Chapter 4: Questions Answered?
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Tired from the constant high-level Talent usage, she stepped through a portal and into her office. Checking the time she quickly changed out of her all-black attire and into her one-piece Marshall's Service uniform. The ocean blue jumper fit her like a glove ensuring her alluring curves were on full display. She didn't particularly care how she looked in her uniform but she had a sneaky suspicion that whoever issued uniforms did.

*Attention Special Agent Starks prepare the reinitialize Network connection.*

Fuck. Aiden walked behind her desk, sat, and made herself comfortable. ”Understood. Comense reconnection.” She knew this was going to happen. The standard protocol stated that upon return to active duty all Marshalls must reestablish their connection to the Network. She found the entire process to be invasive and intrusive in the extreme. Regardless, she steeled herself for what she knew was coming. 

*Warning, data flow initiated.*

Her head snapped back as terabytes of information forcefully flowed into the Interface Node at the base of her neck. Every Marshall has to go through four years of arduous training. Once they graduate they’re implanted with an Interface Node that gives them access to, among other benefits the Network. 

*...Connection re-established.*

Reconnecting to the Network can be a painful experience because it required the transfer of massive amounts of information. All this data was temporarily stored in the Information Node.  The pain started when that data was forcibly pushed directly from the node into the cerebral cortex. At worse the process could cause intense headaches and at best room tilting vertigo. 

In Aiden’s case, the process always made her feel like the floor and ceiling had switched places. She closed her eyes and sat back in her chair. It took almost five minutes for her head to stop spinning and her stomach to stop churning. Once the dizziness finally passed she opened her eyes just in time to see the shadow of someone lurking just outside her office door. 

”How… Oh, that’s right. ” This was one of the reasons why she hated the Network. As long as you had sufficient access privileges and the person you're looking for is also connected it's easy to find someone. ”I know you're out there,” she said to the person behind the door. ”You might as well come in.”


*Theodore, wake up.* A female voice called out with authority.

He wanted to continue sleeping so badly but something about the way the voice was called him impelled him to claw his way back to consciousness.

Is that my name? he pondered, grudgingly as he opened his eyes and sat up on his elbows. The name sounds right but… His gut told him something was off.

Intrigued, he followed this new train of thought a little further but immediately felt a subtle resistance pervading through his thoughts thus preventing him from doing so. 

*You’re wasting your time.* A voice said calmly, sensing his attempts. *For the time being, you won't discover anything you would consider useful. At least not until I think you're ready.*

”Thanks for the heads up. Theodore said as he looked around for the source of the voice but saw no one. That was the least of his concerns. His breath caught in his throat when he realized he was lying on the floor of a featureless white space. 

He heard the voice laugh lightly. *I find it funny that you’re more concerned with where you are and less with your current state of undress.*

”What the hell are you…” He looked down at his body and blew out a long breath. At this point why was he even surprised about anything he saw, or in this case didn't see anymore. But for form's sake, he asked. ”Why exactly am I naked?” And why doesn't this body feel as familiar to me as it should?

This thought was met by the silvery sound of feminine laughter. *Come on Theo. Use that highly acute brain of yours to figure this out. If it makes you feel better, a part of your subconscious has already figured it out. You just need to dig it out.*

Suddenly, a painful memory flashed through his thoughts. It was as if her words had turned some unknown key in his mind. ”I— died,” he said haltingly.

*Go on,* she encouraged helpfully.

”And then—.” The words stuck in his throat, refusing to come out at first but suddenly the flood gates opened. ”And then I woke up without a body—.” He rattled off every crazy thing that happened. The more he spoke the more his thoughts cleared. The more his thoughts cleared the more the absurdity of his situation struck him. 

*Judging by the look on your face I take it you remember something of your past?*

Theodore laughed. ”Yeah you could say that.” Then his expression became somber. ”Now I just need to reconcile the fact that my mind now exists in someone else's body.” He suddenly smiled again.” I also find it strange how selective my memory loss is. It’s almost as if someone targeted only specific memories”

*Really,* she replied in an offhand manner. *The way I see it you know everything you need too right now. Anything more would just confuse you.*

”That's easy for you to say. It's not your head being messed with.”

*True, but the way I see it you already know more than you think you do.*

The voice had a point. Theodore may not have known who he was in his past life, he still had access to all his memories of watching and reading about scenarios that matched his current circumstances pretty closely.

Theodore stood up and took the opportunity to get a better look at himself. A part of his mind that felt strangely separate from himself, took the opportunity to dispassionately tick off his most prominent features. Which turned out to be pointless because said information materialized on a window that suddenly appeared before him. 

Theodore pinched the bridge of his nose in disgust. ”You can't be serious.” It all made sense now. The violence of his last memory before he woke up combined with his current surroundings and the sudden appearance of that window left only one answer. The only thing left was to get final confirmation. ”Not only have I reincarnated into another world. I got stuck with quite possibly the most cliché ability imaginable.”  

*Hit it in one,* the voice answered approvingly. *More specifically your abilities will draw from a blend of several types of RPGs.*

Well, at least that made sense. He shrugged and stretched languorously, and looked down at his new body. At least my new body looks good. 

Something clicked in the back of his mind. He casually waved away the current window and with a thought brought up another one.

He nodded in approval, rolled his shoulders, and took a deep breath. ”I don’t suppose you’d consider telling me who you are? And if you’re feeling really crazy where are you? I'd be nice to actually face the person I'm talking to.”

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