18. What the future brings

(Matt's PoV)

"Species, Origin, and Archetype will not change anything... I wouldn't recommend messing with the Patrons. You can't choose what you get with your Resource Points either, but you do receive a Metanon suit. Your "Bloodline" is Independent and everything else is locked." She explained after I gave the package a once over.

Damn, this thing is strong.

Most of the ridiculously overpowered things are crazy expensive, I don't even know how you could get them. Especially the Aberrant Paragons.

"I've noticed that this package is superhero-focused... does that mean these mutations only work for that kind of power?" I ask. If so, they would be less versatile, but I would still get them.

"No, these work for everything that is considered a "Power". They don't work on "Perks", though." She says, apparently looking at a page similar to mine.

"So Hypermutation...?"

"Yep." She grins in my direction.

Yikes.

Ok, most of my points went into mutations because they are just that busted. Here's a list of everything I got.

Bloodline: Independent (+.5)

Mutations:

Concealed (-.25)

Noctis Cape (-.5)

Subtlety (-.25)

Core Instinct (-1)

Hypermutation (-4)

Power Sense (-1)

Low Frequency (-1.5)

Natural Harmony (-1)

Adaptability (-3)

Polytype (-.5)

Powers:

Grab Bag Tier 1 (-.5)

Aura and Iron Mind

Type Blue: Tier 1, Extrasense. (-2, -1 being the access to Tier 1 powers and the other point to buy the power itself)

Type Gray: Tier 1, Will to Power (-1)

Most of my points went into Mutations because they are just so convenient. Noctis Cape, for example, lets me truly not have to sleep. Concealed is Superman's bullshit levels of disguise and Subtlety is just useful for maintaining design consistency or, as the name suggests, Subtlety.

Some are my investments for a good foundation for the future: Hypermutation increases the growth rate to insane levels, Core Instinct allows my powers to react autonomously to protect me, Adaptability expands the versatility, and Natural Harmony makes it easier to control them.

There are "Vertical" and "Horizontal" types of growth apparently. They will be covered by Hypermutation and Adaptability, respectively. Vertical means raw strength and horizontal means versatility, to the point of fusing powers or creating new ones based on the ones already existing.

Crazy stuff.

Then there's Power Sense and Lower Frequency... I don't know if they'll be useful, but I decided to go full Mutations, so I picked them up anyway. And there's Polytype, allowing me to get one more Type of power.

This package separates powers in these Type thingies. Red is mostly physical (basically Superman's templates), Blue is mental, Purple is energy manipulation, Green is magic, Gray is the mastering of skills (I think?), Black is stealth and subterfuge, Yellow is Biokenesis (my beloved) and Orange is material and element manipulation.

You pay to access each "tier" of power and by default, you only have access to one Type. So, Polytype solves that.

Anyway, I grabbed Aura because I think it'll be crazy useful in the future on many occasions and Iron Mind because I had to pick two powers from the Grab Bag.

Then for the Type powers, I got Type Blue's Extrasense to see if my Adaptability and Hypermutation will fuse it with my observation Haki to make it stronger. My goal is a juiced-up Spider Sense type of thing since that and Core Instinct will make me nigh-untouchable. And I got Type Gray's Will to Power because of Haki and... Soul, I think? I don't know how much Will has to do with Soul, but I can't go wrong with that.

I mainly used this package to set up future powers. With these mutations and Amanda's assurance that they work for anything deemed "Power", I'm confident this will pay dividends.

Ok, that's pretty good for me.

"This bonus package was great. Thank you and whoever thought to give it to me," I said, giving another read to my choices.

"OK, I think that's it. Do we...?" I ask, looking at Amanda who is looking at her screen attentively. I had to snap my fingers a few times to get her attention. "Hey, Amanda!"

"Oh, sorry, heheheh. Yes, what is it?" She puts her tongue out.

"What do we do now?" I ask again.

"We can see what's your next assignment World! And when we get the package for that one, I can finally show you your surprise!" She says, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Do you want to do this the boring way..." She almost deflates at this option, "... Or the exciting way!?" And she turns hyper again.

I laugh out loud and choose her exciting way. Seeing her happy is amusing.

"Soooo, we are doing a DOUBLE WHEEL!!" She cheers and two big wheels appear behind her, disrupting the calming atmosphere of the classy room. Both have quite a few options, but they should be visible here.

"Ah ah ah! No peeking, mister! You'll ruin the surprise." She gets up from the chair and goes to the side of the first Wheel, called Wheel of Destination. "Do you want to spin it, or should I do the honors!?" She really seems to want to spin it, so why not?

"Go right ahead!"

She smiles widely, almost jumps to get an impulse, and spins it very hard.

After a few seconds of spinning, it stops on a cloudy gray option.

"Aaaannd the winner is... There's no way! You got Chronicle on your first roll??!?!?!?!?" She looks as flabbergasted as I feel.

What?

"Is this serious?" I can't help but ask.

"Well... I did say you had the chance to go there... there you have it!" She turns to me, a very shaky smile on her face.

She slaps both sides of her face and psyches herself up. "The World Danger Level is High-Low, on the higher end of the Low Spectrum. World Corruption is Mid-Low." She tells me seriously and I nod.

She continues. "We have a package for Chronicle! Would you like to go with that or would you like one of our Random packages?" She asks me. "Oh, the random packages can't benefit from the surprise I told you about, so if you choose them, I'll have to hold on to it..."

I want to see what this surprise is...

"Let's go with the Chronicle Package. I want to see that surprise." I say, eyeing the other Wheel expectantly.

As soon as I said so, the Wheel came to life with colors, blinking lights, and funny sounds.

"Great! So, I welcome you to the Wheeeeel of MissFortune!" Just as she says, the name of the Wheel appears.

It's spelled weirdly, like Wheel of MissFortune, with the Fortune beaming and shining and the "Mis" grayed out.

"Yeah...!" I try to remain cheery, even if some of the options on the wheel being bloody red or pure black kind of tip me off that this might not be good.

"I'll explain it to you! Every time you use some of the associated World packages, you can spin the Wheel of MisFortune! If you don't want to, you don't have to, though!" She explains while positioning herself by the side of the wheel. Obviously, she is rearing to spin it.

"The Wheel has 20 different options; 9 bad options, 10 good options, and 1 neutral option. See, you have higher chances of winning!" That would be pretty much equal chances, depending on what the neutral actually does.

I think about it. While I want to test this Wheel, I don't know its effects. I believe the colors are hints; there's vantablack, one bloody red, a few deep oranges, light yellows, a gray one, a few light greens, dark greens, royal blues, and one blinding golden.

"Can I see what the options do before spinning?" I ask Amanda.

"Well, yeah, if you wanna ruin the surprise, go ahead." She gestures to the Wheel. The colors fade just enough for me to read what's on the options.

Ok, some of the bad are only a little bad; forced drawbacks, halved drawback points, no companions (I don't even have any), losing the points to use on the package. Those are pretty bad, but manageable... but power loss? Holy shit, talk about punishment.

On the other hand, I can have many good things from this Wheel.

I take a moment to think, before asking Amanda. "If I change my body now and go into a World, does it change back?"

"If you change it permanently, no. If you need to keep using your powers to keep the change as it is, then yes, it will revert to its "normal"."

"Great! Can you... can you turn around or something? I'll change a few things about myself." She smiles and actually blushes before covering her face and turning around.

She is kinda cu- oh, she's thick too. Niceee~

Ahem... I CAN FINALLY STOP BEING A CHILD!!! It was a very unfortunate few weeks, but it's over...

I settled for 6'2" height, with a decent amount of muscle and muscle definition, and kept the eyes this striking almost glowing blue. I left the hazel-nut colored hair and left just the right amount of freckles to leave a bit of charm. I improved my own physique as much as possible, permanently; I should be stronger than a Super Soldier, but possibly weaker than Spider-Man. Depending on the version, of course.

I optimized every aspect of my body that hasn't been fused with a machine or coated with Symby... who is suspiciously quiet. Caby as well. Thinking about it, I feel a switch that I could turn. Huh, good to know they haven't disappeared.

I still have to study this new being's CNA to alter it and try to improve upon it. One thing that I haven't tried yet is improving Symby since she is also a living being... I'm just not sure how to go about that and I fear I might make a huge mistake and fuck her up somehow.

After a few hours, I was done modifying my body. "I'm done, you can look now. And thank you." I say to Amanda, seeing her turn and look over my "new" form.

"Like what you see?" I wink suggestively as a joke, but to my shock she blushes a bit and nods, coughing into her own hands and gesturing to the Wheel.

"S-So, are we spinning it or not?!" I'll be... I guess now that I'm not a child anymore, I can actually flirt again!

"Sure, spin away!" She spins with a whole-body push.

The wheel spins for a while, passing through good and bad options a few times before it settles on a royal blue one.

"Nice! You got a 500-point bonus for your next package!" She punches the air and gives me a thumbs up.

That's a pretty good bonus! "Wow, lucky me!" Lucky, huh...

Well, I'll take a look at this package.

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"Wow, there are some spectacular things in this package. And not just for the specific world or power system, but for all powers..." There's this one thing, though...

"Why are there so many references to "Jumper" and "Jumpchain"?" I look at Amanda, who is twiddling her thumbs and avoiding my eyes.

"You see... some Agents do this thing; they select someone and give them these packages to choose from and send them to their respective worlds... as a form of entertainment." Her eyes flitter to mine for a second and then avoid them again. "They also lend these to some beings... in exchange for favors."

"Ok... but what is this "Jumpchain" thing?" I ask curiously. I could make an educated guess, but if she can tell me it would be for the best.

"Oh, you really don't know... Ok! Well, Jumpchain works a lot like the Agents' assignments, except that a "Jumper" as they are called, only has to survive for a set amount of time to to succeed. They can then choose whether they want to stay in the world they jumped to, go back to their home world with the powers they got, or if they keep jumping. But don't mind that, it won't change anything for you." She assures me.

"If you're sure..." I mutter, looking through the package again.

Yeah, I think I have what I want here:

Origin: Drop-In

Perks:

Powers (Free) (Not related to the boys)

Who Wants To Be Mundane? (-300)

Magnetic Personality (Free)

Secrecy Insurance (-100)

Still Human (-200)

Supernatural Savant (-300)

With Great Powers Comes Great Leisure (-400)

Items

One Concern Less (-400)

Drawbacks:

Bullied (+200)

The Powers are even free, what a deal! "I want my powers to be separate from the other three, even if I plan on going down the cave with them." Amanda nods easily.

Now, I don't like taking the Bullied drawback, as that brings back memories I'd like to keep subdued. But I believe it's worth it for the other things I got. Besides, even if it says I still am a high schooler, it doesn't say I have to actually show up or pass at all.

I'll just be the ghost student and only interact with the three boys that got powers, maybe go to parties?

All the other perks are great; Still Human keeps me grounded, Magnetic Personality, and Who Wants To Be Mundane? are my gamble to keep my own presence relevant enough in the Worlds so I can make contact with important people, making it easier to find the Anomalies. Secrecy Insurance I got to enjoy the discount and to make it easier to explain supernatural phenomena.

The main ones are Supernatural Savant, which makes me the epitome of talent when using powers (here's hoping it stacks with Potential Man), and With Great Powers Come Great Leisure, which allows me to off-load actions to a passive state. It does keep the strain, but that's actually a good thing; if I keep stressing my powers passively, then they grow passively.

Also, money is power and now, with One Concern Less, I have that too, heh!

"If I remember right, Andrew got a sick mom and a deadbeat dad... Matt, my name mate, has this weird thing for a girl and is into philosophy, and Steve..." I frown, scouring my memory.

"He had some family issues, but my memory of that part of the movie is spotty. I guess I slept through it or something." I shrug, looking at Amanda. She looks back at me, her elbows on the table propping up her chin.

"You got the World you wanted, are you happy?" She asks me, with a small smile.

I frown lightly, "Yeah...?" What kind of question is that? "Yes, I'm happy!" I say a little defensively.

"Good. That's good! I think you should enjoy it, then!"

"What do you mean?" I raise an eyebrow.

She huffs, "You're already planning something, Matt. I can see and hear it." She rolls her eyes. "I'm not saying you shouldn't be careful, you are dealing with an Anomaly after all... but still, this is only your second world."

She looks into my eyes and I have that sneaky urge to look away. I control it easily enough now though, after years of beating that habit out of myself and keeping her stare.

"An Agent's life is already dangerous and tense, why make it even more so? While this is a serious "job", one of the benefits is getting another chance to live as you want..." She slowly sits back in her chair, giving me space.

"... I guess you're right." I also sit back in my chair and think a bit. Ever since I woke up on the last world, I've been tense and anxious. While I can control it easily, it's still there, driving me forward, and keeping me on my toes.

My decision to book it to Hoover Dam was mainly fueled by that: I wanted to keep on my little road trip, but not knowing who or what I was against or dealing with, I just had to go and check. Turns out I was right, but... well. I know one thing:

I will never willingly remove information from myself again. While yes, little Tattletale helped me piece the clues together, my stay there would have been so different had I known where I was.

I look at Amanda, "Yeah, I get it. I'll try to be more chill about how I do things... I like being on top of my game, in case something goes wrong."

"And there's nothing wrong with that! Just enjoy your ride while you're at it!" She beams at me again. I feel myself smile.

"Thanks for the pep talk, Amanda." I smile cheekily. She reaches forward, putting her hand up for a high-five.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging!" I laugh and high-five her. "Yeah! We're a team now!"

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Before finishing up, I ask her, "A question; do I get snatched away the exact moment I get rid of the Anomaly?"

"Not at all! Well, in special circumstances, yes, but mostly no. You, as a novice Agent, can stay up to 3 months after the Anomaly is gone. Also, you have a feeling of relief that is - reportedly - very hard to miss when you "finish up" with a World." She answers, her head lying down on the table.

"So, whenever I see or get near the Anomaly, I'll feel it - the wrongness I felt before - and after I touch it, it's gone. Then I'll feel if it's truly well and gone and if I can go away. Yeah, simple enough. Can I choose the time I go away?" I ask, putting my hand on my chin.

"Ye... anytime you want, you can just think of leaving and you'll be gone immediately." She speaks with her head sideways on the table.

Ok, I think that's all then. Should I just jump into it or...

"Amanda, can I use my powers freely here?" I ask seriously.

She sits upright, "Yeah. You can't stay here forever, just like you can't stay in any of the Worlds forever, but you can do whatever you want here."

Great, I have some loose ends to tie up before going next.

------------------------

I flip the metaphorical switch in my mind. 'Hello.'

{MATT! Oh, you're ok. Ok, ok, good. I definitely didn't freak out or anything, hahahah.}

'Good to see you too, Symby. Caby?'

|Hello, Matthew.| A new voice spoke. It speaks in a similar tone as Caby, but the voice is different. Less cold and pragmatic and sounding less like a machine.

{Hey hey! He sounds different! Be careful, Matt. I don't trust him.}

'Calm down. Are you Caby?'

|No, not anymore. He is part of what made us, the leading part of who we are now. We are a creature hailing from Reach technology and EVO Nanites, given life by the Allspark; newly born and stronger than ever.|

Hm...

|We are also... part of you, Matt. The integration was fully successful, but we are now more alive than ever. More than your symbiosis with 'Symby', we are one and the same, yet different individuals.|

'I noticed when I enhanced my body; the parts that were 'only' human were little. Mostly atoms and some strands of my DNA, the rest was all... you.'

|Us.|

{Hey! That's my line!}

|You'll have to learn to share now, Symby. Also, has no one told you that name was kind of lame?|

'... my naming sense might be a little simple, I know, but in my defense, I was in a very precarious situation down there.'

|Yes, keep telling yourself that. I will be naming myself, if you'd allow me?| I nod, preoccupied with other matters.

'First... do the old reset codes still work on you? After that fiasco with the Allspark, I don't know how useful those would be, but just to make sure.'

|...no. I'm no longer so bound by the code that made me... me. Hacking attempts would now be even less effective, though mind control could become an issue... were I not part of you.|

'What do you mean?' I frown.

|You have many kinds of Protections; those extend to me as a previous "Item", a fused individual, and one of your "Powers". The Allspark incident was a... very lamentable coincidence, seeing as it enthralled both of us at once, leaving only Symby to stop us. That won't happen again!| It spoke with conviction not seen before in Caby.

'I... I don't know, I hope you're right. I honestly don't even know how my body would fare in a world where my powers are taken away. Will I start as a regular human being? Will I have no body? Both of you being... part of me, is something that I'm already used to, but that already gave us problems.'

|It was as Miss Amanda said: a bad case of compatibility. The Anomaly corrupted us before we even knew what was happening. All I wanted to do at that point was to... follow its directives. It was there, on the cusp of my first step towards biomechanical life that I knew... fear. For a single moment, I was witness to its sheer magnificence and power... it shook me to my core, but also made me want to be a part of it.| Yeah, whoever this is, is not just Caby anymore. They are way more expressive.

{Well, at least now you know who the superior part of you is, Matt!} Symby said, with a petulant tone of voice.

I chuckled, 'I guess. Anyways, we're all good, right? We have a new assignment and we need to be in tip-top shape. It's not supposed to be difficult, but the faster we get things in order, the better.'

|The only thing that remains to be done, is our total fusion. I will mostly cease to be here, becoming totally part of you. You would have access to all the capabilities I have; both of the late Scarab Armor, as well as the Nanites. Both of them received upgrades, mainly geared towards better adaptation. The processing power of the late 'Caby' will become yours and I will fulfill my purpose: integration.| It says with a sense of purpose.

'I...' Hm...

'There will be an influx of new powers as soon as we arrive in this new World. Powers and Mutations that will work as a lubricant in the coils that are my powers and my body. At that point, things should be easier to manage and do. Other than that, anything else?'

|No.| Spoke my newest body tenant, a hint of the mechanical and cold edge I remember from Caby.

{no...} Is Symby's response, somewhat dejected with something, but not willing to speak up.

'Good. No matter what, we're one and the same, all three of us. We keep it together and find a way.' I open my eyes, spotting Amanda. She is filing her nails, without a care in the world.

I speak up, "I'm ready."

She looks up at me, gives me a thumbs up, and says, "Good luck out there!"

And everything went black.