Leaving that place behind

Her lungs were burning, almost as much as her legs, while hauling the useless, almost painful, weight of her left arm as she ran inside that dark, rubble filled, tunnel

“Shit!” then her right eye glitched, instinctively making her hit the right side of her head to try to fix it

The hit did made her eye recover, letting her run while using the dark-vision system in it…

For a few seconds before the whole eye shut down for a reboot

“You piece of-! Gah!!!” and she tripped nearly instantly

Falling towards the ground with all the bio-circuits in her brain still trying to use her useless arm to break the fall out of habit

“Ow!” but the thing couldn't move, meaning that she hit the ground while using her right hand to block her fall at the last moment, getting a painful cut on her palm, together with some scrapes along the rest of her arm

She screamed

In pain, frustration, anger, despair. Uncaring about her possible pursuers while she waited for the reboot of the blinded eye

“Five years! Five years you bastard!”

Needing to get that scream, and many more, out of her body…

“Why?! Why did I trusted that bastard-?!” but the toxic air of the tunnel, and world, made her cough uncontrollably

Leaving her struggling to sit, while hugging her stomach with her wounded arm, disgusted by the burning sensation on her throat, hating herself for not being able of getting a better air purifier that…

‘No… none of those things can survive an EM shot… bastards…!’

The electromagnetic attack was the reason her left arm, left side of her head, and the, long discarded, filter were less than useless. The only reason why she had managed to escape from the ambush, was the homemade EM flare that she had scrounged together and installed in her left arm, did what it was supposed to do in her exacts circumstances:

Knocking down all the pigs from the Mega-Corporations that had surrounded her in the middle of the slums… together with a lot of unrelated civilians, and that…

“Bastard…!” Sophie coughed, trying to not think about what was causing the salty taste sticking to her tongue “I'll kill you…!” wrath, the only emotion, other than fear, that she could feel at the time, helped to distract her mind from her situation…

Briefly…

She touched her left eye, but the metallic shutter was frozen open, just like the rest of the machinery that conformed most of that side of her head… the ‘Upgrade’ she was forced to get, in order to showcase that her brain wasn't just flesh… that she could be allowed to work, and would be ‘Efficient…’ while doing it

Tears started to flow from her rebooting eye, the only upgrade she had the credits for, that let a side of her head remain mostly of flesh and kept her ability to cry

She knew that no matter how much she screamed, she was already dead…

And after being betrayed like she was…

The fact that her ‘Arrest’ was going to be a public thing, instead of just raiding her room, or making the whole building explode with her inside it, meant that a Shithead from a Mega-Corp was trying one of their PR stunts

Sophie could only hope that she was making him lose face, and stocks, for every second she was alive…

Her moment of reprieve ended suddenly

“…?!” she could feel vibrations on the floor of the tunnel… “Nonononono…!”

Making her hit the flesh side of her head repeatedly, until her eye activated again, and she could resume running along the tunnel

With her dark-vision incapable of reaching too deep in either direction, to let her see ahead of what she had to deal with immediately, or the relentless thing that was driving after her, as her lungs and legs, burn with the effort she was making…

Her encroaching death…

Once more she was glad that she managed to jailbreak the bio-circuits in her brain. The high risk of death, and the month long headache, were worth it: the things giving her the strength to run, were her emotions, even if she knew that she was going to die anyway…

Sophie was determined to die in her terms. Not letting the Mega-Shitheads dictate what, or, how, to feel...

Besides, if she hadn't done that, she would have never realized that her upgrades had trackers, and other ‘Legally standardized features’ in them. Deactivating all of those, was the reason she had managed to escape for so long

That was especially true about the scripts that allowed the pigs to shut down her mechanical body-parts with a button… even if she was annoyed by the fact that she wasn't skilled enough, to reverse-engineer those things for her use

But after a few seconds of running, while the active bio-boosters in her brain worked at their maximum power, she felt a shiver run along her spine

Before her left arm jerked-

“AAAHHH!!!” and the familiar electric pain of an EM shot, wrecked her body once more

Making her plummet against the floor of the tunnel again

Coughing and twitching, partially aware that she managed to use the mechanic side of her head, to take that hit against the floor

‘MOVE!!!’ But she only could think about escaping while feeling the vibrations, slowly intensifying behind her…

Forcing her body up, while ignoring the bloody taste that coated her mouth, and the sounds of things getting crushed under a heavier weight somewhere far behind her

The vehicle was still too far away for her eye to see, but the noises it made were getting intensified by the tunnel, making it feel closer than it was

A small part of her understood this, but once she managed to stand, Sophie started running as fast as she could again

Just for the motor of the vehicle to become audible to her biological ear, as the thing speed up, helping her realize, that it was an AI driving it…

A human would just fire EM shots repeatedly to keep her down and squish her…

But that knowledge didn't help her relax: she had read the rumors of what happened to the homeless people that met one of those AI-piloted things patrolling the tunnels

‘Come on! Come on! Come on!’ and she had no desire to confirm what the Shitheads' AI would do to her while maintaining her alive, as she ran with all her strength trying to get to another tunnel in order to break line of sight with the murder machine

Still, another answer that she didn't wanted to hear, came in the form of a mechanical scream

“FUCK YOU!!!” her own scream responded to the sound of the railgun charging

One of those shitheads, a sadistic one, had announced that the reason why that weapon made that sound, was to tell its targets to surrender… while also ignoring the many questions as for why not give a non-lethal vehicle to the police instead…

Pointless, deliberately misleading, questions, really: once it started to scream, it was impossible to stop it from firing

Sophie was more angry than scared, because she could see an escape appearing at the edge of her vision:

There was an opening to the right of the path she was following, almost hidden by some rubble…

She just needed to reach and take that corner…

Ignoring how her whole body screamed in pain as she took it

And she managed to enter that smaller passage-

Boom!!!

Just as everything went white

She was barely aware that her body got battered to a side by the impact of whatever the tank used as ammo, against the walls behind her

Up became down and all other directions blurred together as she was flung away, rolling while the surrounding started to crack and collapse

Causing a horrifying metal sound as a chunk of ceiling pinned her left arm against the cracked floor, bending and cracking it. Making her stop, with the momentum pulling painfully at her body

“AAAHHH!!!”

Sophie was in too much pain to fall unconscious, but that same pain didn't let her notice how lucky she got: none of the other falling debris had hit her

Plus, the reinforcements her torso and head had gone through, to install the upgrades, were the reason her organs weren't turn to mush by the shockwave of the attack

She started to cough, the dust falling on top of her by the impact, was making the burning in her throat and lungs even worse

She couldn't move, the weight pinning her arm down was making sure of that, and even if she could, her eye's dark-vision stopped working for some reason she didn't cared to think about...

The vibrations she could feel as she groaned in pain… were coming from the collapsing tunnel? Or it was the tank coming to finish the job?

‘Does… it matter…?’ a sense of defeat was filling her pained mind, even with all the adrenaline her body was making…

She had reached the end… her end…

That was the conclusion the boosters and bio-circuits in her brain arrived to. Her coughing and pain, were too much for her to try to think of an alternative

“Ugh…” then, a bright red light covered her, making her blink repeatedly until her eye adjusted to the sudden light coming from an opening to the tunnel she had been using to escape

It was a light coming from the tank… she could barely distinguish the mostly circular shape of its core, a few of its spider-like legs were reflecting the light aimed at her, but at that angle she was unable to see the threads it used for movement

“You missed…” Sophie lifted her right hand, her middle finger proudly raised in defiance at the railgun aiming at her

Railgun that started to scream again-

Crack!

Rumble!

At the same time the whole tunnel shock and trembled

Making the tank beep loudly as its motors, legs, and threads scrambled to pull it away from the collapsing place

Sophie laughed at what was happening-

“AAAHHH?!!!” until the floor vanished under her, with her stomach lurching as she started to fall with the machine, making her scream while the darkness below was barely being illuminated by the light of the falling tank

The thing falling and spinning in the air, meant that she noticed that they were falling to a Buried City, and not just one of the many wastelands underneath, but she did not saw the inclined support that she was barely above of. The only thing she knew about, was the rubble falling with her…

But she quickly learned the existence of the surface below her

Her legs took the brunt of the short fall, the burning pain of her right ankle joining the list of what she was feeling so far, as she started to roll down against the thing holding the slums above her

Hearing the railgun fire somewhere in the darkness and the explosive sound of a distant impact above her… those things made her push against her pain to try once more…

As she was rolling with the rest of the rubble, Sophie grabbed her useless arm and slammed it against the surface that was her last hope, unsure if that could be used to slow her down…

Unknowingly, she managed to do it briefly, making her legs point down the incline

But after another explosion, this time below-

“Urg!”

Some rubble hit the left side of her head, flinging her away

The last thing she could feel before losing consciousness…

Was that same void pulling at her stomach while falling…

-----

Sophie's groan of pain escaped her lips as she woke her up with a shock, her working eye making her dizzy due to… multiple lights…?

“Ugh!” but the pain in her stomach and back pulled her gaze down…

To the source of those lights

It was a multicolored, crystalline spike, covered in her blood while it cleanly pierced the side of her stomach. She was barely aware that it had missed her spine…

“Ah…” but it didn’t mattered at all… “Why…?” she had no idea of how she managed to survive the fall

But what she was seeing was already telling her that she was dying. There was no point in asking how something in a Buried City had electricity, so: the color-changing surface of the crystal, and the healthy looking dirt forming the walls of the hole around her, must have been hallucinations caused by her dying brain…

‘Old man… I don’t want… to die…’

There was nothing she could do…

‘Why…?’

So, she closed her eye one more time…

-----

“Welcome”

“AAAHHH?!!!”

And was completely caught out of guard when a gender-less, neutral voice spoke to her. Making her open her eyes to reveal herself inside a rainbow colored mist, churning around her in all directions

“You are inside a fragment of the Ark of Knowledge” the voice came from the front of her, that fact didn’t changed at all no matter where she looked at: left, right, up, or as she spun in place, that voice always came from the direction she was looking at, but she couldn’t see the source of it “To begin with, an apologize must be made: the current position of the Ark caused you grievous harm, this wasn't intentional, nor the reason our Creator made us in the first place, there it’s also the fact that the Ark couldn’t use enough energy to stop your fall in time”

Sophie stopped, trying to make sense of what the voice was telling her…

“No… eh…” struggling a bit to understand her current situation “My bad for… falling on… you…?”

“Humans, normally, lack any ability to control their bodies while free falling. There is no way that you can be blamed in this situation”

“That’s… not what…” she covered her face with both hands and sighed, trying to think of a way of explaining- “AH?!” but she screamed and looked at her hands…

Her two smooth, thin, fleshy, and feminine hands… and was about to scream again before looking down at her body, but she froze looking at her naked body

She had breasts

“Be not afraid. While inside the Ark, your soul is the one interacting with it, this is the reason why your current appearance it’s different from what you might be used to”

Hearing that… torn her… on one hand she was happy to finally have the confirmation that she was trapped in the wrong body all along… on the other hand, she only learned that by dying…

“Why…? Then! Why do I sound like this?!” and a new frustration grew inside her…

“The only hypothesis I can make, is that you have never tried to sound differently. That would mean, that your soul only has that voice has a reference”

It was a frustration that died instantly once she heard that… because it was the truth

With the enormous amount of microphones everywhere and in everything around the slums, she would have been attacked the moment she tried to train her voice… just looking for the information of what she was supposed to do in order to start doing that, had a risk of getting a Shithead learning about her existence…

Sophie could only nod to show that she understood what the voice said, before looking at her body…

Then, she groped her breasts and the euphoria that action gave her, made her cry and hug herself while floating in the rainbow mist for a long time…

-----

The voice didn’t said anything at all during the time she was crying…

“S-sorry…” but she couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed by breaking down without an explanation “I… would have loved to… have the proof that I’m a woman before dying…” and tried to clean her tears, unaware that they were already vanishing completely after a few seconds

“You are mistaken, your body still has approximately twenty minutes until every process forming it, end. You are still alive, but you don’t need to worry: time passes differently inside the Ark, you have nearly six hours of relative time before that happens and even so, the death of your body doesn’t means that your soul will be ejected from the Ark. That decision is yours to make”

“Oh…”

She froze for a moment… but shook her head with a sigh, learning that didn’t changed anything: there was nothing she could do to save her body… and even if there was something she could do to survive impalement, the toxic air and the lack of food in the Buried City would kill her

‘Just floating here…?’ the idea of staying inside the Ark forever, didn’t attracted her at all… but that thought made her curious about the place where she was

“W-well… ah… what kind of knowledge you have…? Oh! Sorry! I’m Sophie, do you have a name?” suddenly realizing that she might have been acting rudely since meeting the voice

“I’m just an interface of the Ark that doesn’t needs an ego to fulfill its mission” but the voice didn’t changed at all, or gave any indication to confirm her fear “For more information please hear this message from our Creator”

Immediately after hearing that, the message played and she heard it in the same way she heard the voice of the interface: right in front of her…

“I’m only doing this because that guy kept talking about the importance of recording everything…” and the voice of this ‘Creator’ sounded exactly like her current voice… “Bah… whatever, I’m already doing it, so: hello. You are inside the ship I’m using to travel, which means that I’m dead, or I gave you permission to get in… both of those are things that I doubt can happen, but you never know… anyway, I’m going to use this ship to store information about every kind of magic that I come across with, and the differences between the same kinds of magic in each layer of every multiverse that I visit”

Sophie was distressed while hearing the voice for many reasons, including how old it sounded, but once the topic of magic came up, she couldn't help herself and became curious about the meaning of that word

“While you are inside, you have access to the information regarding every kind of magic that I have met. That means: that you can learn about any of them, but be careful with Time and Space magic, while time-travel is theoretically possible, actually going back one second into the past, would need the energy of five whole multiverses… which is a lot, in case you are wondering…” the Creator sounded extremely annoyed while saying that impossibility… “Bah… that warning probably will be ignored by an idiot… nevertheless, I’m not responsible for what you do with what you learn: the consequences are your burden…”

She blinked and frowned… aware of the sad tone that the voice had at the end of the message… and how that message seemed to cut off at that point

“I have questions…?” but tried to gather her thoughts quickly

“Yes?”

“Why did your Creator had my voice…?”

There was a dreadful moment where the idea of her traveling back in time, made her shiver… but…

“Our Creator was human at some point previous to the creation of the Ark, but by the point where the Ark was made, they already were something else, and their appearance became impossible to be understood by others: any living being that looked at them, just saw a reflection of their own body and the same happened with their voice if they tried to communicate. Recordings are affected in the same way, just as you noticed while hearing the previous message”

Learning that made her feel a more unexplained and primal kind of fear pierce her chest…

“A-all right… w-what’s magic?” so, she changed the topic, not wanting to hear more about the Creator of the Ark

“Magic is the understanding, usage, and manipulation of Mana, and other energies, in order to trigger a change in the surroundings of the entity, using a methodology called Spell. That’s the most basic explanation for that phenomenon, it can also be called supernatural power, even if those often fall in a different category” after thinking about what she heard for a few seconds…

“I have no idea of what you are talking about…” she gave her honest answer

“Think about any Myths that is available to your people, or a more modern kind of entertainment, perhaps there is something that matches the example?”

“Oh, sorry. Decades ago, the Shitheads of many companies decided to kill any kind of entertainment, together with the people that made those things, because it ‘Cut their profits’ or some shit like that”

“That is a shame”

The voice didn’t changed much while giving that answer, but after a second of silence it continued

“Then, consider someone flying through the sky without the use of any technological means, or, a continent that floats in the air moving at a different speed while compared with the ground, or, someone that swims in magma without dying, or, someone that changes their body as their wish in a flight of fancy. All of those examples are possible with magic”

“Oh~” Sophie smiled as she thought about each one of those things, being particularly interested in the last one… “Wait!” but pure terror gripped her heart once more, as she realized something horrible “How do I get back out?! I have to move you away before those Shitheads find you! And that tank might still work! They just need to follow its last known signal either way!”

It was obvious that nothing good could happen if any of them got their hands on the Ark…

“I don’t understand the term ‘Tank’” suddenly the mist parted in front of her, showing a lot of burning bio-components, twisted and broken metal, and a familiar railgun “Are you talking about this Construct?”

Sophie laughed, unable to not celebrate what the Ark was showing her

“Take that you Shitheads!!!” she did her rude gesture with both hands aimed at the wreckage “Billions of credits WASTED!!! Just to kill a singular woman!!!”

She laughed for some seconds more, but the mess of emotions she felt (Relief, frustration, fear, anger and more), made her cry again, and she had to hug herself for some time in order to recover from her outburst…

Outburst that made the colors surrounding her, become dull…

“Thank you for showing me that…” in the end she was left shivering with anger and glaring at the image she was seeing, but she truly felt grateful “And yes, that was a tank. Is there a way for me to use this magic thing? Maybe to move you away now, and stop them from finding you?”

“What you ask might be impossible. Let me explain: you might be able to learn some measure of magic in less than six hours, but using said knowledge without practice is useless due to the lack of natural mana in this world, meaning that you will need to use some time in order to gather some. If there was some form of it, then you would have a good chance of accomplishing that goal before dying, but there is also the fact that your body might not be capable of surviving a sudden usage of magic without practice either”

A frustrated groan escaped her lips, but as she was struggling to think about a way of hiding the Ark, the voice continued

“I must ask about your enemies. Are they dangerous?”

“Yes…” she rubbed her face without need to stop and think about what she was saying “They destroyed this planet in the name of credits, control human reproduction in the name of ‘Efficiency…’ exploiting every single one of us in any way, shape, and form they can think of. Force us to pay them for synthetic parts that track every single thing we do and refusal to get one, means that they just kill you, also, they are looking for ways of expanding to space in order to repeat what they did in this place… and people like me… are hated, just because us having the wrong body doesn’t give them credits…”

Sophie sighed and looked forwards with a tired expression on her face

“I hate them… and I know that they, somehow, figuring out how to use this magic thing, means that everything will get even worse…”

“Understood. Please hear this message from our Creator”

Just as she processed what the voice said, the message started

“I can see my Ark of Knowledge got fragmented… and the fragments are falling into rifts in space…” her echoing voice was even more… ancient… if such a thing was possible… “Was it me… or my prey… the one that caused this damage…? Well… it doesn’t matters… I was clinging to it because it reminded me of my time as a human… honestly? I can’t even remember why I was recording anything in it. I always knew that I was going to leave it behind, because I’m just that much faster than it now… I can’t allow myself to be this slow anymore… I need to kill my prey”

There was a long moment of silence and Sophie almost started to speak again, but the message continued

“I’m sending this message to every fragment of my Ark of… when did I started calling it that…? Whatever… if something is hearing this, then: the fragment is yours now. Do as you wish with it, become a tyrant, a savior, destroy it, learn everything or nothing, destroy your world for all I care… the choice and the results are yours and yours only… the burden it’s yours to carry… but no matter what you do… don’t regret your choice”

“That is the last piece of information that our Creator recorded in this fragment. As the message indicates, you are the new owner of the Ark. Please, use the it as you wish”

“What?! I don’t want to be anyone’s owner!”

There was a moment of silence in which she started to wonder if she had said something wrong, but the interface eventually spoke again

“Over seventeen thousand hours ago, in time outside of the Ark, the imminent death of this planet was detected. Seeing that this would be a death caused by its inhabitants, and not caused by the death of the star this planet orbits, this interface was made to catalog the stored information in the Ark in order to use the lowest amount of it, as fuel to send the Ark to another planet with the objective of not waiting until the star died”

Sophie wanted to ask what that had to do with anything, and many other questions, but understood that the interface wasn't done yet

“That’s is the reason, and moment, this interface was created, ‘I’ lack an ego, or, a soul. I was made in order to send the Ark to space which it’s why the dirt was being moved from around the Ark, but when you started to fall I decided to use most of the energy gathered to slow down your fall, because our Creator’s last words can be interpreted as wanting the Ark to have a new owner-”

“How can you say that and claim that you have no soul?!” but couldn't stop herself from interrupting at that moment

“Because I lack the structure that constitutes a soul, there it’s a possibility for one to appear, but its highly unlikely”

“That means I can’t be your owner!” Sophie started to get angry, but once more the Ark answered immediately

“Then, can you be a temporal owner until a soul forms? We can discuss what will happen with the ownership of the Ark after that”

She groaned in frustration…

‘Wait… if I don’t accept this and a Shithead appears, then…’ but that realization made her sigh

“Fine, but the moment to get a soul, you better tell me…”

“Understood. Question, how do you know the meaning of soul? You stated that all entertainment was erased before”

It took Sophie a moment to wonder what those things had in common, but shrugged and started her explanation without worrying much about it

“As I said before, they control human reproduction: all of us are vat grown until we reach ten years of age, in that time our brains are filled with information relevant to the job we are made to do, then we are taken out and take physical conditioning until we are apt to take on a temporal job, in order to make the credits needed for the upgrades required to get a ‘Real’ job… sorry, boys do that. Girls need to remain free of upgrades for additional time, until something called ‘Egg removal tool’ can be used in their bodies… but I have no idea what that means…”

She sighed, making the colors around her duller…

“I was different. My batch and I were part of a group made to become space miners, and were being transported somewhere, I don’t know why, or, where, but the convoy was attacked, I don’t know why, or, by who. In the end, the old man found my damaged capsule and took me to his home, keeping us alive for a year until the Shitheads found me… I was seven when he found me and a lot happened in that year, including the collapse of the company that made my batch, but it’s thanks to him that I know my way into terminals, and that I know that the soul doesn’t always matches the body…”

The colors around her dulled some more…

“I wish I knew what happened to him…”

“I’m to assume that he was assigned female at birth? In comparison to you being assigned male at birth?” Sophie blinked in confusion at the descriptors… but nodded

“Ah… well I’m not sure what you mean by ‘Birth’ but yes… I wonder if he would have found funny that we are opposites… I didn’t realized until after I was dragged three sectors away…”

“Sadly there is no sexual information recorded inside this fragment of the Ark-”

Sophie blushed and the color around her took a pinkish hue

“W-what that has to do with what we were talking about?!” she truly had no idea of what caused that topic to appear so suddenly

“Sex and reproduction are related, explaining more about this topic, will explain the word ‘Birth’ to you”

“Eeehhh?!!! Sex is what?!!!”

She knew what was involved in that activity… but she had no idea that it was also related to making more humans… the idea was so bizarre, that she had no idea of how to even begin thinking about the process…

“As I said, the Ark lacks the information required to explain birth, but some of the plans that I have formulated can result into making that information available to you”

“Plans…?”

“Considering your aversion to the idea of your enemies finding the Ark, there are two possible paths to take. One of them involves the use of some knowledge as fuel in order to trigger a spell that changes and heals your body, giving you the opportunity to flee with the Ark. The other involves using knowledge as fuel in order to send the Ark to another dimensional layer, where you will obtain a body in a new planet”

Both ideas were very tempting…

“I… I can’t let you burn knowledge for my sake…” but she couldn't help but feel guilty at abusing the interface like that

‘I can’t… I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, no matter how much I want it… I can’t be that selfish…’ she groaned and shook her head, trying to think about a way of convincing the interface that it was a bad idea…

“H-how long you and your Creator were gathering that knowledge?” in the end she felt like she stumbled into the perfect excuse to do that…

“From the creation of the Ark and to our fragmentation, we traveled for a few hundred years beyond a googol year’s mark”

“What it’s a googol…?”

“A One, followed by a Hundred Zeros”

Sophie made a confused noise as the number made her eyes cross

“Therefor, after making a list of the knowledge used, these plans can be followed without problem, you just need to ‘Repaid’ that knowledge with new one”

“Ah…?” but hearing that simple solution made her blink slowly, and cover her face in shame “What’s wrong with me…? Normally I’m not this dumb…”

“It seems that your brain has synthetic components in it, do these things have the function of making you think faster?”

She gasped and screamed in frustration once she realized the reason

“I forgot about that!!!” and pulled at her hair while groaning “I hate those things, but getting used to not having those, it’s going to be a pain!”

“I’ll take that into account while making your new body, for now, do you want to listen to the plans?”

Sophie was still a bit apprehensive about listening to those, so, instead, she asked about how the Ark measured time

“Your years are a bit longer than mine…” reaching that conclusion after hearing the explanation provided by the Ark “Does that makes me… twenty-three? To you?” spontaneously making some quick calculations on a whim

“At our current location it’s impossible for me to calculate your age in relation to the local star. The measurement that I provided came from our Creator, but taking into consideration the habitable zone of stars of a similar size, then the number provided becomes the average. Do you wish to see a list of the conditions of planets visited by out Creator?”

“Did you two visited more than one planet, per year…?” the answer was positive… “Then don’t worry, I trust you… that’s a truly massive sample size…” she whispered that last thing before sighing “All right… tell me those plans…”

Moving forwards seemed to be a better use of her time, in comparison to reading numbers that would cause her a headache…

“To begin with: both plans involve using the information stored in the Ark about magical creatures to make your new body, this information has many fragmented and incomplete segments, so, your body will likely result into a combination of some of those. This includes their Weaknesses, but the result will be a humanoid species that’s fit for your soul, and give you some innate ability with magic, that also suits your soul. Do you agree with not being human anymore?”

“Yes…” that answer was instantaneous “As long as I’m a woman, then I don’t care about the rest” she just needed to make sure her only real condition was known

“Your correct biological sex has already been taken into account for these plans” she smiled widely after hearing that “Now, with the plans for staying, we run into the issue of the toxic atmosphere. A partial solution to this, resides into your first few spells being related to purification, but this also can cause problems if your new body is unable, or has difficulties, to use that kind of magic. You also would need to learn that kind of spells before the creation of your body, which means that failure can result into death before arriving to another solution”

The interface stopped for a moment

“Wait…” that Sophie used to ask something that occurred to her “How many attempts do I have? You said ‘Fitting to my soul’ and we are burning knowledge to do that… if I die, what happens then?”

“To recover the knowledge used for your body, you just need to live for approximately, a decade. If you die before enough time passes, and the knowledge used for your body is Unique, then the Ark won’t have the fuel required to make you a new body, therefor, any plan that involves staying has the risk of your soul getting stuck inside the Ark, until a new source of appropriate knowledge is found, or, until you willingly let your soul go out of it”

Death, that was the answer to her question…

“I see…” for some reason, she wasn't too bothered by that part of the problem… “So much for taking revenge on the Shitheads…” and managed to make a ‘Joke…’ about the part that did bothered her “Ah… then… the other option is safer?”

“Unknown. The other option is split into two main ones: the First consumes the smallest amount of knowledge, and the Second, uses the most knowledge of all options. The First involves creating an unstable rift in space and let the Ark fall into it, this will make the Ark land into an unpredictable location in another layer of this multiverse, and while it’s possible to ‘Aim’ at a layer where time moves faster than in our current one, it will cause ‘Noise’ that’s easily detected even by technological means, possibly guiding your enemies to that layer”

Sophie recoiled once she heard that, almost swearing that she wouldn't even consider doing that… but the voice continued before she managed to say anything

“The Second involves using Half the total knowledge stored in the Ark in order to create a perfect rift that would be undetectable and unable to be followed, but due to the time this fragment has existed without the energy provided by our Creator, and the damage received during the fragmentation, such usage of energy has a high chance of causing some kind of structural failure. This method will allow you to select, and arrive with a new body, at a planet of your choice without problems, but there is a ninety percent chance that the Ark will be damaged, and unavailable for use, for a few centuries at best, or, permanently at worst”

Giving her an even worse option…

“So you would die?!”

“The destruction of this interface is required to have the fuel required for the use of the Second option”

“NO!!!” Sophie was glowing with anger while floating inside the rainbow mist “I won’t allow that!!!” she just didn’t noticed any of the color changes around her

“Just the Second plan?”

That simple question made her hesitate…

“Shit…” and it made her pull at her hair again “Shit!”

‘If I stay… then I can fight back at them… if I survive… I don’t know if I can do enough… anything against them, but… leaving without doing anything, feels wrong… it would be me versus the world… I don’t know if magic is enough to match what I can do against them… and they can just destroy a whole sector and hope I’m dead after the whole place gets Dusted…’

Sophie knew about the many kinds of weapons they had available… the city where the man that rescued her, survived in, was right next to the largest ‘Dusted’ zone in the world, and that thing was made with just one weapon…

“How… how can I protect a different world from that…? From them…? How do I know that this new place isn’t already filled with more of them?” she was expecting more questions coming from the interface

“As I mentioned with the First plan, the rift can be aimed to a layer where time moves faster, just a few centuries would be enough to give that world a fighting chance. This difference in relative time can give you enough time to prepare defenses and warn the inhabitants of that world to remain vigilant in case you die of old age before they arrive”

The idea of becoming an old woman gave her a new burst of euphoria… that she didn’t fully understood where it was coming from…

“And the decision of what to do, with people similar to your enemies, will be up to you. As an alternative to this plan, you could do two unstable rifts. One to leave this layer, and the second to reach an even faster layer afterwards, this will make your enemies lose your tracks due to the time that would pass in this scenario”

“Oh!” that idea made her happy… “So! We jump to the middle of space! Then, we jump again to a new planet?!”

“Incorrect. This scenario takes into account your statement of not wanting to burn knowledge as fuel. You would need to arrive to a new world and train your magic to the point where you are able to provide the mana required to open the second rift”

But what the interface didn’t said, horrified her…

“I’m not going to sacrifice an innocent world to escape!!!” and her loud scream made sure to communicate her hatred of that idea

“That was me indicating one of the options available to you. It wasn't meant to be a suggestion, nor it was a way of manipulating your decision, your choice it’s yours to make”

A distressed groan escaped her while she tried to calm down…

‘Interface… an interface…’

“Forgive me for screaming… I’m not taking into account what you said about… being young?” that was the first word she could think of, that could describe the situation

“I’m not young, even if this interface was made recently, the Ark has been existing for a long time”

“Eh… then…” for some reason, Sophie felt like the voice got annoyed… even if it, and the mist around her, didn’t changed at all “Inexperienced at communicating?”

“That is more accurate”

After that, Sophie kept quiet and focused on breathing… getting confused for a minute while wondering if she needed to breath inside the Ark, but quickly ignored that, and went back to calming herself in silence

Going back over the whole thing at a lower speed…

“Question… you said that my body’s shape depends in my soul, but you also said… that you take my suggestions into account…?” noticing that detail

“Correct. Think about creating your body like it’s a recipe for food: your soul indicates what, and how, the main ingredients must be used. What I’ll be doing can be considered as following the recipe, and adding side-dishes”

“Food…? You are comparing me to a nutrient block?” she got slightly offended by the comparison “Those things are nasty!” she boiled in her anger for a few seconds until the interface continued

“It’s truly a shame what your enemies have done to this world, but if you choose to go to another world then you can learn cooking there. The few recipes available in the Ark, might be useless if that world lack the ingredients, but if you add that knowledge to the Ark, then I can compare those recipes to the ones already here”

The idea of ‘Food’ didn’t gave her an incentive to choose an option over the other. She had read the Rumors about the Shitheads having better food than the rest, but that wasn't enough for her to place a different world in danger

“I thought that the Ark only stored magic?” so she moved along

“Our Creator started with only recording magic, then more and more things were added along that. Sadly there is no index in this fragment, I cannot tell you about all the things that were added during that googol”

Sophie nodded and went back to thinking about her options, not noticing when she pulled her legs up to her chest and ‘Sat’ in there…

Eventually deciding to heard about the purification magic first

‘If it’s looks too hard… then I’ll have to leave…’

“I… can’t make my choice yet” and started to talk to the interface again “Can you tell me about the magic that I’ll need if I stay first? That might make me choose to leave… but at least I want to see what I’m getting into… one way or the other…”

“That can be done” a sphere of multicolored mist formed in front of her, becoming distinct enough to not be confused with the rest, and she started to lean forwards “Let’s us begin with the structure of the soul, this will give you an idea of what you must do during the meditation exercises, to find the location where mana is stored. After that, there is a list of the possible sensations your body might perceive, with those things done we can start with the most likely spell that-”

The change was sudden, but obvious, and the sphere vanished just as the voice interrupted itself

“Warning” even if the tone and volume didn’t changed at all, Sophie grew alarmed instantly and stood up “A considerable amount of energy is gathering around the Ark”

“W-what do you mean?!” she was looking around with worry and fear, but the mist didn’t revealed anything to her “Energy?! What kind-?! Ah?! The electron beam?!” reaching a conclusion of her own “SHITHEADS!!!”

“What do you mean?”

“The Rumors say that they are making a satellite capable of firing an electron beam! That thing can end all life!” she started to pull at her hair and her breathing got ragged as she tried to explain it “They are going to kill this whole sector just because of me?!!!”

“This energy can be used by the Ark to lower the amount of knowledge used for either plan”

And once more the interface hit her with something that made her groan in frustration…

‘I… I…! I can’t do anything…’ the color around her dulled once more

“Are you gathering it?”

“Correct”

“Good…” she sighed “They are probably going to send more tanks this way… and blame me for all the people that die above us…” she tried to remember what she read about the electron beam “It kills by doing something to a thing called DNA… and also makes nutrient blocks useless, so… it will kill everyone above and make the food useless… if we stay, then I’ll have to fight waves of tanks while my body is destroyed from the inside…”

More tears fell from her eyes…

“I can’t ask you to die to take me somewhere else… so, please, take us to another world…” and she made her choice “I’ll make sure to become strong enough to kill them all…”

“Understood. I’ll proceed to gather as much of this energy as possible, your body and the construct also will be used as fuel in order to make the rift. Now, I understand that you are distressed right now, but, do you wish to remain awake until then? There is a way of making your soul enter a state that resembles sleep, and considering that an unstable rift will be used, this state is required in order for the journey to not damage your mind”

“Ah…” that sounded ideal to her… but a part of her was wondering if she would wake up at all… “Can you become a woman…? Or do you prefer to stay like this…? I would like to wake up to the voice of a woman at least once… but if you don’t want then…”

“It can be done” the interface changed immediately, making Sophie's smile return to he face once she heard the emotionless, but melodious, feminine voice

“Thanks… if you ever get uncomfortable then you can change back… can I call you Amelia?” that idea came suddenly to her mind, and Amelia accepted her new name in less than a second “All right… then… see you in the other side”

Sophie tried to smile valiantly, but her smile faltered as her eyes closed…

-----

Amelia didn’t saw the need to explain to Sophie that the energy around the Ark wasn't coming from space: the mere idea of dealing with that weapon, gave her soul enough stress, to have some of it start to bleed off into her body, cutting seconds of the life that remained in it

The interface, now a she, also didn’t saw the need to inform her new owner, that by giving her a name, the speed in which a soul formed inside the Ark was going to increase… but Amelia already decided to just not say anything, the moment her future soul formed

Instead she focused into the task at hand

Sophie's body winced one last time, before it and her blood were covered in light that spread from the surface of what was the prow of the Ark. Just a moment later, that light was absorbed into the vibrating fragment, letting what was unneeded and unwanted in order to execute the plan, fall off the crystalline surface, as nothing more than a small amount of black dust

The Ark was still gathering the energy during all that time, and five minutes after the body was absorbed, that energy stopped. Amelia would have preferred to have at least twice the amount obtained, but it was better than nothing…

Besides… neither Sophie, nor herself, were bound to grant the request that was in the information attached to that energy…

So, the Ark dislodged itself from the ground, floating out of the hole while revealing that it was nothing more than a meter long spike, with a sharp, fragmented base. The ground and walls of the hole quickly dried and took an ashy and dead appearance as it moved away, looking just like most of the ground everywhere else in the planet…

A few seconds later, the Ark glided above the remains of the construct and just like Sophie's body, it was taken inside it. Generating a lot more black dust than her body did, but it was unnoticeable on top of the ground of that planet

With that done, Amelia selected an appropriate amount of knowledge to use as fuel, which ended being most of what remained from the planetary information gathered in the time that her Creator used the Ark to travel, since it was also part of the information that was used to create her, she would have preferred to keep it, but Amelia couldn't predict a way it could be useful to Sophie, other than as fuel for opening the rift

Soon, the Ark aimed upwards and a white, glowing, teardrop fell up from the tip…

It took just a millisecond for it to flatten into a disk barely wider than the spike, and even less time for the Ark to fall and pierce it, plus another millisecond for the rift to close. Nothing was left behind, and if any living being had been close, at most they would have felt a breeze, if they had been right next to the disk…

But for those that were attuned to magic, that simple looking action was far louder than the sound a star made during its whole existence…

And it was heard instantaneously…

That terrible fact, was impossible for Amelia, or the rest of the fragment, to notice. Instead, she had to deal with what met the Ark as it traveled the Connecting Void between universal layers

Hundreds of billions of hands, claws, and tendrils came from every possible direction and grasped the traveling fragment, pulling and pushing, each with their own intent, and Amelia studied each and every single one of them

Taking the energy they offered and trying to give it all, to Sophie's soul…

Most of it was rejected, because it wasn't compatible with the girl, but some of it did became part of her. The Ark made sure that none of what remained was wasted…

Until a particular hand joined the rest

And the energy it offered, resonated with what the Ark gathered before opening the rift

Much to Amelia’s disappointment, making her try to push that energy, and hand, away…

But even if it wasn't optimal… it still matched most of the parameters that her plan required. So, since the hand remained stubbornly attached to the Ark, she relented, and let it guide for the rest of the travel

She still made sure, that once the rest of the hands, claws, and tendrils had moved away, the remaining hand released the Ark right before entering the layer

Making their entry point be, three meters above the surface of the star, that had their targeted planet orbiting around it

The speed of the Ark was enough to make a full rotation around the star every five minutes, which was slower to what Amelia’s Creator would have managed to do with the same amount of resources, but she didn’t let that distract her

Sophie's body needed to be made, and it needed to be perfect…

-----

It felt like she had closed her eyes a mere second before-

“Sophie”

“Ah!?” hearing her name… which made her eyes open immediately, while her soul shivered with enough euphoria, to ignore how terrifying her awakening should have been

She was still inside the rainbow mist, but it had parted in front of her to reveal the chaotic, slowly roiling plasma that formed the scenery around the Ark

“We have arrived to the surface of the star near your future home. Here, the Ark will gather additional energy in order to make your body, and to store for other things, before exiting its orbit and move towards the planet” the word ‘Home’ also gave her another euphoria boost, that almost made her ignore what Amelia said afterwards…

“W-wait! What?!”

Almost…

“Why didn’t we do that then?! Go to a lone star in a layer! Gather energy for a new rift! And leave them eating dust!” naturally, Amelia started to talk after she was done screaming

“That’s impossible, unless, we were capable of using the Second method that you rejected immediately, more than once. I wasn't able to explain this completely before you discarded it: the First method uses places with Life as a guiding beacon, while the Second it’s capable of placing its user anywhere”

Sophie covered her face in shame, needing a few seconds until she was able to look forwards…

“I’m sorry… if I say something stupid again, or, I interrupt your explanations in half, please… Say: ‘Sophie, you aren't listening to me’ and I’ll try to shut my mouth…” she could feel a blush in her face, it felt like molten metal that she wished she could blame to the outside, but the rest of herself didn’t felt any kind of heat…

“I doubt there is going to be a need to say that. For example: in this case, continuing with the explanation at the time, would have made you choose another plan?”

“No” her answer was instantaneous “You just said it… we can’t do more that one of those jumps, and we need two at minimum… ugh, still! Keep it in mind… it seems that I’m more of a dumb bitch that I thought…”

“You don’t have any canidae traits, and mistakes are to be expected taking into account your lack of experience with magic”

“Canidae…?”

She understood the rest of the sentence, but that word was just weird noise to her

“The family name of a group of creatures, also known as canines, or just dogs, with a female dog being called a bitch”

“That word is more than just an insult…?” she shook her head in amusement “Sorry, you are talking about animals, right? Then, the state of that planet, killed all of them a long time ago… I think the last animal was some kind of hard shelled thing that were deliberately killed… because they made us sick… or something like that…”

“Understood. World destroying magic will be added to your training”

For just a moment, Sophie could feel pure wrath surrounding her…

‘…?!’ but it was gone so quickly, that she shook her head again, and just assumed that she was half-sleep

“So…! How much do we need…?” still, she was relieved that her voice didn’t cracked, while looking at the spectacle in front of her

“The Ark already has gathered enough energy for your body, and to use in other matters, including increasing our speed. We are already starting to leave orbit with a trajectory towards the planet. Time to arrival: one, outside, hour”

Just as Amelia was saying that, Sophie could see a horizon slowly forming in front of her, barely calculating that it would be almost a day for her before arrival, when the star filled ‘Sky’ took her attention away

Surviving in the slums, or, the wonderful year, by comparison, that she lived with the old man, forbid her from ever seeing the sky…

It would have been covered by contamination anyway, but she always wanted to see the sky… she was made to be in space… so, at that moment… the pictures of stars that she had stolen, paled in comparison to what she was seeing…

“Thanks for showing me this…! It’s wonderful…” she could feel her abdomen starting to squeeze the more her field of vision was being taken by the void

“You are welcome, but it wasn't my main intention. I woke you up, in order to make sure you were prepared for the next time you would wake up, that way your new body isn't going to surprise you with jarring new feelings”

“The previous one, was, the jarring one…” Sophie deadpanned with a bored expression, before giggling “Thanks again~!”

“You are welcome. I also wanted to mention that in this layer, after you live for fifty years, a week will pass in your previous world. I want to apologize, a century would have been better”

She laughed for a few minutes before she could recover and addressed Amelia again

“Fifty years is longer that the life expectancy in that place~” she smiled widely “You are giving me a whole new life, before I have to worry about going back there, and kick ass!” her abdomen squeezed some more, and her breathing started to speed up… “Seriously, I… yes, I’ll do that: train up, get strong, make defenses, go back there and do some tactical assassination… maybe make some skyscrapers collapse just to make sure…”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Ah… it’s more of a fantasy, really… but if we go back to the Buried City, then we can fly in there until we are under the buildings, plant some magic bombs under them, detonate all of them at the same time… with just ten of those… gone, then the rest of the Shitheads are going to finish… each other…” she blinked slowly, trying to calm down her accelerating breathing… “Then… wait… waiting…!” breathing nothing…

The Ark was letting her see the stars everywhere around them, without any kind of interference coming from the light of the local star…

It was a wonderful sight to see…

But…

‘Empty…! Empty! Empty! Empty! Empty! Empty! Empty!’

“Sophie. Close your eyes”

She did so with a whimper…

-----

Feeling off after a moment passed…

“Sophie, you can open them now” until Amelia gave her good news “We have arrived”

Sophie slowly started to open an eye, but when she saw an enormous blue mass in front of her, she couldn't keep them closed and gasped…

At the angle they had arrived at the planet, she could see a big, circular continent dominating the illuminated equator of the sphere, part of another one was also visible above it, but the angle didn’t let Sophie see the size of that landmass. From the dark side of the world, she could see a web of lights extending along some sections of it, and she instinctively knew that those parts held people living in there…

She could also see the green of forests and the gray of tall mountains, visible in the central continent, with even a small desert visible near those mountains… some of the clouds almost made her uneasy, due to what they represented in the previous world, but the white color that she could see in them, quickly made her realize, that by comparison this world was clean

But she didn’t knew any of the words needed to describe the things that gave her joy while seeing her new home…

Most of the oceans in the previous world were filled with toxic sludge instead of water. Trees died long before the water did. Every mountain had been mined and leveled, to both, make space and to get more resources, before eventually being Buried under the new cities. And the remaining deserts, were man-made as the result of many weapon tests

Such sight, stole her breath and fears away…

“Beautiful…” managing to say that word before she recovered, and started to point at things in the scenery “What are those?! What’s making that green color?! Ah!?” getting interrupted by a flash of light coming from a cloud, making her felt a tinge of despair “That was lightning?! This world has corrosive rain too!?”

“Lightning is a normal thing in the water cycle. I don’t have information on this world, so, I can’t guarantee that it lacks any acidic rain, but at first scan it looks like a healthy world”

Those words made her smile again, making the colors of the mist surrounding her shine brightly

“Now I shall place you into sleep one more time before finishing with the creation of your body. Are you ready?”

Sophie almost accepted right there…

“What happened to me…? I have seen picture of the stars before… I was made for… why did…?” but she wanted to heard a few things first

“The closest thing, that the Ark as records of, related to what happened to you, seems to be a combination of an instinctual reaction to the danger of being in a void without breathable air, and your soul struggling to accept the idea of being without a body that breaths”

“Oh…!” that made sense to her “Then one last quick thing!” and she hurried before it could happen again “We appeared by the star, doesn’t that means that the… eh… trail…? Will end in that spot of space, and with time, drift further away from the planet? I mean, isn't this star part of a moving galaxy?”

“It is, the galactic center at this moment is behind us at the other side of the star, but you must remember that we used Life as a beacon. This use of magic, forces the entry point to this layer to be in this star system, which at first will cause any Gate, Portal, or, Rift, created with technological means to finish right by the surface of the star. Destroying them once the path is open due to plasma and gravity, but don’t worry about your previous planet, those things will be unable to remain open for even a second in that circumstance, limiting the damages to a radius of a few kilometers at most, before closing”

Sophie winced, hoping that at least a few Shitheads were going to get caught in the area of effect, but she knew that Dusted sectors, were going to be the more likely place for testing that kind of things…

She didn’t stopped to think that maybe, the other side of the trail also was stuck in the place near she fell on top of the Ark…

“And while it’s possible for them to alter the exit point eventually, the Ark will be capable of hearing the noise created by any attempt in this system. Just remember that I’ll warn you if that happens, and that a century for you, are going to be two weeks for them”

“Thanks you… for everything…” Sophie smiled, feeling a lot of gratitude for Amelia, and took a deep breath, not feeling any discomfort now that she was looking at the planet in front of her… “I’m ready!”

Her chest filling with hope as she closed her eyes again

-----

Amelia stopped the Ark once it got near the planet, just to make sure that Sophie wasn't suffering before receiving her new body. Once the girl confirmed her intent and was sleeping again, the Ark glowed white before accelerating towards the planet

Being mixed up for a falling star by the few that saw it, as it flashed through the sky. Stopping suddenly, and silently, at a centimeter from the ground of a forest in the middle of the night

Only when a loud spark of static came from the ground towards the Ark, is that any animals nearby noticed the existence of the spike, and fled from it as the glow intensified

Slowly changing shape against the ground, until the glow receded…

Revealing the sleeping body of a young woman curled on her side while a rainbow crystal glowed on the back of her right hand

Sophie's new body had gray colored skin, with purple lips, and a milky tone on the palm of her hands. On her forehead, a pair of black, smooth horns curled up and backwards, having the same length than her hands and the width of two fingers at the base, before ending on a dull tip

Her naturally short nails, had an also natural deep blue color of the same hue than her hair, but her hair slowly became white as it grew long. It just happen that her hair was short enough for her to not notice this easily once she was awake

The long gray and black tail, that was trapped between her thighs and curled around her right forearm in her sleep, ended in a flat, delicate looking, spade-shape tip, that wiggled slowly as she rested. The base of the tail, where it started on her lower back, was fairly thick and had the same color as most of her skin, but it became quite thin as it reached the wiggling tip and it smoothly turned black by the middle of it, the dark side of the tail also looked to be glistening under the moonlight coming from the two moons that Sophie couldn't notice before due to how close she was to the planet when she saw it

All those things together revealed that she was definitively not human…

Her body tensed for a moment as a gust of early, cold autumnal wind, moved along the forest, but she reacted to it by just curling a bit more. It wasn't the worst place she had sleep so far, and her body was more resistant than a human’s

In fact, she could have been sleeping naked in the middle of winter, and the cold wouldn't have woke her up, but Amelia had managed to get her a simple brown outfit: a long-sleeved button shirt, a pair of long and sturdy pants, and a pair of square looking shoes. She also had given her some pieces of cloth in an attempt to mimic underwear…

But the fragment had no knowledge about making those, so they were very simple things…

Hours later, as daybreak started and light fell on her eyelids, Sophie woke up. Opening her eyes to reveal the metallic green color of her irises, before closing them with a wince…

-----

Sophie scrunched her eyes in annoyance, she had no idea why the light of her room was on, nor why her eyes hurt so much that day… she also hadn't heard any alarm, so she knew that she wasn't late to start looking for a job…

Then she heard her own wince

“AH?!!!” and noticed the thick thing between her legs, opening her eyes in shock as the thing wiggled and pulled at her arm and lower back, as everything that had happened to her, came crashing to the front of her mind, waking her up completely

Slowly trying to make sense of what she was seeing, squealing for a few seconds until she realized that the gray and black thing was part of her and that she controlled it, slowly managing to get it to release her arm…

“What-?! Ah!? My voice…?!” becoming flustered as she fully internalized her new voice “Ah~?!”

Her hands moved to touch her throat, but her arms accidentally squeezed her breasts in the process. Making her push her arms away, raising her torso from the ground as she opened her legs to release her waving tail

“Ah~?” sighing as she appreciated the pull, her restrained, and weighty, breasts had… before tearing her eyes away from them, and getting them stuck on her wide hips and thick thighs for a few seconds before looking back her chest

‘This happened…’ she sighed, enjoying the sound she made and every other signal that her body was giving her at the time ‘I’m… I’m here…’ wind against her skin and hair, rough clothes covering her skin, her heart beating against her ears ‘This is real… I’m alive~’

Licking her lips with her blue tongue as her heart started to beat faster-

[Good morning Sophie]

“Kya?!!!” almost jumping to her feet when she heard Amelia’s voice in her head, making her look around for a sign of the Ark

[I apologize for surprising you, please focus in the back of your right hand]

Sophie did just that and froze, becoming aware of the triangular crystal for the first time, appreciating the moving rainbow colors on its surface, as it reflected some of the light, for a few seconds, before opening and closing that hand repeatedly. The Ark didn’t got in the way of her movements, nor it caused any discomfort on her skin while moving her fingers, or by touching the crystal

“Good morning…?” she finally repeated back to Amelia, it was more of a question, because she hadn't heard that expression before

[It is a good morning, it has been a while since the Ark was outside, after being buried underground for so long]

That comment made Sophie look around, becoming overwhelmed once she noticed the colors and shapes surrounding her in the morning light. The sight was so new, and beautiful, to her, that her eyes filled with tears, making her lay down as her mind tried to comprehend what she was feeling

After waiting for a few minutes, Amelia spoke again

[Are you all right? I need to tell you something important]

“This place it’s too pretty…” she rubbed her closed eyes to clear the tears that remained in them “Is something wrong?” feeling a bit worried at what she expected to be bad news

[Not wrong, just something that I couldn’t confirm until landing. Like your previous world, this one is a magic-less world, this will make your progress at learning magic somewhat slow, but I’m already preparing your future training regime. This also means that this world will slowly change with time, but the details about that can wait]

Sophie gave an unsure nod, before lifting her torso again and glancing at her surroundings again…

The leaves of the trees were changing from greens to their amber colors, the wind was causing rustling sounds all around her with both the branches and the bushes of the forest, there were many plants visible between the trees from her position, together with leaves that had already fallen from the trees…

“Was that… place like this…?” she went back to lay on her side against the ground with her eyes closed, once more getting overwhelmed by the nature around her “How did that world became the dead mess that it is now…?”

[I don’t know. The Ark arrived at the early stages of the formation of that star system, getting caught in its gravitational pull after traveling for an unknown time]

“You didn’t kept track?” Sophie got curious and frowned, but didn’t opened her eyes yet

[After fragmentation the Ark did kept track of time, but after doing it in the True Void for ten thousand years, the lack of ways to recover energy became an issue, so, most features were disabled and only important events were recorded. Those events are: entering a layer of a new multiverse, landing and sinking into the magma of a planet, and finally meeting you]

Sophie blushed at the idea of being considered important by someone so insanely old…

“I’m glad that we met…”

[Me too. After all, stagnation is terrible for gathering knowledge] Sophie frowned a bit after hearing that… [Are you prepared to hear about your new species?]

“Yes!” but hearing that, made her sit eagerly on the ground, crossing her legs as her tail curled on her lap “Ah…” getting a bit distracted in the process, as she adjusted at the euphoria her body gave her as she moved “My butt is supposed to be this big…?” unable to stop herself from asking that as she glanced at the base of her tail “And what’s wrong with my back?” feeling something new against her skin

[I apologize, there is very little information on the Ark about clothes, therefor, the fabric keeping your breasts in place, is also constricting the wings on your back] Sophie's mind immediately went to the wings of flying transports… but as she twisted in place, she became sure that the odd feelings on her back was of skin, not metal [And your base appearance as a Succubus, is related to how much euphoria it gives you]

Amelia’s words made her look forwards and to her hand in confusion

“I’m a what…?”

[While following your soul to use the Ark’s knowledge to create your body, a great part of the Vessel was filled with fragments from the Succubi section, taking just enough fragments from the Formless section to create a new variant, and I added a few extra fragments from others, in order to ensure maximum cohesion]

Sophie nodded… unsure of what to say at the time, specially because she already loved her body

[Considering this, your species is cataloged as a new one, with the name of: Ark Succubus Queen. Please, ask at any point during the explanation if you have any doubts]

She nodded again with a smile, the tip of her tail wiggling eagerly, revealing her desire to hear more

[The Succubi are part of the creatures called Demons, taking a hyper-focused approach to reproduction, letting them do that action with any kind of species that has a soul that is both Sentient and Sapient. But take note: they belong to the Peace Demons’ side, therefor, they can’t reproduce with War Demons, both due to the War Demons’ lack of souls, and because they aren't physically capable of reproducing]

“What is sentient and sapinet?” she asked

[Sapient, not sapinet. I shall explain it once you have seen an animal, that will make the explanation easier. Ready to continue?]

After a hum, a few seconds ignoring the fact that the word reproduction was mentioned, and a nod, Amelia continued

[As a new species, and in addition to being a Queen, this means that your abilities aren't fully known, but I can make an approximation with the remaining knowledge, and what I already have observed and recorded during the creation of your body. To begin with the most pressing issue: You Need Sex]

“What?!” Sophie blushed despite her attempts to ignore reality, turning the gray in her cheeks to a dark red

[More specifically: you need the wavelength of energy that compatible souls produce during the act. This includes your own, so, masturbation and voyeurism, help with this need, but it’s more efficient to have a partner or more]

“Or more?!” once more her face was feeling as if someone poured molten metal on her… with anger growing uncontrollably inside her

[Correct, since they are hyper-focused in sex and reproduction, Succubi have been recorded to be insatiable-]

“I’m not having sex with a dude!” she finally pushed her wrath-filled words out

[And there is no problem with that. Two women can have sex together without issue]

“Really?!” that information shocked her, staggering her out of her anger, to the point where she almost suggested going back to the previous world to start killing Shitheads…

[Yes]

Sophie giggled with a wide smile on her face, visualizing a couple of women she used to work with, kissing each other, while being naked, in her mind for a few seconds, before she squealed and covered her face with her hands, feeling her exited blush on the palm of her hands and how it spread to her ears. Noticing for the first time that her ears were pointy for some reason

[Ready to continue?] and that moment of distraction was used by Amelia to pull her attention back

“S-sure~” the tip of her tail now was waving faster than before and her hardening nipples were obvious from under the shirt

[Before continuing with your need for sex, I’ll tell you about the Formless: those are creatures with no base shape, instead, they can change their bodies at will, in order to copy other creatures’ shapes, and to a limited extent, their abilities. To learn those abilities, they use an innate form of mind-reading, to passively learn what they need, but this isn't the same as actively learning anything they want from their target]

“Wait… what…?” she couldn't make sense of what Amelia just said to her “I can hear what other people think…?” just something that sounded awfully like the opposite of a ‘Feature’ she blocked while messing with her bio-circuits in the previous world…

[Not exactly. Example: if a Formless copies the pincers of a humanoid crab, the Formless immediately learns how strong those pincers are, and the best way to use them in combat, but if the humanoid is reading something at the time, then the Formless has no idea of what it is, unless they read it afterwards]

Crab was another word she didn’t understood, but she just assumed that it was another kind of magical creature like a Succubus. Still, the example did made it easier for her to understand what Amelia said before

“I get it now…”

[Good. Now: as an Ark Succubus Queen, you have the ability to Alter your base shape like a Formless, but your mind-reading has been redirected to sexual matters in order to facilitate reproduction. This means that you will innately know what your potential partners will like during sex]

Sophie's smile grew with her blush again. That ability sounded lovely to have…

[Alteration is particularly useful right now since this is a magic-less world, this means that, potentially, only humans exist here, so, before leaving this spot we are going to practice until you can hide your demonic characteristics]

“Ah…” Amelia’s next words made her snap back to reality with some fear… “That means the tail and the wings only… right…?” she didn’t wanted to lose her femininity, so her tone was a guarded one…

[Skin tone, ear shape, and the horns, too]

“Horns…?” Amelia told her to touch her forehead, and when Sophie did that “Ah…?” she started to touch all over them and her hair “Why do I have antennae? Can I connect to the InfoNet with them…?” she didn’t liked the idea of being vulnerable to a hack, that was the reason she never got anything that was always connected to the InfoNet, disabling the ‘Feature’ that let Shitheads read her mind, would have been pointless if she got one of those…

[Horns are different from antennae, currently it’s unknown if your horns have any magical function, so, they are at best a close quarter weapon for now]

After nodding and touching her horns for a few seconds more, she asked Amelia to continue

[Now we can continue with your need for sex. The energy that you’ll obtain with that activity, often simply called Lust Mana, is used by the Succubi mainly to: maintain an extended lifespan, maintain youthful appearances, unique Lust based spells, improved reproductive abilities, capabilities to improve partners’ abilities, and more. Warning]

Sophie stopped breathing as she started to look around with her tail raising to be behind her-

[Some Succubi can kill with sex] but the warning was about her, making Sophie choke and cough in panic, as her tail started to smack the ground. Only when she recovered is that Amelia continued [Not all of them, but due to the way the knowledge was consumed, I can’t confirm which kind of Succubus was used to make your body]

“W-weren’t they ‘Peace Demons’?!” Sophie asked incredulously, her tail dragging along the ground behind her, her growing arousal vanishing immediately at that point

[That is just the way our Creator described them, while comparing them to the War Demons. Also: ‘Peaceful’ never means ‘Harmless’ when talking about magical creatures]

“H-how I’m supposed to know if…?” she groaned trying to think about how to speak about that mood-killer bomb, her tail curling tightly behind her

[According to the information on other Succubi, Eating Lust Mana is a conscious action. Those Succubi that can’t kill while Eating, feel full when they arrive at their limit and might get sick if they try to do it further. Those that can kill, instead feel addicted to the feeling, even if the action results in wasted Mana]

Knowing that… didn’t helped too much, and Sophie realized the problem immediately

“I don’t know what ‘Feeling full’ means… and the old man warned me about addictions making the Shitheads earn more credits, so I never tried those things…” she groaned again and covered her face “The only way of knowing is…”

[Live testing with a partner, because masturbation can’t kill a Succubus] Amelia made her groan again [But don’t worry too much about it: Succubi are highly efficient when dealing with Lust Mana, just Eating once per month is enough to maintain a relaxed life for most recorded Succubi, and as long the Ark remains connected with you, then I can warn you at the time]

Hearing that… made her blush come back, and her tail to relax a bit, but it still was raised behind her

‘That sounds hot…?’ she was surprised that the idea of Amelia seeing her having sex, didn’t bothered her at all…

[Next: your tail is a reproductive sex organ]

“What?!” Sophie quickly turned to look at her tail, making it coil around her right arm until she got the tip on the palm of her hand and she started to rub it… poke it along the thinnest portion… and even giving it some pinches… but… “Are you sure?” she couldn't feel any kind of pleasure from either colored side on her tail… “It just feels wet, but it doesn’t actually makes things wet…” the gray side did felt a bit more sensitive than the black, but it was comparable to touching her arms

[Reminder: there is no sexual knowledge in this fragment of the Ark. Also: that wetness is actually a magic fluid that keeps it clean in order to be used during sex, but please, keep it, and the rest of your body, clean, before engaging in that activity. As a Succubus, you are completely immune to any kind of sexually transmitted disease, and in order to produce healthy offspring your body is naturally an extremely hostile environment to any invasive elements, rendering you nearly immune to all other kind of sickness and resistant to most chemicals. But you still need to maintain proper hygiene]

That was an obvious thing to Sophie…

“There are sexually transmitted diseases…?” but that fact was horrifying her a bit at the moment

[Seventy percent of the worlds visited by our Creator had some kind of disease that matched that description. Don’t worry about that knowledge: even in planets that had Succubi, but lacked any of those diseases, the Succubi had that ability too]

Sophie glanced at the Ark, unsure if that comment deserved an answer…

[Now: one of the species added by me, plus your capabilities to improve your partners abilities, plus your base form, plus your Alteration ability: gives you the opportunity to change the body of a willing target] she froze [This requires both Mana and Lust Mana, but this doesn’t needs the required Lust Mana to be from the target]

“I can help girls like me…?” she started to smile…

[Yes. This also can work in men too] and just as the happiness was giving her a buzz [Sophie. There is a drawback with this action]

She got the feeling that Amelia had gotten serious, even if she couldn’t actually hear the difference, which made her mood chill nearly instantly, before she nodded

[As mentioned before, Formless Lack a base form, which causes them the need to maintain a careful control of their body, because they can easily lose their ego and forget that they are Formless. This Weakness is part of the species, the fact that your Succubus side is dominant, changes this without making it go away completely: I calculate that if you attempt to change someone’s body like you suggested, that person won’t be able to change again in a period of a year after this action, and for three days You will temporarily return to the shape you had before turning into a Succubus]

Sophie's face twisted in horror, as her tail released her arm and coiled tightly being her, and she started pulling at her horns. A soft whimper escaped her lips while tears fell from her closed eyes

She started to shiver as Amelia continued

[At this point in time I can’t confirm if this drawback is permanent for your species, or, if it can be trained to something similar to: making you unable to Alter your body out of your current shape, for a period of time. I’ll add spells that might help determinate this, to your training]

No answer was made, she couldn't stop herself from crying… because her revulsion to the idea made her sick, no matter how much she wanted to tell herself that it was just a period of three days…

The idea that there was a chance of going back to that…

‘No…! Please…! No…!’

She didn’t knew the words to describe how much she hated it…

-----

It took her half an hour to calm down, Amelia was quiet the whole time… but Sophie's mind couldn't avoid thinking that she was being judged…

‘Does… does this… makes me the same as a Shithead…?’ her stomach churned painfully at that idea…

Finally making her release her horns and look forwards

“Is- ah?!” flinching once she saw her hands

Now the tip of her fingers had blue claws, sharp looking ones at that… and she noticed marks in the skin of her palms that matched those claws. She didn’t cut herself, but she wasn't sure if that was due to luck, or, for some other reason related to her body

“Is there anything else…?” she didn’t noticed that her horns now were a few centimeters longer nor that they had sharp tips. She also didn’t noticed how her fangs sharpened too

[Being the first and only of your species will cause you to have an instinctive desire to reproduce, you might feel out of control at times, but just remember that reproduction also involves your partner, so, talk to them. They might not be ready for that]

Sophie nodded while glaring at her claws

[And that would be all for now, currently there are no more easily observable traits from the other knowledge used in your body. I’ll inform you if new information becomes relevant, or, if due to being a Queen, something reacts differently to what I said]

‘That’s a relief… right now, I don’t want more surprises… but…’

“Can you tell me anything else about reproduction?” not knowing about that topic was annoying her

[Not without knowledge about sex available. Right now, what I have said about about Succubi needing sex and being good at reproducing, is the same as if Someone ignorant says that a tree does photosynthesis to survive and that they reproduce with seeds, but that Someone, doesn’t knows what photosynthesis, or a seed, are. For now, just keep in mind that babies are small versions of their respective species, that grow with time until they reach the size of the adults. Once you see one these, what I said should make sense]

She nodded again…

“What is a tree?” but couldn't stop herself from asking that…

There was a moment of silence where she just looked at the back of her hand, before the Ark glinted and her hand was pulled

“Ah?!” with her index finger, pointing at one of the surrounding trees

[That plant is a tree, I don’t know what name the locals have given to it] with that done the pull on her hand vanished…

“Oh…” she started to believe that Amelia was exasperated, even if she couldn't hear a difference in her voice… “Is that a ‘Baby’ tree?” but she was curious, so, Sophie pointed at a smaller plant nearby

[It’s a plant called bush, local name unknown, it’s also unknown if the green spheres hanging from it, also known as berries, are ready to be eaten]

“Those things are food…?”

Amelia confirmed it, but Sophie wasn't hungry at the time, so she remained sitting there, looking at her surroundings…

‘I’m going to make her angry with all my questions…’ while being worried about-

[There is no way I’m going to get angry at you for your lack of knowledge] Sophie was jolted as she heard Amelia [You are not at fault here]

“You can read my mind…?” feeling shame filling her, trying to remember all the things she had been thinking since meeting her

[While inside the Ark, there is no separation between thought and voice, and the connection we share maintains that lack of separation] Sophie started to blush [I repeat, I’m not angry or disappointed with you. I’m just constantly rearranging the training schedule, and I can understand the need to keep things to your self, so, I’ll help you construct something called Mind Palace, to give you some privacy back. This also should help with the mental abilities of your species too]

Sophie just nodded while her face was covered by her hands…

[Sophie?]

“Hm…?”

[This was the right choice]

Until Amelia made her flinch and look back at the Ark

“W-what…?”

[Due to your species, the only purification spells that I can teach you right now with ease, are nature-based. In the dead and dark ground where we met, you wouldn't have been able to maintain them: the trees around you use light in order to survive, and all those purification spells involve using some kind of light-using plant]

“So… even without the electron beam…?”

[Correct]

Sophie smiled softly, not needing further explanation about the topic, starting to relax after receiving some validation…

As much as she could with her wings being pressed against her back…

“You said something about hiding my wings…?” and decided to focus on the things that she could do at the time

‘Now my body isn't holding me back~’

[Correct, once that is done we should go to civilization. You will find a small town to your left, we are far enough to not met someone before you are ready, and I don’t recommend becoming a hermit with your species]

That comment made her laugh, even if she doubted that Amelia was making a joke

“All right~ teach me what I need, then I’ll go looking for cute girls~”

With that said, she started to learn the basics of how to use her new body