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[Status Window]
Name: Devon Miller
Class: Hero of Gluttony Lv. 1
Integrity: 100%
Mana: N/A
EXP: 0
Strength: 0
Dexterity: 0
Sense: 0
Defense: 0
Magic: 0
Gluttony's Abyss: 50% [1 hour left]
Skills: Overeating Lv 1, Virus Digestion Lv 1
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What is this dogshit status window? I groan as I sit up on the couch I'm sleeping on. Where is this place? I wave my hands like I'm swatting flies to dismiss the notice. I look around and find myself in an unfamiliar apartment. The bit of moonlight that manages to peek through the semi-closed blinds reveal books strewn about on the floor and from the coffee table next to me, the scent of cigarettes wafts through the air which makes my eyes water.
"Fuck," I mutter. I take some time to breathe deeply in an effort to calm down my throbbing head.
Right! The junkyard! Eleanor! Sher! I whip my head in a panic in search for anyone who might be able to explain what happened. Then, on the kitchen counter, I see a familiar figure slobbering as he snores. I groggily walk up to him and shake him lightly.
"Detective Davenport hey," I whisper.
"Stop, Samantha it's not time yet. Go tell the fat fuck to wait a bit more," he mumbles.
I shake him harder. "Oi Barry Davenport wake up."
He jerks up from his seat and immediately pulls out his gun.
"THIS IS MPD, GIVE UP,"
"Woah, woah, woah it's me," I raise my hands. "Calm the fuck d-"
"I wooon't hesitate to shoto," he slurs.
"Barry!" I finally snap.
He blinks multiple times and rubs his eyes. "Oh, it's just you." He then looks at his gun and shrugs before putting it away.
I sigh. "Man, how many people have you shot while half asleep?"
He yawns. "After the second guy, no one dared to wake me up."
I facepalm. "Can you at least tell me what happened? Where's Eleanor?"
"What time is it?" he ignores me and looks at the time on the oven.
[2 AM]
"Argh damn it. It's still too fucking early kid. Go back to sleep," he complains and plops himself on the couch.
"I thought police officers work early and stay late?" I ask.
"That's for losers who can't get their jobs done in time," he closes his eyes. "You can take my room if you want. I haven't been using it since I crash at the couch every time I get home."
Seeing that I can't get anything from him when he's like this, I do as he suggested and head to the dark space he pointed at beside the kitchen. I feel about for the light to turn it on but can't find it.
"It's voice activated dumbass!" I hear him yell from the living room.
I roll my eyes and groan. "Lights on."
At once, the light reveals the unfurnished room with a single mattress near the corner. So much for a bedroom. I close the door behind me and lay on the mattress.
"Sher, you awake?"
The dodecahedron apparates beside me.
[Always. I don't need to sleep anymore]
I scoff. "Lucky."
[I also discovered something fascinating! Would you like to know?]
"I have a feeling that I don't have the choice in the matter."
[You're right! Come on, close your eyes and breathe in deeply as if you're meditating. Breathe in, breathe out]
"Ok...?"
Breathe in. *SNIIIIIFFF* Breathe out. *PHEEEWWWW*
"You know what this is ridiculous," I say annoyedly but as I open my eyes, I find myself standing in total darkness. Under my feet is a thin layer of water that splashes every time I take a step and in front of me is Sher in her human form. She's wearing the same signature lab coat that she's always been proud of and her height is the same as mine.
"It's been a while since we've seen each other eye to eye like this huh Devon Miller?" she says as she flashes me a smile.
"Heh, you can say that again," I say as I take in the entire space. "So this is what you wanted to show me huh? Pretty impressive."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I can do so much more now you know," she replies.
I look at her curiously. "Hoh? What else can you do?"
She smirks and waves her hand. Immediately, multiple holograms shuffle themselves in front of me.
"Ta dah! Ever since you made a contract with me, I became your official [Role Companion]. So, I can help you by giving you more in depth information like this!"
I slowly examine each hologram and she's right. This is way more in depth than the status window I saw earlier.
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[Class: Hero of Gluttony]
Summary: This role focuses on consuming and processing data using his or her [Role Companion], the [Omniphage]. Unlike other roles that focus on 1 out of 5 [Properties] in Fractal, the Hero of Gluttony can build his or her tool kit from the data that the [Omniphage] consumes.
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Wow even from just one explanation, there's already 3 new key words that I'm curious about. I'll take a look at that later. Right now, I'm more curious about other things. I scroll through to find the information I want.
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[Role Companion: Omniphage]
Summary: This companion's main job is to consume and process data so that the [Hero of Gluttony] can use it for his or her purposes. Example: When a virus with the [Destruction] property is consumed, the Omniphage will process the data through [Digestion]. After which, the [Hero of Gluttony] will receive usable [Skills], [Weapons], or [Tools] that has the [Destruction] property.
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Hmmm. So I get skills and items by having Sher eat data. Usually in RPG's, you can unlock skills through a skill tree as you level up and the items drop from the corpses of monsters. But seeing that there's no mention of a skill tree, I'm assuming that I get this instead. It makes sense since I literally have 2 new skills just from having Sher eat the final boss.
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[Overeating Lv. 1]
Summary: Your Omniphage can consume data far larger than it can handle. There's a time penalty for [Digestion] when using this skill. You can decrease the penalty by leveling up the skill.
[Virus Digestion Lv. 1]
Summary: What used to be the bane of all data is now food for you. Your Omniphage can now [Digest] viruses of all kinds without harming the Kaleidoscope's [Integrity]. However, the quality of the processed data may vary. You can increase the chances of receiving higher quality [Skills], [Weapons], or [Tools] from viruses by leveling up the skill.
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I guess the big monster in the junkyard was a virus huh. I guess Davenport yelled something like that during the fight. I'm not too familiar with computers but I do know that viruses are bad for it. I didn't think they could take that form though. I guess the Kaleidoscope has changed how data is handled: both the good and the bad. I wave my hand to dismiss all of the notifications.
"Thanks, Sher. I'll learn the ropes as I play," I say and send her a toothy smile.
She smiles back. "I knew you'd like it! That's why, I developed another surprise!"
Upon hearing those words, my thoughts go back to that time on top of the abandoned building and the moments before our fight at the junkyard. I remember Sher's odd and illogical behavior. The words get caught in my throat but I force them through. I have to ask this question.
"Why?" I blurt out.
Sher looks at me with surprise. As if that question is the last thing she expects to come out of my mouth.
"Why did you do all this? Make me build that machine, hacking Medacorp's servers, putting yourself in danger with the virus. Why? For a stranger like me?" the words flow like water through a dam that has been compromised. "I'm not gonna let you change the subject or run away again."
Sher just looks at me in silence then smirks. "Why do all those crazy things for a total stranger I just met a month ago?"
I step closer. "You were in hiding. Whatever happened to you, it's clear that something or someone wants you safe and hidden from your AI's eyes. Survival should have been your top priority! Yet..."
She twirls and skips on the water's surface. With every step, she barely makes a wave.
"Not just from Monica. From the Underworld too," she reveals.
"The Underworld?"
She nods.
"While I was connected to the server, I gathered a plethora of important information about these past 9 years. When Monica took over and developed Medacorp to the way it is now, it had to fight against many dangerous people to keep the technology ours. If ever a Kaleidoscope was stolen or forcibly pried from a person's eyes, it will self-destruct and erase any chance of it being copied. Also, analyzing it while in use is absolutely useless. It really made sure to cover all its bases."
"Can't the criminals just buy one?" I ask.
"Yes, but Medacorp is closely related to law enforcement. They were the first ones to implement the Kaleidoscope to improve their agents' anti-criminal activities. Also, each Kaleidoscope has a serial number and if you can get the proper warrant, you can ask Medacorp to show you the recordings of the user's Kaleidoscope. Because of this, corruption went almost non-existent and arrests went through the roof. It's far too risky for ambitious criminals to use it even if though they wanted to."
I think for a bit and see where she's going. "But my Kaleidoscope's not connected to the servers."
She nods and shows a hint of pride in her smile. She then skips towards me and taps my forehead. Then, a hologram of the Kaleidoscope's specs appears in front of me.
"The very first Kaleidoscope. Serial #000001. A functioning piece of cutting edge technology with no self-destruct feature and disconnected from the prying eyes of Medacorp and law enforcement. Any criminal worth their name would want something like this."
"That's why you weren't connected to the Internet either."
"Exactly. The Internet is a public domain with many eyes and ears hidden everywhere."
I look at her silently. Her dainty face is literally inches from mine and her eyes show such unwavering calm that it's beginning to suck me in.
"You've been discovered aren't you?" I state without breaking eye contact.
She smiles knowingly. "By both," she replies as she steps away from me. "You don't know this since you went unconscious after the fight, but Medacorp agents came to investigate."
My heart beats in alarm. "What? What are we gonna do now!?"
She puts a hand up to stop me before I spiral. "Your friend on the couch there managed to convince them that you were just a genius who accidentally built something like that for fun."
"And they believed it?!" I exclaim in disbelief.
"Pfft, please. They're not that dumb," she replies. "When I was in the servers, it noticed me. It was surprised ... but also relieved. I really can't explain it but I'm sure it's the reason why the agents just took apart the machine and left like that."
I furrow my brow. "So, Monica doesn't want you back?"
She shrugs. "I can't say. But I do know some people who do!"
I groan in realization. "Oh don't tell me..."
She beams at me. "Yep! I had to use the Internet to download the Role-players' DLC so the Underworld has started to move."
"That's dangerous!" I finally burst in anger. Her nonchalance in this situation is throwing me off. I can't figure her out. "That also brings it back to my question! Why?"
In the face of my anger, she just looks at me softly. Sadness fills her eyes. "I knew what it's like to lose everything at the snap of a finger, Devon. I ... just thought I'd prevent you from also losing 9 years of your life."
I bite my lip in an effort to prevent the tears from falling. Is this what she's been thinking this entire time? While I was complaining and moping about, she was thinking of saving me.
*Sniffle*
"Thank you," I wipe my nose. "But it still doesn't change the fact that literal criminals are chasing after you and I can't do a damn thing against them since they don't have Kaleidoscopes."
She chuckles and waves her fingers at me. "Even criminals use technology, Devon. And against the Kaleidoscope and the Role-players' DLC, there's no piece of technology on the face of the Earth that can protect or hide itself from it."
I sigh. "I know what you're implying and I don't like it."
She smiles at me cheekily. "If they're gonna come after us, we're gonna destroy their criminal empires piece by piece."
"Damn it Sher! I'm still Lvl. 1!" I shout at the top of my lungs.