sense that rather than focusing on winning, he is instead watching me like a hawk, not really caring about any of the other players. He radiates an aura as if he is preparing to strike me, but nothing happens and I just end up making some money off him. This is fine, I guess.

(Report by Geoffrey to the Enforcement Department)

Subject: Aleator-level enforcement request

One of the newcomers from about a week ago is currently in possession of 680 chips. I've played him personally, and in my estimation, he is at least a low ranked Aleator who possesses the ability to mark cards, probably via UV markings. He does a little move where he brushes over the cards after looking at them. He employs a strategy of playing strong hands at the start, and once the cards have been marked, he loosens up and picks the other players off. He has decent game playing skills from what I've observed even without the use of cheats.

We've done extensive background checking and confirmed that he is a newcomer, he should be easy prey for an experienced Aleator.

In the attachments are the report I received from my subordinate guide as well as my own. The reports have extensive recordings of our games with him.

(Heaven's Key, Streets)

[https://i.imgur.com/6LEtR6U.png]

Night comes, I go back to the inn, and then once the morning gets around it is time for action again.

The next day I played with Dale's group again, but they've started to clam up. Once I realize that I switch to bluffing more often and take the money off them that way. I was uncomfortable going all out, but the controller did some modifications and spiked my confidence, allowing me to execute the strategy properly. I blitzed the table, and it felt good picking on those weakling with my strong bets. Hell, yeah!

That day, as the sun was falling beyond the horizon in the background, I exited the casino in high spirits, swinging a pair of big ones.

> Be on guard. I think that guy Geoffrey was responsible for sending that white haired guy after us last time.

I get a message from the controller. We are a dream team, me and him. My own skill at both manifesting my imagination and poker is growing, while on his own end, I can sense he is getting new insights about the mind. We've already recovered a lot of the functionality of the mind controlling app over the last week.

Doing as he instructed, I unwind a bit and take note of the surroundings. Gleaming golden buildings enter my attention. The rays of light look quite beautiful at this time of day, painting the town in a crimson tint. The work day is starting to wind down and I can see people returning to their places. The usual boisterous atmosphere of the golden city is starting to quiet. Compared to the real world, where you usually have some insects chirping at night, when it gets quiet here, it becomes deathly quiet.

As I walk the streets, the previous scenario repeats itself. Not the white haired guy, but some other one walks around the corner and moves straight towards me, looking me straight in the eyes like he wants to kill. In his hand, he manifests an object and soon the game is on.

Bang!