Chapter 1 Cold awakening.

Thaum now a small pin of light invisible to most drifted. There was nowhere he had to be. Anything that needed to be done had long been done. So this was a type of rest for a being like him.

As just a solitary soul drifting through the void if you kept your senses to yourself it was like you didn't exist at all. This was his peace.

Time passed unobserved and uncounted for Thaum for hundreds of years. Distance was similarly ignored. He could have drifted a million kilometers or just as many light-years and he wouldn’t know.

He may have drifted forever, but by astronomical chance, a compatible body rammed into Thaum unexpectedly.

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Nothing changed immediately. He was aware that he now had a body and he expected to wake soon, but he stayed dormant. Perhaps this body was a vegetable.

He opened his senses for the first time in centuries and “saw” his body. It was frozen solid. This surprised him briefly before he closed up once again. This body would die and he would be drifting the void once again.

Who knows. Maybe in another century or two an urge great enough will nudge him to live again.

Years passed once more. And without him knowing his body thawed. Machines beeped, booped, and hummed to life. The room flooded with light. This was too big a change for Thaum miss.

He once again opened his senses. Once again surprised by this body as he had expected to be free of it by now. Thaum was lying in a pod of some sort. Just having finished defrosting his lids flittered in wakefulness.

Then another set of senses opened for him. First sight. A curved white wall surrounded him. Still cold. ‘a strange coffin’ he thought. Touch came next, or lack of it. He was numb throughout his whole body and couldn’t move.

Smell came next. It smelled vaguely of velley to him. A plant he often made it a point to come across in most lives. The faint ringing of his hears announced the arrival of his hearing, and an annoying part of life he had almost forgotten.

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The numbness receded rather abruptly. Thaum could now feel that he was restrained in this “coffin” of his. Arms's legs chest and even his head were firmly locked into place.

He was about to compliment his captor's thoroughness. But in such situations he automatically checks his mana. It was flowing freely if not a little feeble and any complement vanished. He made up his mind to meditate. Gather up enough mana and break out.

Perhaps he should wait for his captors to arrive to taunt or interrogate him he thought idly. Because if you don’t break out of your restraints in front of them and leave them bleeding to death in their own restraints, did you even really escape.

Suddenly like all things happening to him this life. A female voice sounded inside his head. Not next to him. Nor would he fail to notice someone sending mana waves into his head. [good morning captain, cryo sleep cycle completed successfully. 60 years have passed. Would you like to hear the ship's reports now? Or would you like me to send them to the main display.]

Thaum thought for moment before saying, “I'll hear the reports after I am out of this coffin.”

[releasing restraints] The material holding him down moved away by themselves and the “coffin” lid opened with a hiss. He took a breath of fresh air and stepped out.

The room was small. The pod he was lying in took up most of the room. The rest were an odd assortment of tools and objects. The walls had flashing lights and pictures moving on them. A report of some kind.

Thaum realised that he didn’t recognise anything here. An unknown spell or two is one thing. But not recognising the form or function of anything was a new, although not unwelcome surprise. His soul integrating the memories of the host body would probably fix the holes in his knowledge. And that would take time. So he enjoyed the novelty.

He picked up several tools and observed them. A handle with a protruding section that ends in a point. He saw the button but knew better than activating unknown artifacts.

Curious about the rest of this building Thaum went for the one thing he recognized. A door. It opened by itself when he stood in front of it and the voice in his head said, [warning the rest of the ship is still at minimum operating temperature. Please stay in the habiable section of the ship.]

The door started to close. Thaum stepped through before it did and the cold bit at his skin. His breath fogged in the dim light. [please return to the medical bay. Environmental systems detect this area of the ship as lethal to your species. Hypothermi--]

Thaum interrupted, “try me” before his body burst into flames.

[detected fire abord. Error no combusted compounds detected. Thermal detectors showing anomalous heat radiating from user. Request user captain input.]

Thaum was still happily exploring. He sighed, “just some simple magic.” he waved his hand, “Can you quiet down and use some simpler language. I'm still a little out of it”

He finished exploring a few minutes later. There were 5 rooms total each rather small and full of strange devices. The Room he started in was apparently the medical room as the voice called it.

The bedroom. Easily identified by the bed. It was spartan in design. The bed, a rack of weapons. And a toilet. The only thing of note was the straps on the bed. His first thought was ‘kinky’ but they were just there to keep people from drifting out of bed when the gravity was turned off.

The largest room was the cockpit. When Thaum entered it he first saw seats with various attached screens all facing a concave wall. With the furthest seat having pedals and joysticks.

The last two rooms were filled with boxes. He checked their contents but found liquid containers.

The voice once asked several more questions before Thaum became tired of the hide and seek, “where are you woman”. He had searched the entire ship and he found himself alone whether he searched magically or physically.

The voice replied, [I am a program and have nobody to find. However, if what you are asking is where I am installed. Then you can find my program inside the ship's main computer.]

He sighed. Not knowing things were now getting tiring. He decided that integrating this body's memories was the best use of his time. His magical scans showed him that this building was floating through the great empty void. So he wasn’t going anywhere.