21 Contact
Michael ran his hands over the smooth surface of the console before him. It wasn't like how he though it would be. The station. Instead of a futuristic pristine white, it was an industrial grey tube floating in space. It also had gravity. The insides were just as comparable to the outwards appearance as possible. Everything had a dieselpunk-esque, sci-fi theme going for it. The walls were simultaneously 3 different shades of grey, a hazardous orange defined more than a few handholds running along the main tubular length of the 60 meters long station, green and red lights flickered constantly from haphazard placements, and finally, there were blue access panels that you had a 10% chance of finding every minute you explored.
It was strange.
And quiet.
He breathed out a sigh, odd-sounding coming from a person that looked so young.
"This is actually kind of nice!... no idiot bandits following me around, ... no death robots...*sigh*."
He fumbled into the pockets of a recently found small spare vest he'd found on the Humphree. Sure, it looked a bit big on him... but hey, at least it covered up his bloody rags. That's as far as Michael's concern went. The youth pulled out what appeared to be a small cylinder.
"<<Identify>>"
U.P.C. Military Grade MRE - Long-lasting ready-to-eat meal with an expiration date of 50 years
(-Remaining: 32-)
...
"Hopefully it isn't too hard, I don't want my damn teeth broken just trying to eat a brick." He frowned, "Hope it doesn't taste like shit either..."
And he was in luck...Sort of.....
...it was like trying to consume miniature rocks once you'd gnawed on it enough to separate a chunk. But it had a surprisingly addictive taste. Almost too good to expect from military rations. So addicting.
It surprised him.
'Well, I guess this is the future... but still, people might remain in the military just by being addicted to this stuff..." Michael hefted a portion in his hands with a thoughtful look.
*Wisdom +1*
...
"Ohhhh...!" Michael ran his hands through somewhat curly hair in understanding.
'Right! I haven't been seeing these blue screen things around all too often... Figured that after all that I've been through, they might as well be flowing out of my ass... but apparently not..'
'...wouldn't hurt to check through'
Michael tried to bring up his status and got two screens in response.
* You have 12 stored notifications!*
*[Select to view status as of -/-/-] (Please set preferential time and date methods)(NON CURRENT)*
"?"
His eyes began to squint at the message that popped up before him, guessing at its implications.
"The fuck's that supposed to mean? Set time and date? What is this shit, an alarm clock? Can't I get a recent status?"
He scratched the back of his head in deep confusion for a few seconds. Michael honestly couldn't figure it out. It was quite understandable since he was still very new to the concept of the system and all its quirks, however. Less than a minute later, he opted to just go on ahead and take a look at whatever the system had stored up for him.
...
'Show... uh... notifications?'
...
*You have leveled up!* x3
*Job proficiency: Scavenger, has leveled up!* x4
--------------------
*Achievement unlocked: Anti-Combustible:
Survive more than a dozen close proximity explosions.
Effects: Physical Proficiency +3, Physical Defense +2, Mental Defense +1 *
--------------------
*Achievement unlocked: You're The Bomb! -
Survive a Large scale explosion at semi-close to medium range.
Effects: Physical Proficiency +6, Physical Defense +4, Mental Defense +2 *
--------------------
*Skill: Dismantle lvl.9 (beginner) -> Dismantle lvl.1 (Intermediate)*
*Skill: Repair lvl.3 (beginner) -> Repair lvl.7 (beginner)*
Charisma +2*
Physical Proficiency +3*
Agility +3*
Physical Defense +6*
Mental Defense +5*
* BP-Proficiency ~ [Level up!]*
---
"Hah?... Well, I guess almost dying a couple of times didn't go completely unnoticed."
*Updated Status now available!*
...
'Wait a sec!... Don't tell me...'
Micheal felt the urge to ram himself into a wall.
'You actually have to see the notification for it to take effect?'
*Wisdom +1*
...
"Goddammit..." The Ex-Terran dropped to his knees, balling his fists in anger at his own stupidity for not having figured it out sooner. But he soon came to realize, that it was only in peaceful times like these that such problems would come to his attention.
It had been about an hour since both he and Forward Star had boarded the station. Upon arriving, which the A.I accomplished wireless, Forward Star had begun running diagnostics and identified several problems with the current system and its capabilities. Thus, sending Carrian and Miranda away to retrieve necessities from some trading hub they'd luckily found in the station's manifest. Foreward star then turned it's attention to the station's currently fixable problems.
All of this....left poor Michael to his own devices.
But he wholeheartedly enjoyed this massive hole in his schedule. It gave him the one thing he'd been wanting to obtain ever since he arrived in this new universe: time to reflect.
So he stood at the console and began to analyze how hysterically crazy his current situation was, as well as how he got into it. That way, he could avoid all of this bullshit next time he got dragged into a parallel universe.
" This really is insane ....*Sigh*....maybe I've already gone crazy"
Michael spent the next few minutes reading through his improved and recently updated status.
*Personal Status Overview*
------------------------------
*Name: ? (Michael Bonandarte)
*Job Description: Scavenger Lvl.5
*Species/Race: Uminos-Andii (Human)
*Level: 8 (45%)
*Health: (96/100)
*Stamina: (82/100)
*Satiety: 78% (78/100)
*AP-Proficiency: Lvl.1 (0%)
*BP-Proficiency: Lvl.3 (2%)
------------------------------
*Charisma: 6 (+2)
*Physical Proficiency: 17 (+3)
*Agility: 10 (+3)
*Wisdom: 18 (+1)
*Mental Defense: 10 (+5)
*Physical Defense: 12 (+6)
------------------------------
-Additional Stats- -*view*-
His eyes brightened when they landed on the section describing his progress in particle control.
"That's right! Still haven't gotten around into messing around with these "Alpha particles" yet...
...you'd expect mind control and all that - to be pretty bad-ass... but telekinesis... that stuffs a dream come true!" A grin spread wide across his face.
In all truth, there was plenty of loose "junk" scattered about the station. Just like the Facilities on the planet below..it was mysteriously and hurriedly evacuated of its occupants and their belongings, leaving random objects behind in the wake. He'd see if he could find anything interesting around here later, but for now, Michael had set his eyes upon a random metal trinket laying on the floor.
"This should be interesting..."
Much like with his use of <<Repair>> on the Desolate's airlock panels, he attempted to activate a similar feeling to that which he experienced when performing the actions. He failed miserably. Michael began to think that maybe it was one thing to have a skill that relied upon the use of activating the particles, rather than trying to manipulate the particles themselves.
*Wisdom +1*
He frowned.
"I'll be taking that - as an obvious hint"
Michael wasn't one to give up so easily, especially when presented a chance like this, with the amount of spare time he had on his hands.
So, for the next half hour, he repeatedly attempted to move the light metal trinket, testing distances, different mindsets, and methods. But all to no avail. That was... until he stumbled across a certain theory in his head.
"What if....I've been doing this all wrong?...what if? instead of trying to influence AP (Alpha particles) so far away from myself, I influence the ones directly surrounding me?!"
The next 10 minutes was spent trying to do exactly that. Michael was beginning to lose hope when he began to feel a strange but powerful force when attempting to interact with the Alpha particles covering the very fibers of his hand.
"...?" His heart-rate quickened.
"Could this be?"
...
He spread this feeling, this interaction, across the surface of his palm. The feeling of power grew at an astonishing rate, so much so, that his palm began to heat up painfully.
Before he could do himself any further harm, Michael decided to release all of the built-up energy with the heavy push of his hand, forward.
.
He watched in total amazement as the very space before him distorted. It was like watching a single droplet cause ripples in a clear, undisturbed surface of water.
Every tiny piece of debris in front of him was sent flying, small pieces; like the metal-trinket was also sent backward, but the larger loose pieces remained, for the most part, unaffected.
Even so, the child-sized adult was absolutely shocked. That shock soon morphed into excitement, completely ignoring the sizzling pain in his hand.
"This! Hahaha, This...! This is.."
He reached down to grab the metal trinket.
But as he did so, the loudest alarms he had ever heard in his existence blared into life around him.
...
Michael's face immediately morphed into that of exhausted annoyance as he maneuvered angrily over to the blue console on one side of the wall.
"Foreward! Can't a guy get some well deserved alone time once in a while?"
A blood-red screen appeared to answer his statement, although less apologetic than one would expect.
// I apologize.
But it would appear a small U.P.C. vessel has Just entered into orbit above Sava V from FTL, headed towards this location. //
"So...they came back?"
// It would appear that is not the case, Operative, this vessel's identification is not identical to that of the humphree we have sent Mr. Carrian and Ms. Miranda to receive supplies with. //
"So...what you're trying to say is...."
Michael paused, throwing away all of his previous exhaustion. What replaced it was a tinge of anxiety, curiosity, and surprise.
"...we've got company."
