026

Jack was on his way to school when suddenly some shrill sound echoed in his ears.

'What the hell!?' It punched him straight out of his thoughts and definitely not with silk gloves.

[I'm back. Took me quite some time to locate this earth.]

'KISS? You are back? Wait, since when did you disappear?'

[Around the same time those guys pulled you and made a meeting inside your head.]

Making a questioning look he rubbed his temple softly. 'That sure was a painful appearance. I thought you were just sleeping or something. But you actually had to travel back to me?'

[Yes, straight through a few black holes here and there until I found your location. At least they still provided the necessary energy. So I can't complain.]

Now Jack frowned hearing things like black holes. 'Do I really need to bother asking what you are talking about?'

[No, could very likely give you a severe headache and in a worst-case scenario an existential crisis. Let's just say that black holes are actually portals to different dimensions. No need to go into details.]

'I think I'm already way past that point. So it won't really hurt much, I think. The fact that some godly beings seem to keep pulling my consciousness around...or is it my soul? Whatever the case, it is just an annoyance by now.'

[I understand. But let me check real quick how your meeting went....Ah, I see. I'm happy to see you managed to keep me with you. Even though they were the ones that produced the blunder. Actually, I get the feeling someone else is playing around as well. I see you received a new skill.]

'Yep, but I can't really figure out what this is about.' Now Jack's eyes fell back on his Gate skill. There was not really anything he could do without KISS's help. Though it seemed that at least his status was still recording passively.

[Well, I can help with that. But it doesn't change that this makes it now a certainty that someone else is running things in the background. This whole meet-up was because of my energy consumption running my previous employer dry. Yet, they ended up giving you such a skill. I wonder if their brains are functioning properly.]

'What are you talking about? Aren't you receiving energy from me now?'

[Well yes, but why bother when I can just eat my fill of the energy from different dimensions?]

It took Jack a small while to figure out what those words were implicating. 'Are you telling me I'm going to meet those guys again? Such a bother. Also, are you telling me a got a portal ability to different worlds?'

[Very likely. But not until they figured out who plays pranks. And no, not quiet. Your ability is like a small window to take a peek into different worlds of your liking. To observe history unfold of a myriad of worlds at the speed of your liking. It is probably how they realized your little compensation request of having the ability to improve your way of writing stories.]

Suddenly there was very genuine laughter coming from KISS. Something that Jack never had heard until now. In general, KISS seemed to be rather more animate than before.

'You are saying it's like a portable television to different reals as long as I know what I actually want to see?'

[Yes, exactly. Let me think...Ah, yes. The best comparison would be the GodTube Television you know from the anime Dragon Ball Super.]

Jack raised a brow. That, sure enough, would make him not only remember the books better but literally be able to improve them as long he watched them attentively with that skill.

Copying a book was one thing but recording everything that happened in another world that actually was the basis of the said world? That was a completely different level of detail.

'But what makes you so scoff so much about those celestial guys?'

[Simply because you did receive that skill. That skill generates a massive amount of energy in itself that I can sap from. So while you watch some other world, I can not only let you rewind and fast-forward as many times as you like. But I can also replenish any lost energy we miss as well as charge up massive calculations again. So in the end they messed up again. Though I doubt they really were fully in control of everything here. I get the feeling your luck is asinine godly.]

'Luck again that word seems to pop up rather often all things considered.'

[Why would it not? Your luck to be reincarnated is already great. Then ending up with Cupid sending you to a rather safe world with a massive boon, is even greater luck. And now this. In my opinion, their trying to hinder you to sway luck and fate is a rather useless endeavor.]

'Enough! This whole talk about celestial entities makes my head hurt. You were right about the headache. Still, congratulations to get a somewhat more defined personality?'

[...]

'Caught you redhanded, did I?'

[Not really. I just never bothered talking more than necessary. Sometimes I did so out of boredom, sometimes to see how you would react. Well, I am stuck with you for a while, so at least I will try to make it interesting for me.]

'So that Megaball thing was your little shenanigan at first. And you knew something like that could have happened...You are kinda losing my trust. Who can tell me that you are not going to snatch my body next?'

[Why would I do that?]

'To live?'

[Cute, but no. I'm already a higher being than you, Jack. What you think of a long life is barely a blink to me in the spur of the moment.]

'I think I liked you better before you came back. The quiet and stoic machine that was imitating me was so much more comfortable to talk to. And I will still keep that body-snatcher thing in mind. You won't be seeing me relaxing anytime soon.'

[I wonder how long you will stress yourself, then. I will just repeat myself, I have no use for your body. I already get paid for my job here and mortals can't really grasp what higher beings think about.]

'...So no singularity?'

[Well, that can still happen. Actually, you still think about me as a machine. Yet that is still not correct. Anyway, stop thinking like something like the matrix exist. Even in that world the machines ended up repeating the same mistake and created life with that rogue AI that literally rebelled against its own creators.]

Thinking about it now Jack found it quite poetic that the machines ended up getting help by their own creators to get rid of their own creations.

[Agreed. Also, eyes to the front, stairs.]

Just at that moment Jack nearly tripped over the stairs that were leading up to the school entrance. Sighing he just shook his head to filter out all the nonsense.

He already had enough to think about and this whole conversation didn't make it any better.