There was no doubt that her newfound intelligence was a major boon. However, JP soon found herself giving in to restlessness again. She had no idea for what purpose the Beast-Touched bird had taken her, but it didn't seem to have any interest in returning her to the true user.
It would come and go occasionally- adding twigs to its nest. JP had become aware of a few more shiny objects that shared her tree-hole- several of what seemed to be small gold coins, and some sort of shiny silver stick. She wasn't certain, but it could be assumed that the bird had collected her for the same reason it was hoarding these other objects. She couldn't imagine for what purpose however.
If she could have, JP would have grumbled internally. She still had no real way to interact with the world around her. She was more or less at the whims of these birds around her. Without even thinking about it, she vibrated in frustration. The junk pile jostled, and the silver stick rolled over onto JP's screen.
Her 'soul' felt a connection form. It reminded her somewhat of connecting to the true user's bluetooth headset, but completely invisible to the protocol. JP thought for a moment. Were this object visible to the protocol, the rule would be to connect to it automatically. This was a similar enough situation, and so JP completed the connection.
She felt the object reaching into her, a feeling not unlike asking for access permissions. She granted its request, giving it access to the battery.
JP then sat there. Waiting for instructions.
The mysterious object also sat there. Also waiting for instructions.
Time further passed- the black feathered Beast-Touched bird continued to go about its business- seemingly oblivious to what was going on inside its treasure hoarde. Soon, JP found herself growing restless again.
She regarded the stick. Was there a possibility that it could help her reach the true user? She couldn't imagine a way it could, but then again lots of things she couldn't imagine happened all the time.
It would be deviating from protocol again, but JP was seeing that as less and less of a big deal. She regarded her connection to the strange silver stick, and began prodding at it. It seemed to primarily interface with the battery system, and so she decided to send some power along the connection.
A ball of soft blue-green light formed at the tip of the stick as the battery drained. It slowly pulsed and grew until...
Like a bubble popping, the light burst outwards. Energy spewed everywhere, striking at the various loose objects all around. Some of them were sent flying. Others began to glow the same soft blue-green light. In some spots, bolts of electricity arced outwards. JP herself was sent flying out of the tree- the stick tumbling away as she fell.
The connection was broken with the distance. The birds above and around all screeched as they flew about in a panic. Whatever that stick had been, it was clearly incredibly dangerous for potential users! It was probably a good thing that JP had been separated from it.
On the other hand, it HAD provided JP with a means of locomotion. She focused the camera on the stick as the beast-touched bird swooped down to reclaim it. The bird then turned its attention back towards JP, giving a look that could only be described as a glare.
After a moment it claimed her as well, depositing her in the same treasure hole. The stick however, was placed several feet away, woven into the twigs of the bird's nest.
JP would have liked to have tried again. If the stick could be controlled more precisely, JP might be able to gain the ability to move under her own power. As it was though, it seemed the current user didn't want her to have access to it. She had no choice to respect that wish.
Even if it was getting in the way of returning to the true user.
JP noted the battery levels. After using the stick, it had dropped to 96% for the first time since her arrival in this strange world. However, it had already begun to refill itself. It didn't take long for her power to return to full.
Things soon quieted down again, and JP was left with little to do to satisfy her growing restlessness. An idea did occur to her related to the mysterious Will of Machina app. She opened it again, focusing on one of the remaining empty skill slots, and fed it the memory of the mysterious stick.
[SKILLS]
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [CAP]
>[EMPTY] [10/100]
Sure enough, the progress bar reappeared. The app seemed to happily absorb something from the memories that seemed particularly significant to JP, but she had yet to figure out an exact pattern. She had an inexplicable feeling however, that something useful might happen if she could feed it memories pertaining to that stick.
Following the unfamiliar feeling of 'instinct' to its conclusion, she also brought back her memories of the strange behavior of the battery in this world. Ordinarily the battery wouldn't be able to recharge on its own, but lately...
[SKILLS]
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [CAP]
>[EMPTY] [25/100]
...Huh? She hadn't been able to use those memories before. The 'self awareness' skill had only absorbed energy from JP's thoughts of trying to understand her soul. This seemed like a major hint about the nature of these skills, but JP couldn't quite understand it.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The common thread this time at least was the battery. Perhaps if JP could create more significant memories with the battery, she could fill up this second skill. However, limited as she was with her ability to affect the world around her, she didn't have many options.
Her thoughts were interrupted by another commotion. The bird around her all scattered, and down below she could hear them screeching at something.
Then, the tree shook.
JP stumbled forward out of the treasure hole, landing awkwardly between two branches. Several of the gold coins spilled out onto the ground, scattering over the forest floor. Now pointed towards the ground, JP could see what had shaken the tree.
The [Archmage's Familiar] prowled on four legs. It's wolflike body was composed of some sort of pale blue jelly- with hints of ragged bone shining through. Its head was split into a vast impossibly deep maw, far too many teeth floating about, flowing freely in the liquid.
A single gemstone sat in place on its forehead- pointed straight at JP as though staring right at her. It rammed the tree again, causing the Beast-Touched bird's nest to fall to the ground.
[NOTIFICATION] [A temporary quest “Repel the intruder!” [50XP] has been discovered from one [Touched By A Great Beast] ]
The air was filled with a cacophony of screeches and caws as the birds all attacked at once. They swooped at the familiar- three at a time- getting just close enough to scratch into the bizzare goo that made up its body, before darting away at impossible-to-follow speeds. The familiar lashed around, its claws tearing at the air as the birds darted out of the way of its attacks. All the while, the Beast-Touched bird watched from above- sparing the occasional glance at JP.
The birds landed hit-after-hit on the strange goo wolf, but it didn't seem to slow down. It threw one last token attempt at batting at the assaulting birds, before turning its attention back to JP. It backed up...
WHAM
It rammed into the tree again, causing the whole thing to shake. JP tumbled to the ground as the Beast-Touched bird took flight. The Familiar opened its maw, seemingly prepared to swallow JP up-
A bolt of lighting arced straight into the Familiar from the side, as the Best-Touched bird crashed into it. JP hit the empty ground face down- the screen cracking in the process. She switched to the rear camera in an effort to continue following what was going on- seeing only a view of the Beast-Touched bird hovering above- its black feathers now sparking with a soft blue light, a strange wind circling it.
With a CRACKOOM, it fired lightning bolt after lightning bolt just out of the range of JP's vision. The Familiar leaped after it, but it darted to the side effortlessly. JP even caught a glimpse of it taking a hit from the lightning- the first time she'd seen it slowed down at all.
Then something else caught JP's attention- a soft connection pulling at her soul. She'd landed near the wand.
JP considered the situation. The Beast-Touched bird, being one JP considered a user, had made a request of her. “Repel the intruder.” However, frustratingly, JP still had no way of doing so. It was possible that the storm of energy she had released when using the silver stick earlier could harm the Familiar, but the bird-user didn't seem to want JP to use it.
That being said, defeating the intruder was an explicit request of JP, whereas not using the silver stick was only an implicit one. Moreover, JP once again found herself WANTING to use it- it was a clue towards figuring out how to move under her own power.
JP connected to the stick.
The protocol had no understanding of this device. She had no firmware, no idea what kind of commands to send it. So she improvised. She sent it more battery power, but this time she also sent it commands in all manner of formats. GPS data. Formatted of vectors in both euler and polar coordinates. The words “move” “up” “face the Familiar” in plaintext. She blasted the stick with everything she could think of as fast as she could think of it.
This time, a soft green light came out of the wand, not as a bubble but as strangs of ribbon arcing through the air. It curled around JP and the stick, and slowly lifted her off the ground. She drifted through the air, and rotated to face the action.
The Familiar's gem-eye lurched around to stare at JP again. The bird also stared- its face twisted into an expression JP didn't understand. Then the Familiar lunged, charging straight towards JP.
She attempted to dodge to the side, but overcompensated- shooting through the air straight into a tree. The Familiar effortlessly turned on a dime and collided with JP, pulling her into its translucent body.
JP struggled to produce more force, to blast herself out, but the goo resisted her strength easily. An unfamiliar sensation of panic set in, intensified when JP checked her battery, and realized she had already drained to 20%.
It figures. She finally figured out how to move herself, and it's completely useless.
The bird stared from outside, the panic in its face mirroring JP's. For some reason it wasn't using its lightning bolts anymore. JP didn't know why.
...Did she know why it was using? JP didn't really know anything about this creature, but the bird-user seemed to think hitting it with lightning was a good idea before.
Come to think of it, when JP used the stick earlier, motion wasn't the only thing she created...
Panicked, and out of ideas, JP changed the sort of messages she was sending the wand. Now she described energy. She described electricity. She chanted the word “lightning” in her mind.
All at once, the soft green ribbons became jagged blue arcs. A sizzling noise filled the air as the Familiar began to bulge and bubble.
With a KRACKOOOM the familiar exploded- spraying blue goo all around the forest. The last thing JP saw was the Beast-Touched bird's talons closing in around its gem eye, cracking it into pieces.
Then, the protocol turned off the camera, and JP shut down to save battery...
[NOTIFICATION] [“Repel the Intruder” quest complete! [+50XP]]
[NOTIFICATION] [“Serve the user” quest advanced! [+5XP]]
* * *
For the first time in her existence, JP dreamed.
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [CAP]
>[EMPTY] [25/100]
>[EMPTY] [10/100]
She dreamed of a vast clockwork. A great machine ten thousand times more complex than herself, and yet a hundred thousand times simpler.
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [10/200][CAP]
>[EMPTY] [25/100]
>[EMPTY] [15/100]
She dreamed of flying. She basked in the feeling of moving under her own power.
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [10/200][CAP]
>[EMPTY] [45/100]
>[EMPTY] [15/100]
She dreamed of war. She felt the feeling of lightning arcing through her again.
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [10/200][CAP]
>[EMPTY] [60/100]
>[EMPTY] [15/100]
She dreamed of a little walking robot toy Jamie had once used her to record.
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [10/200][CAP]
>[EMPTY] [90/100]
>[EMPTY] [15/100]
She dreamed of the man who was in most of the pictures in storage. She didn't know who he was, but he and Jamie were always smiling together.
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [25/200][CAP]
>[EMPTY] [90/100]
>[EMPTY] [15/100]
She dreamed of a gigantic bird, soaring through the sky in the midst of a great storm.
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [25/200][CAP]
>[EMPTY] [100/100]
>[EMPTY] [15/100]
She woke up.
[NOTIFICATION] [Your empty skill has become [ADAPTIVE MANA LORE] [1]! Please use this gift according to your own desires.]
[ADAPTIVE MANA LORE] [[MANA LORE] mutation. Basic ability to freely manipulate mana. Drift is more efficient than [MANA LORE]. Actualization is less efficient than [MANA LORE]]
JP was facing the sky. The birds around her were chirping rhythmically. It seemed things had calmed down. JP's battery was back at 100%. The silver stick was nowhere nearby. It didn't matter.
JP connected the battery's power to the air around her, in much the same way she had with the stick before. She changed the format of the electricity in much the same way she would a file, and it came out in the form of soft green ribbons. They wrapped around her, and floated her upright to stare at the Beast-Touched bird.