The sound of the alarm grows louder, to me at least, as I step toward the machine responsible for it. Each step I take makes my heart pound a little louder and a little faster in my chest, even though I know, logically, that this situation is under control.
As my heart begins to pound in my chest I feel something that makes me panic a little. One of the powers of one of the essences that was baked into me gives me a special sort of pet. And that pet is beginning to awaken. Which is not good.
There is a tattoo on my back that I was not aware of before I gained awareness of the essences that are baked into me. Part of the reason why I did not know about the tattoo is that it is not actually a tattoo, but rather my unusual pet in its resting state. The creature is tied to me, as a sort of powerful familiar, and if I continue to panic it might awaken and free itself from my back in an effort to protect me.
I take a deep breath, even as the blaring alarms grows noticeably louder. I manage to turn inward and reread the description of the essence, the “Cosmic Space Dragon” essence, that is responsible for the creature which currently rests on my back. I am quiet as I step towards the power-scanning device which reminds me a bit of a machine I know of as a metal detector. I sense my space drake, the creature that is my familiar, fall fully back asleep as I reach the space right in front of the machine.
The receptionist urges me to step through the machine and I quietly do as she asks. The second I step under the machine I feel time freeze around me and I find myself unable to move at all. A moment later, while reality is still frozen, I receive an alert.
[Alert: [Pause] Forcibly Activated
Your variant of [Low Frequency] is interfering with the power-detector that is attempting to scan you. Until you make your choices regarding how it will register your power you, and the reality you are in, will be temporarily [Paused].]
I mentally sigh as I read that information, and when I am done I watch the alert vanish. Grateful for boosts to my intelligence, I quietly inform the system that I want the machine that is right above me to register me as having an unnatural but almost imperceptibly tiny boost to my luck.
I want it to register me as the weakest kind of “Powered” being, which is funny given my true power with even just the “Essence of the Cosmic Space Dragon” I am incredibly powerful. And that is only one of the three essences, and is arguably the weakest of the three, that I came into existence possessing...
As soon as the system registers that information, I feel time begin to flow around me again. I step through it and the alarm automatically shuts off as I sense the machine scanning me.
I smile at the receptionist and notice a textbox that appears over her head. It says a name, one that I assume to be hers. “Brunhilda Valcry” is the name that hovers over the woman’s head, who smiles back at me as soon as she sees me flash her a grin. Meanwhile the machine stops scanning me and I listen as the machine begins to speak again.
“Power scanning complete. The scanned individual is a Beta-level power-wielder possessing a miniscule boost to their luck. Power-possessor, please proceed to the reception desk and begin the registration process.” The machine says, causing me to laugh as I walk towards the receptionist.
“Hi there! How may I help you today?” She asks, as she studies me. She is a beautiful, and busty, receptionist who is dressed in a professional looking outfit consisting of a skirt and a blazer with a red shirt. Her clothes strain against her body in a way that is mildly distracting. Nevertheless my willpower is strong enough that I manage to keep my eyes on her face, and as a result of that I manage to see her startingly clear blue eyes and her lovely brown hair.
“Hello, my name is Arthur and I am one of the newly arrived ‘Fallers’. My friend, Jerry,” I explain before gesturing to my companion who is currently stepping through the power-detecting machine. “And I were guided here by Linda Lee Danvers. We’re here to… register as citizens of Vaporwave City. I’m unsure of the appropriate nomenclature.” I tell her, causing her to blink at me in confusion.
“’Nomenclature’?” She asks, her doe-like eyes filling with confusion. I chuckle lightly as I ready a response to her. At this point Jerry has stepped fully through the machine and it has not gone off in the slightest.
“Sorry, I wasn’t sure how fancy I needed to be. We’re just here to do all the stuff we need to do to register and get… signed up as residents of the city.” I explain, vaguely, and that causes her to smile at me. There is something deeply innocent about her smile that makes it hard not to be happy in her presence. She seems like a ray of sunshine and I like that about her.
“Oh, around me you don’t need to be fancy at all.” She tells me, a bright grin on her face. Without stopping looking at me she begins to click on her computer, typing away for a few moments even as Jerry manages to reach me. Kara steps through the machine as well and then walks over to the three of us. If Kara is registered as a powered being, apparently that doesn’t set off the machine…
Perhaps I should have touched it when I stepped past it? That… that might have looked weird to Kara, so it’s probably best not to test it.
A split second later I hear Brunhilda press a button and then I listen to the whirring noises of a printer coming to life somewhere underneath Brunhilda’s desk. Brunhilda looks away from me for a second and grabs a few stacks of paper.
As Kara glances at Brunhilda I silently activate one of my powers. Thanks to my version of “The Essence of Xenon” I possess an array of impressive powers and mutations, all of which I can use freely thanks to one of the mutations that I possess because of the very same essence that grants me my new powers in the first place.
I activate one of these powers with a thought, and in doing so I create a new… window through which I can view reality, locked firmly in my mind’s eye. If this were a video game, it’d be like I was playing a multiplayer, split-screen game along with a friend. The second “Screen” I can see is just of my surroundings, but with a flex of my mind I find the “Screen” repositioning itself like I had just taken a step forward.
I focus on this “Screen” and I begin to move it around more freely. As I do I find it that it takes a bit of focus for me to move the screen, but not enough that I seem dazed when Brunhilda splits the papers she has in two and puts them on two separate clipboards before giving them to Jerry and I.
“Here you guys go! Please fill out these forms and give them back to me as soon as you’re finished.” Brunhilda explains, cheerily. Jerry’s eyes widen when he begins to read the forms.
“Man, we’ve been here for a few minutes and there’s already paperwork…” He complains, though as I listen to him I can tell the complaint isn’t really sincere. He’s not happy to be doing paperwork, but he understands it and doesn’t really mind. I chuckle as Brunhilda hands the two of us some pens and motions for us to go sit at a table not far from the reception desk.
“I don’t mind doing paperwork if this is the view…” I say, replying to Jerry’s complaint, without looking away from Brunhilda which causes the receptionist to smile in a rather girlish manner. I do this without really thinking about it, and it causes Kara to look at me in a curious manner for a split second. She is a surprisingly talented actress when she wants to be, which helps explain how she has managed to hide her identity as a superheroine.
I walk over to the table Brunhilda motioned for us to go to and I begin to fill out the paperwork the second I sit down. At the same time I easily begin to practice creating whole new projections of my senses, and moving them around.
This ability is a powerful “Tier 2” ability I possess that belongs to the “Blue” family of superpowers from the xenon essence. Blue superpowers are psychic and mental ones that turn my mind into a powerful weapon and tool in my arsenal. Projections of my senses created this way feed me information in real time about my surroundings and have unlimited range, which makes them remarkably useful.
As Jerry and I begin to really get into the stack of paperwork we’ve been handed Kara sits down beside us, right beside me specifically, and glances at the stack of paper I’m working my way through. She studies it, reading my answers with an inquisitive look on her face.
“I remember when I filled out these forms. It took me a whole hour.” She says, and normally I’d be curious if that was a complaint but I can tell from her tone that she’s actually a bit wistful. I smile wryly at her before I reply.
“Was as it as exciting then as it is now?” I ask her, causing her to titter lightly.
“What, are mundane tasks like this not as exciting as saving people from drowning?” She asks, playfully. That remark causes Jerry to laugh, the sound louder than the man intended which makes both Kara and I laugh quietly.
“I mean I’m having a good time but I suspect that might be because of the company I’m in.” I explain, kind-heartedly. This causes Kara to smile, embarrassedly, as Jerry turns and gives me a curious look.
“Arthur you’re a natural born lady-killer.” He tells me, after studying me for a few seconds.
Meanwhile, Brunhilda is slyly using a small handheld makeup mirror to glance at the table all three of us are seated at. She is not actually fixing her makeup, and I use one of my “Screens” to look at what she’s looking at and I easily notice that she is looking at my back. I could use “Paranoia”, a “Type Black” power I possess to look at Brunhilda, but it’s better for me to practice one of my more intent-based powers than for me to hone a passive one anyway.
I give Jerry a confused look, as I have no idea what he means by that weird remark, and it takes both Kara and him a moment to understand my confusion. Kara, unsurprisingly, is the one to react the quickest.
“I… I forgot you were one of the rare ‘No Memory’ types of fallers. I’ve never met one like you, so I need to get used to your quirky brand of decontextualized knowledge. ‘Lady-Killer’ refers to a man who is very good at appealing to women, romantically and sexually. There are also unpleasant connotations there, like the idea that you’re a lady ‘killer’ because you leave women easily.” Kara explains, causing my eyes to widen.
I am not sure what I don’t know versus what I do know, and it seems that knowledge of figurative language like this might well be what I am lacking. If so, I definitely need to correct that, unless I want to give people reason to suspect that I am some sort of foreigner.
“As for the reason why you’re a lady-killer… You were smooth back there! Between how you acted with that receptionist, and then your line just now, you’re certainly entertaining.” Jerry tells me, even as he playfully hits me.
“That ‘I don’t mind doing paperwork’ line was surprisingly good. I mean I doubt it’d work if it were said by someone who looked like a normal human but… it seems to have worked on her, so hey, good for you.” My friend tells me, smirking as he speaks.
“And I have to say… If you’re going to shoot your shot with someone, I get making it her. She’s a looker.” Jerry says, casually. The man isn’t wrong…
I saw dozens of people as we explored the city on our way here. I saw humans, non-humans, men, women, and creatures with other genders and sexes, and none of them had Brunhilda’s body. Kara is prettier, but she’s a superheroine and even I know that that’s par for the course for superheroines, and she’s not as curvy as Brunhilda. Brunhilda is also… more approachable than Kara is, though I think that people who lack the knowledge I have would probably feel that “Linda” is approachable.
I ignore Jerry’s remarks, aside from smiling at the man, as I work on the paperwork. It is easy for me to do, and I am breezing through it, though I also have less of it to do than Jerry does since I lack memories and connections to prior places. But as I am filling out the paperwork a sudden thought comes to me and I glance at Kara curiously.
“Hey Kara… is the reason why you all interview people before they arrive here to encourage people to not lie on these forms?” I ask, prompted to do so by the knowledge that without some record of someone’s remarks the second they arrive here they could easily lie. The second Kara hears my question I watch her face impishly morph and take on an expression as though she were a kid who got caught in some mischief.
“You noticed that very quickly! Yes, that’s part of it. It’s also, genuinely, to help people feel welcome. Vaporwave City isn’t tremendously old and some of its founders were men and women who themselves fell into its oceans during a ‘Falling’. They remember how disoriented they were, and how long it took them to grow used to this world. This city helps protect people like them, as well as gives them a second chance.” She explains, brightly.
“Over the years the city has had various committees like the one I am a part of that seek to help integrate newcomers. The interviews are the ideas of a few different people on my committee, but it was my idea to have them be televised on the program I am a part of. That way as many people as possible can watch them.” She tells me, revealing a bit of her own intelligence.
“If someone lies, either on the forms or during the interview we have simple, mundane proof that they lied. We also have supernatural means of detecting truth and determining false information, but it’s good to have as many layers as possible that do diligent fact checking.” She says, revealing a level of thoughtfulness and prudence that I can understand. It’s a thorn in my side, but I never lied about anything during my interview and I don’t plan to lie on these forms, so it’s not like it will hurt me.
I nod at Kara and return my complete focus to the forms. As I do Kara looks up at what I recognize as a vintage clock on a nearby wall. She leaves the table for a moment and asks Brunhilda for two slips of paper and a pen. The receptionist gets those for her, and Kara politely thanks her before beginning to write on the papers and walking back to Jerry and me. When she reaches us she gives the two of us one slip each and frowns as she gets ready to say something.
“Sadly, friends, I must get going. There is paperwork I also need to do, and I am going to be asked to approve the final edit of the interviews. But this is my cellphone number, and if you two want to keep in touch just use this number and give me a call or shoot me a text when they give you your cellphones. I’d be happy to buy you dinner sometime! You should know that I live in the Megablocks, one of the apartment-style housing options that are available for newcomers.” She says cheerily, before flashing the two of us another charming, mousey smile. Jerry and I both thank her for her help, and she darts off almost as soon as she finishes hearing us out.
Now left to our devices Jerry and I both focus on the forms. I manage to finish my stack in a few minutes, since I am able to skip several questions as someone who lacks memories. The second I finish my questions I nod at Jerry and he grins at me. I grab the clipboard and take it with me as I walk over to Brunhilda who happily takes the clipboard from me.
She studies my answers and then presses a few keys on her keyboard without looking up at her computer. This causes a door to appear in the middle of what was, just seconds ago, a wall. In that door lies a box filled with items and a computer that is just turning on atop a desk in front of which sits a simple wooden chair.
The receptionist absentmindedly gestures at the door, and I nod at her, before quietly thanking her for her help. She seems airheaded in a way that is a bit cute, but above all she seems like the sort who seems to prioritize being happy above all else. I can tell, even without using “Observe” that she probably doesn’t care for her job but does it to pay the bills. I suppose that’s as good a reason as any to do one’s job…
I walk through the door and when I do I feel something strange… something unnatural. It feels like someone has just put cold fingers on my shoulder, and I can taste something curious in the air around me. I am unsure of precisely how I know but I can tell that the space I am in is some sort of supernatural space, perhaps something like a magical dimension for newcomers to the city. Curiosity fills me as I step towards the desk on which the computer and the box are both placed.
The computer is a simple laptop, and the devices inside of the box are curious things like a single key, a packet entitled “Welcome to Vaporwave City!” and a simple card that has my name and an image of me on it. The computer boots up by itself and immediately, seemingly of its own accord, pulls up a webpage that talks about “Housing Options” for newcomers to the city. I smirk at the things, and I sit down in front of the computer.
As soon as I sit down the door behind me shuts of its own accord and I let out a quiet, annoyed sigh. This does not stop me from looking at the room I was just in through “Multisense” which isn’t surprising. It can be difficult to block the sort of superpowers I possess, which are essence backed.
“I guess I’m stuck here…” I mutter, annoyed by this development. I know this won’t last long, and more importantly that I can break out of my own accord at any time that I want, but it’s still annoying to have to pretend to be stuck here unless I do as my captors bid. Nevertheless, I begin to study the pictures on the website the computer has pulled up curiously.
The webpage I am on lists two major options for newcomers. One option, listed as the cheaper and more social option, is to pick from a series of apartments. The other option, listed as the more costly but the more well-furnished and more independent option, is to pick from a series of houses and mansions. I immediately glance at the apartments and click on them, which causes a brand-new webpage to load on my computer.
In a matter of seconds the screen on the computer in front of me has changed and I am looking at pictures of different buildings and of what I assume are the apartments I could live in. I see pictures of people, only some of whom are human, in and around the apartment buildings.
The apartments all have a bare minimum of furnishing, but only the highest end ones offer more than bare necessities by themselves. I can easily see stuff like beds, refrigerators, sofas, and even televisions, but usually only one of each in nearly all the apartments. The apartments are all also only one bedroom per apartment, which I know per the information I know innately, that that is not the default but in a way that benefits me.
I read the descriptions of over a dozen different apartments before my eyes return to the first option I heard of. “The Megablocks”, the place where Kara lives, is a simple if sprawling apartment complex that takes up nearly a whole percent of the city’s overall area by itself. It is a comically gigantic apartment complex, but it’s also where the majority of the city’s newcomers settle. Aside from that there is nothing particularly special about it, it offers the amenities one might reasonably expect from apartments built by humans from an “Early Twenty-First Century” Earth.
I don’t particularly enjoy hesitating, but I know I am about to make an important choice. The realization of the importance and weight of the choice I am making forces me to click on the “Back” arrow on the computer and study the other options available to me. It takes me a second to click on the link to the “Homes and Mansions” section of the website I am on.
I spend a few minutes studying the homes and mansions I could choose to live in, before realizing that none of them really appeal to me. That knowledge allows me to return to the other webpage a bit more relaxed, and to easily confirm that I want to live in “The Megablocks”, a perfectly fine, if lively, apartment complex. As I click that I hear a noise emanate from the box next to me and without physically turning I use my enhanced senses to study the card even as the screen in front of me begins to change and the webpage I am on changes of its own accord.
Something new has been added to my card: a section listing my address! I read it even as I watch the webpage transform and take me to a “Careers” section of the website of Vaporwave City. According to my card I live in a place named “GG Block”, in an apartment on the first floor of some particular building that is identifiable to me in the form of a small series of numbers.
The new webpage in front of me has a bunch of text telling me that the city’s newcomers are guaranteed basic rights in exchange for them working for the city. It explains that the housing options I could chose from all receive a government subsidy in exchange for housing newcomers for a few years rent-free, and that I can benefit from that so long as I take a government job from the list of jobs that I can read through on the webpage.
Different jobs range from working in T.V. studios, to being a metro train-conductor, to being a cop, and many of them are interesting. As I study them I recall my interview from earlier today about how I wanted a relaxing job. There are a number of jobs listed here that meet that qualification, from working as a gardener in “The Garden of Good And Evil”, to working as a pizza delivery driver for a service that delivers food to people who are unable to leave their homes, but only one manages to really catch my eye.
I struggled to pick a place to live, but picking a job is really easy for me. I click on the computer until I have informed it that I want to be a “Metro Driver” for the city’s light-rail metro. This job will allow me to explore the city with ease, for free, and is a mostly ceremonial job. As soon as I finish making this choice the webpage I am viewing shifts again, and I watch as the thing goes to a wholly new website.
This simple webpage is a mostly blank one explaining that as part of the welcome package to the city, every newcomer that agrees to take part in the city’s efforts to integrate newcomers by taking a job working for the city and choosing to live in government housing receives a small package. This unusual package includes the computer I am on, the identification card in the box next to it, which also serves as a bank card, and the cellphone. These are all deemed “Basic goods”, and so are a stipend for a few weeks’ worth of groceries and meals, and a smaller stipend to go and buy clothes.
There is also a bit about how each of the jobs come with benefits, and the job I chose allows me to ride public transport for free! It is a nice benefit in a city like this, and I plan to take advantage of that one even today.
I chuckle as I read through the paragraphs of text before me. When I am done the computer thanks me for being so diligent, which suggests that there is a peculiar semi-sapient A.I. in it, or that it’s being remotely controlled, and either way that’s more than a little interesting. The computer instructs me to shut it now that I am done with my initial registration, which I do.
The door behind me opens and Brunhilda smiles at me even as Jerry finishes up his paperwork and begins to walk over to her. I grab my items, keeping them in the box several of them came in and putting my laptop underneath my cellphone, before I get up and walk out the door.
The thing shuts behind me and a second later the door reopens in a slightly different layout, undoubtedly for Jerry. I nod at him as I pass him by and I stop at the desk as he pats my shoulder and makes his way to the open door.
“Hey there. I’m all finished up. Is there anything else I need to do, or am I… free to go?” I ask Brunhilda while smiling brightly at her. She smiles as I set my box on her desk. This allows her to easily grab my I.D., and she lightly taps the thing with one of her manicured nails even as she looks at me.
“You were a little quicker than I anticipated you being. Now as for what you need to do next… Well, it’s a good idea for you to either get food, or to go straight to your new… apartment and lay your eyes on it. After all, only you know if you’ll really like it and it’ll take you being there in person for you to be sure you like it.” She says, as she reads my address on the I.D.
The card begins to glow in her hands as she taps the thing. She places it over the various items in my possession, and I am surprised to watch them vanish from view, seemingly absorbed by the card.
“Oh, and there’s this too. These cards serve many purposes, in addition to being handy bank cards, and your method of identifying yourself legally, they are also hyperdimensional inventories. Using them is as simple as intending to do so. More information on them can be found on your packet! Anyways, just take this.” She tells me, before smiling at me as she hands me back my card.
“That’s all you really need. If you don’t have any questions… My name is Brunhilda, and if you want to reach out or want to hang out… I wouldn’t mind doing so. Here’s my number.” She says, as she writes out a number all her own on a small slip of paper. I smirk at her and tell her I plan to get in touch as I mentally get ready to leave the building.
I silently begin to walk away after saying goodbye and as I leave I notice that she is watching me quite intently. I turn around, for good measure, and let her see me doing so, before flashing her a confident smile. When I finish doing that I quickly walk out of the building and use “Multisense” to see what else lies in the building.
I find myself in the middle of the busy cityscape that surroundings the building even as my various sets of projected senses begin to feed me information about the elegant building I just left. My invisible eyes allow me to spy on the place and see the various receptionists stationed throughout the building, as well as the different offices throughout it that handle all sorts of curious tasks.
I allow myself to spy on the building while I leisurely make my way towards one of the several metro stations situated throughout the area. The one closest to me is located a short walk away from the building I must have spent the better part of an hour in, and as I walk I begin to fiddle with my card so that I can take a look at the packet that was in the set of items I received. After a few seconds of messing with the card I find the packet on the floor in front of me and I shake my head as I reach down and grab it.
The packet is a dense thing filled with all sorts of notes for newcomers to the city as well as a detailed breakdown of the local government and our place in the world. I begin to read it using a few dozen different “Screens” via “Multisense” so I read the pages simultaneously even as I make it to the bus stop. I don’t even have to look like I’m reading it if I am reading it this way, and when I am finished reading the thing, which only takes me a few moments, I find myself armed with all sorts of new knowledge pertaining to life in the city, as well as the city’s history.
I begin to make my way down an escalator leading into the underground tunnels which the metro uses to facilitate travel and transit throughout the city. I intend to go up to the first person who seems to work here and I will tell them that I am a new employee of this place.
The next few minutes pass by quickly. I first find myself not very deep underground, a map in hand, alongside a very friendly pair of VCMW, Vaporwave City Metro Walkers, which makes them my… future coworkers, who are eagerly chatting to me about the history of the local metro system. We are among a small crowd of people exploring a wide, warm, metro tunnel and the sounds of distant, approaching trains becomes louder with every passing second.
A matter of minutes after that I am inside of a cozy subway train on its way to the station closest to the block of apartment buildings I live in. And from there it only takes a handful of minutes for me to exit the metro station and find myself outside of a large and seemingly endless chain of apartment buildings and small shops and buildings that offer an array of services. I am also, for the first time, free to do as I want, since I already have a functioning key and can enter my apartment whenever I wish using my I.D., and the key I possess.
I study the buildings in front of me, and as I do I notice that each of them has letters written on the walls that reveal what “Block” the buildings are a part of. I study several different buildings before I find ones that have walls that say “GG”, and when I do I notice something else.
One of the window curtains of one of the buildings that is a part of “GG Block” is partially stylized as a flag depicting a person playing what I recognize as a video game on a handheld console. I am quietly thankful for the weird knowledge I came into being possessing because without it I’d be incredibly confused studying that decoration…
“I guess the ‘GG’ somehow… stands for something related to a ‘Gamer’?” I ask aloud, as I study the flag curiously. I am still as I study it, until I realize that without touching it or using some other power I will not simply learn about the meaning of the thing. I begin to walk towards the building, curious to learn about the flag, and to see my actual apartment. Along the way I take my cellphone out of my card, and I begin to familiarize myself with the device.
