1 The Start
I awoke lying in a white room, the ceiling before me was featureless. A pure white surface that was almost off putting. I sat up, a bit disorientated and took a glance around, revealing the same eerie white surface in the walls as well as the floor. Besides being the color of bleach, the floor also felt comfortably warm, like it was heated.
A single centerpiece grandly stood in the middle of the room: a strange ornate mirror, hovering inches above the ground, as if waiting for me.
"Alright, this isn't weird at all," I muttered to myself, hoping to restore some semblance of normality.
After a second to take it all in, I stood up, and began walking towards the mirror. The floor gave way to my feet and each step created a skin-deep indentation on the white exterior. I found it strange, since the floor felt rather solid when I stepped on it so I crouched to see if I could change the shape of the material with my finger, but unlike when I moved with my feet, it did not leave a trace, no matter how hard I poked it.
"This is some wacky stuff." I decided to not think too much on it now and continued towards the mirror, leaving a trail of footprints in my wake.
The man staring back at me was of dark hair, with a face that seemed amused yet frightened at his predicament. His medium stature wore the school uniform loosely, as if he expected to grow into it one day, and his right leg kept shaking, a habit he had when he was young.
"Man, I should really get a haircut."
The mirror swirled as if responding to my words, and my image disappeared. Then, as if it was a monitor, words appeared on the silvery exterior.
[A yet unshapen soul, unsure of where it will go]
"O-o-okay... This better be some stupid prank." the words came out of my mouth, but I did not believe them. Something about this experience was otherworldly and I let out a cold shiver.
[What power would you like?]
"Powers huh, well I've always wanted to be super smart."
No sooner than the words left my mouth, a sharp, ringing pain hit my head and I crumpled to my knees, reeling. Everything that I had thought about and will think about; all the possibilities and benefits of my future actions as well as the consequences of what might happen in the future; from the most mundane decisions like choosing which color shirt to wear to the vast societal predictions encompassing the fate of the human race flashed before my mind.
And just like that it disappeared, and I was left wide-eyed and out of breath.
The one emotion that resounded far louder than all others after that ordeal was not the wonder of seeing what is to come but rather the unfathomably intense sense of dread of how insignificant my existence truly was. It would seem that no matter what I do, no matter what astronomically unlikely events happen and in what order, my petty existence was doomed from the start, and I was living for nothing. Of course, it wasn't like I was unaware of this, eternity will outlast everything after all, but to truly witness it shook me to the core.
My knees against the smooth floor and my hands covering my eyes, I had to take a second to recover my confidence and reaffirm myself that living was a better option than the alternative.
Well, it took closer to a good half hour if I'm being honest.
"You could say," as I pushed my hands against my face and contemplated my mortality, "I'm PRESSING myself for a WHITE lie. Get it, cause the room is white and I'm pressing my hands... haha."
After I've swallowed the existential dread through sheer willpower and bad jokes. I stood up, a bit numb.
"Huh, that's new"
On the mirror flashed a few new lines.
[Compatibility: 3]
[Power Output: 7]
[Potential: 1]
[Comment: Mental stress would exceed recommended limits]
"Oh gee whiz, whatever gave you that idea?" I snarked at the last line.
It would seem I have come to terms that this was not a normal event, but rather an extraordinary phenomenon. I felt a buzz throughout my body, after all, there is no way that any technology on earth could have made me gone through that.
Compared to what super intelligence did to my mental state, accepting this was rather simple, or so I thought.
"Wonder if we're dealing with alternate worlds or whatever." I said to no one in particular, "Anyway what other powers should I try, hmm, nothing too dangerous how about super strength?"
At first, nothing happened, but after a short while a red ball appeared on the floor as if it were a plant emerging from the soil. I noticed that the red color is in a delightful contrast to the white room.
"Huh..." I picked up the ball, "Oh hey, I know these things, they're the rubber dodge balls we used to us in gym class. Gosh that takes me back..."
Before I could finish that thought a stack of bottles appeared as well in a corner of the room, in a similar fashion to the ball. I moved to the corner and inspected the bottles, they seem to be the same as those in a carnival game, just metal bottles.
"You want me to hit those?" I spoke to the mirror.
No response.
"Okay, but you better give me a prize." I went about two meters away, making sure I wouldn't hit the mirror. I wound up my arm and threw the ball.
Everything seemed normal until the ball left my hands, when a sound similar to a gunshot blew me back a little. I jumped in surprise, but the force of my feet sent me flying straight into the ceiling, where I softly bounced off.
I embarrassingly picked myself back up.
To my dismay, I had missed the metal bottles and what had previously been the dodgeball was now a red smear on the white wall, a monument to how bad I was at dodge ball.
"I should work on my aim..."
The bottles and the stain disappeared, and the mirror now showed a different message.
[Compatibility: 2]
[Power Output: 4]
[Potential: 3]
[Comment: Previous experience not capable of mastery]
"So do you mean..."
The comment message changed as I spoke.
[Comment: You are not an athlete]
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
--------------------------------------------------
After about a few hours of testing I've noticed a few things about the mirror and the room.
It would appear that if you ask for a power that is not feasible, nothing happens. I tried asking for omnipotence and sat there for a good five minutes trying my best to make a pizza appear out of thin air, but nothing happened sadly.
You also can't ask for powers that are too specific (like super strength, but only when lifting metal balls) otherwise it just generalized the power (plain old super strength).
You can ask for more than one power (super strength and super speed) but it curbs the output (super strength appeared to only be one fourth as powerful when paired with super speed, and vice versa).
The powers also have a determined range and output, and you can ask the mirror if you can test these limitations. I asked if I could test the range of telekinesis and the room expanded to a football field, complete with grass and a field goal. Looked super realistic, but the illusion was only surface layer. The mirror has never changed size or appearance though.
Furthermore, the mirror only responds to certain questions, and if nothing happens after five minutes, chances are that your request has been denied. Also, polite questions tend to work better.
Incidentally I asked what the purpose of this room was, and its apparently:
[Your compensation for entry, please select your soul signature]
Also, you can ask for items too, but the mirror keeps turning it into an intrinsic power. For instance, I asked for a light saber and instead I got the ability to turn my hands into blades of what appeared to be plasma.
Lastly, the white rim around the mirror has been steadily turning black as I requested more powers and at this point it's one more request away from turning completely black and I'm not too interested in finding out what that does, as much as I was curious. It also turned black very slowly as time passes so I think I had a time limit as well. Scary.
"So, I guess I got to make a decision huh. May I request a summary of the 'Bookmarked powers' in the powers I've tested?" I got used to that polite talk after getting my requests denied for a good thirty tries or so.
On the mirror appeared the following:
[Enhanced Intellect/ Compatibility: 3/ Power Output: 7/ Potential: 1]
[Virtual Interface/ Compatibility: 9/ Power Output: 1/ Potential: 1]
[Enhanced Magic Casting/ Compatibility: 4/ Power Output: 5/ Potential: 7]
[Soul Infusion/ Compatibility: n/a / Power Output: 15/ Potential: 4]
[Spacetime Altercation/ Compatibility: 2/ Power Output: 2/ Potential: 2]
I sat there for a good long while thinking about it.
