In an isolated hospital room, a boy dressed in all black stood out starkly against the sterile surroundings, his milky skin contrasting sharply with his dark attire. To an outsider, it might seem as if he was staring into empty space, but in truth, he was focused on a transparent panel displaying words only he could see.

Status:

Name: Clip

Rank: Dormant

Cores:1

Classification Potential: Unknown

Ability: None

Identity: Clip

Blessings:1

Curses:2

Titles: Possible

Clip blinked a few times, confused and surprised by what he was seeing. He could somehow understand the words, though he had no memory of learning them. The text wasn't written in the common inter-language he was used to seeing, yet it made perfect sense to him. Growing up in the slums of a hive city, Clip had little formal education, but even he knew the basics of what it meant to be a system user—mostly from news broadcasts and rumors.

"Aren't I supposed to have an ability?"

"Normally yes, once system users have manifested, they are innately given an ability, but you are a special case"

"Obviously not special in a good way, no offence Operator but that Curse is atrociously vile"

Clip couldn't make sense of it. The only conclusion he could draw was that it had something to do with the curse and blessing. Blessings were exceedingly rare, almost mythical gifts given to system users. There were only a handful of known cases of a system user being blessed. Curses on the other hand were though just as rare appeared more often. But if he remembered correctly, he had been cursed and blessed twice, yet only one of each was displayed.

"System user, I propose that there is a possibility that you could receive an ability after going through a Trial rift" Her calm profesional voice made it sound as if it were as simple as a doing a daily chore.

"I second that option, Operator" the other voice agreed with enthusiasm as if it were going to be a fun ride.

Walking to the wall he punched it only to wince and clutch at his fist, pain coursed through his arm. Looking at his hand his face turned bitter the wall remained the same.

"What exactly are you doing, System User"

"I heard that system user get an innate boost in physical abilities, but it looks like I'm the exact same as I was before the system"

Closing his eyes, he clenched his fist, trying to sense any changes in his body. He swung at the air and jumped a bit, but nothing felt different except that he felt slightly lighter, which he chalked up to not having eaten in a while.

The door to the room opened, and Clip turned to see someone enter with a clipboard they looked a bit taken aback by Clip's appearance and not in a good way which he was used to. After a brief check-up, he was informed that he could go home and await reassignment. As he stepped outside, he saw his mode of transport, it was a driverless black cab. It's design small and compact meant for speed it only had 2 seat the driver an the passenger it was in his own mind an efficient vehicle for him yet he could stop himself from.

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Reaching for the handle, he caught sight of his reflection in the black tinted window. His face had changed slightly, it looked smoother, cleaner somehow shaking his head he brushed it off as just his warped mind. He opened the passenger door and sat down, feeling the comfort of the seat and noticing the strange scent of the car. In the driver's seat, a mechanical humanoid figure with a cylindrical head that moved like a camera similar to that from those old world film.

"Insert Identification chip" it said in its mechanical voice

Clip dug into his pocket, pulling out a chip along with a pair of gloves. He inserted the chip into the radio interface and settled back into his soft seat as the vehicle ascended off the ground and began to move.

"Thank you, retriever Clip"

Looking out the window he thought of those words again "system status" and the panel manifested in his vision again. It was transparent with a black tint he could see through it to the manufactory cities that pumped that same lethal toxin he grew up with, disgusted he focused back on the panel and wondered how he could figure out what was his blessing and curse was.

"blessing" he said aloud

"Sorry Sir I did not get that" the robot spoke

"It's nothing" 'so that didn't work'

He thinks of the word "blessing" and the panel changed

Blessings:1

The mark of the Jester

Unseen Mask (Locked)

As he thought he was blessed twice, but the system seemed to only display one did it simply not register the other, and why did the first one looks glitchy focusing further on the blessings he was given the descriptions.

The Mark of the Jester

"Oh blessed you must be to given such a position of authority, to be given the mark of the jester is to live outside the predictability that bind each universe to forever be elusive. To bear this mark is to say you have the privilege to dance along the edge with of one such silent, mischievous, other God. This Blessing includes the Jesters gear."(Item pack: Jesters gear (unavailable))

'what exactly does this mean' Clip thought to himself 'God? Authority?'

"Essential what this say is your harder to detect, Operator, at least that the gist of the mark" The boyish voice spoke and seemed to provide an answer to his thought, though his voice wavered in it's truth.

Clip grumbled to himself unsure of how to feel knowing that not even his inner thought we're safe from the voices.

Unseen Mask (Locked)

'Why is it locked?' Clip wondered.

'Locking the blessing is a choice made by the one giving the blessing, System User,'

'Why do you two call me those names?' he asked the voices.

A moment of silence passed, filled only by the hum of the car moving through the city.

'Because you are the Operator, the one who controls the system. But why don't you call us anything?' the boyish voice asked.

'System User is a self-explanatory title. Would you rather I call you something shorter? Perhaps boss? Sir? Master?' the girlish voice offered.

'Boss will suffice,' Clip replied. 'Do you not have names?' he asked name would be easier.

'We are merely advisers here to help you. What you call us is not a priority, Boss,' her tone even as she replied.

But the boyish voice interjected, 'Speak for yourself, "White Tint." How about you look at us and decide what to call us?'

'Not that there's much to look at,' the girl added flatly.

'What did you say? I'll have you know that, though my core may be empty, but it is far more appealing than your eyesore.'

'I highly doubt the Boss would see it that way.'

As the voices bickered, Clip pondered on those words, "advisers" he remembered those words from somewhere, shaking his head he found himself tuning them out, his focus shifting back to the curse displayed on his status pane

Curses:2

Curse of restraint

The strength you obtained is deemed far to volatile and so this curse acts as a set of obsidian cuffs shackling the bearer's strength, powers, and even their very will. For each cuff that is broken the power will be unleashed upon your body break you remake you a new.

'So this is why I received no benefits from gaining the system,' Clip thought, realization dawning on him.

But with that realization came confusion. Why had he been both blessed and cursed at the same time? Who had done this to him, and for what purpose? As he looked deeper into the panel, he saw the number of cuffs displayed. He had been sure there were only four, but the panel showed something different.

Cuff count:8

"8?!" Clip had unknowingly said aloud

"Sir?" the mechanical voice of the driver asked.

"It's nothing. Keep driving," Clip replied, quickly calming himself

Frantically, he began inspecting his body to see if he had missed something. He could feel the two ankle cuffs and the two wrist cuffs. Probing further, he slowed down, trying to avoid overstimulating himself and discovered a fifth cuff around his neck. His thumb brushed against the jagged scar just above it. He ran his hands through his hair, searching for any abnormalities, but found nothing out of the norm. Were the other three cuffs invisible to him? He couldn't tell from his reflection in the car window.

Deciding to investigate later he looked at the second curse, this was probably the curse the male voice described as atrociously vile and Clip agreed to his own extent.

"Fated to Die"