Waking Up
Waking up for Shara was… an experience.
Groggily, with the pain of starvation in her stomach and feeling like she hadn't moved in days, Shara attempted to stand up out of the hard, uncomfortable, unpadded metal chair she had fallen asleep in.
Quite promptly afterwards, she found herself staring at her helmet, while lying face first on the floor.
Her helmet flashed annoyingly fast. She clumsily put it on her head.
"SHARA."
"What, Valkyr? I feel like I have the worst hangover I've had in my life, and I've partied with Dax. What happened?"
"Short or long version?"
"Short. My head is pounding like someone's taking a rifle butt to it, and I'm still on the floor because I can barely move."
"Short version – Your wonderful friend knocked you unconscious and used the time to put some sort of implant in your head. Good news, it didn't kill you, and it seems to have solved your internal injuries. Bad news – We don't actually know what it does other than that. Also your vital signs have changed their baselines rather dramatically."
A different voice, from outside the helmet; finished the long version of the story. The AI, if Shara placed the voice right.
"Long version, I've implanted you with the Makoni Empire's greatest, and final, creation. An advanced creation meant for the emperor's children to teach them how to govern, or to teach them other skills if they desire. Alas, the empire fell before the implants could be deployed. With all the personnel from the base either dead or missing, there was no suitable subjects for implantation. Don't worry, there's no backdoors inbuilt into the coding of the devices, and they are impervious to all known sources of interference."
"So," Shara asked, "What does it do?"
The AI looked at Shara, with a glint of both satisfaction and deviousness. "What doesn't it do? The implanted system, at higher levels of power, is capable of wonderous feats. In fact, this implant and the code within is able to access the universal code. This means it is able to literally change the structure of the universe around the user to become something more amicable to the implant's host. However, that is at the extreme end of the spectrum for this device. However, this device will be able to give appropriate gifts from the Makoni Empire's standardized inventory and materialization system, which will be fully accessible to users who meet the correct requirements. This apparatus will also be able to accelerate the host's learning speed via the use of synaptic alterations."
[Makoni Empire Support and Governance System booting… First Time User Detected.]
"That implant should be starting soon. Use it well. It's not every day you get a gift from a fallen empire and a second chance at life."
Shara finally sat up.
[System congratulates you on your birthright! You are the next generation of imperial rulers and you must be able to rule your citizens effectively, or if you choose not to be a member of the ruling party; be able to perform your other duties. The Empire has no room for laziness in the imperial family.]
[Non-expected conditions found. Makoni Empire destroyed. Inventory Caches found. Allocating resources… Done]
[Gamifying requisition ability into points… done.]
[Host's initial progress worth 1592 requisition points.]
[Checking caches teleportation and materialization ability…]
[ 6.552 percent of caches retain teleportation and materialization ability.]
[Congratulations! You have managed to survive against the odds to end up inheriting the keys to a fallen empire. This system will assist you in recreating its former glory and allows for you to open Makoni caches if found.]
For Shara, this was too much. Slightly unnerved by the intrusion of the system into her innermost thoughts, she opened the "personal attributes screen".
[Calculating system host's base attributes.]
[Strength – 6.]
[Stamina – 6.]
[Vigor – 5.]
[Intelligence – 4.5.]
[Common-sense – 6]
[Charisma – 5.5]
[Luck – 9.]
Well, apparently, I need to work on my intelligence, Shara thought. It had been awhile since she had picked up anything to read, and it showed here. Her more physically oriented stats seemed to be higher as well, most likely as a result of her militaristic nation and prior enlistment in the LCM.
[Host Skills]
[Militarized Self-Defense I]
[Small Arms II]
[Infantry Armor Use I]
[Host Traits]
[Lucky I]
[End System Analysis]
"Describe Lucky I, System." Shara thought. Maybe she could glint some insight off of how it responded.
[Lucky I is a trait that, combined with host's already high luck, allows host to become exceedingly fortunate in situations that allow for it. This does not mean you cannot have bad luck, however it does slightly even out the field.]
"Does that mean I have a way off this rock?"
[System does not have sufficient data to ascertain that at this time. However, the system has access to much equipment from the Makoni Empire, which will almost certainly be able to 'get off this rock'.]
A way out! This was the best news she had gotten all day. Maybe she would even be able to get back to the conglomerate! She could let her family know she wasn't dead! Her expectations of her next couple of days became increasingly positive.
"Well," the AI said, "Does it function?"
"Didn't you say there were multiple copies of the implant?" Shara asked. "Didn't you say the Emperor's children would each get one?"
"I did. However, at the time of the fall, the emperor only had one child. And with the decline of this facility, and the corruption of data in the memory banks, I was only able to fabricate one copy. It is unique, and will remain as such until someone else manages to either replicate it, or redesign an entirely new device. However, I would not recommend removing your device to replicate it. It has become heavily entwined in your neural structure and central nervous system, and its removal would almost certainly result in death."
This was a lot to take in. It was both a teaching influence and a curse. If the wrong people found out about it, they would try to take it for themselves. Shara took all of this in with several large grains of salt.