"Oh my god, this is all real." Leta breathed, both speechless and elated all at once.
She'd just moved the object with her mind as if it were nothing!
Her enthusiasm was short lived as the curtains were quickly drawn back, revealing a white faced nurse and an equally scattered doctor.
Seeing her sitting their completely fine and holding a pen of all things, the doctor's brow furrowed in confusion.
"We registered a sudden spike in your heart rate. Are you alright, miss?" The doctor asked in English.
"Oh." Leta responded, thinking fast for some explanation. "I… I think I dozed off and had a nightmare just now. I'm sorry for making your machines go haywire."
The doctor visibly relaxed and he and the nurse went about checking her vitals.
"Your colleagues have been notified that you are awake." The nurse informed her with a gentle smile. "I think some of your team will be here soon to check on you."
"Your vitals are looking much better." The doctor added, scratching his head in bewilderment as he looked over the notes on his clipboard. "We think it you went into shock from palytoxin poisoning from a coral species, though it seems as if your blood is completely free of it. We will keep you here for observation tonight, and then tomorrow you should be clear to leave if your numbers continue to remain well."
"Thank you, doctor." Leta said with a smile.
Before long, she was left alone with her thoughts, the pen still in hand.
Focusing, the pen rose from her hand to land once more on the medical tray.
"Holy crap, I'm a superhero."
[THIS IS AN INCORRECT STATEMENT.]
"You know, Gada. I'm not sure what software needs to be uploaded for you to understand sarcasm, but please keep a lookout."
[AFFIRMATIVE.]
Leta rolled her eyes, relaxing into the pillows of her hospital bed.
"Okay, cool. I can move things with my mind. Now what?"
[THE HOST HAS 3,507 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES REMAINING. THESE CAN BE USED TO ADD ADDITIONAL UPGRADES, OR STORED FOR FUTURE USE. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE CURRENT MAXIMUM CAPACITY FOR UNPROGRAMMED NANITES IS 5,506,400.]
"Can you bring up my stats again?"
[YES, HOST. IN THE FUTURE, YOU CAN BRING UP YOUR STATS BY SIMPLY THINKING 'STATS'.]
Leta reviewed her current programs, paying close attention of them now that she had come to terms with the fact that this was all real and not a hallucination.
Based on her current uploads, she could speak just about any language if exposed to it, could see in the dark, was a human lie detector, could cause static overcharge, was good at persuading people to do things, and could now move things with her mind.
'This is super cool.' Leta grinned, excited with this new world of possibilities.
Like extra change in her hand, those 3,507 unprogrammed nanites were burning a hole in her pocket.
"Gada, what kind of storage can I create with 3,507 nanites?"
[STORAGE FOR 1,000 NANITES WILL USE ALL AVAILABLE UNPROGRAMMED NANITES.]
Leta's nose scrunched up in distaste. "That's barely a drop in the bucket to maximum capacity."
[THE HOST CAN ALSO INCREASE CURRENT STATS ON A ONE TO ONE THOUSAND RATIO OF NANITES.]
"Oh, cool. So, hypothetically I could dump 3,000 into constitution and that would go up to 13, or one point into power to make it 12."
[CORRECT.]
"Adding the points to my stats feels like the best choice at this time. Any suggestions on where to put them?"
Gada was silent for a moment, but Leta could almost feel a buzzing in her blood, as if the nanites were whispering amongst themselves.
After a minute, Gada answered.
[CURRENT UPLOADED SOFTWARES REQUIRE HIGH MENTAL FORTITUDE IN ORDER TO EXECUTE DESIRED RESULTS. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE HOST USE ALL AVAILABLE NANITES TO INCREASE THIS STAT, THUS INCREASING THE OUTPUT OF THESE SOFTWARES.]
Leta nodded, then remembered how uploading Magician's Hand had caused her heart rate to go up and bring in the medical staff.
"Will adding 3,000 points cause any physical abnormalities during the change?"
[NEGATIVE. SOFTWARE UPLOAD REQUIRES THE REROUTING AND RESTRUCTURING OF NANITES, NEURONS, FAT AND MUSCLE TISSUE WITHIN THE BODY, CAUSING A SPIKE IN HEART RATE AS THE BRAIN COMPENSATES FOR THESE SUDDEN ADDITIONS. CHANGES TO STATS INVOLVE REPROGRAMMING OF NANITES, WHOLE WILL ADJUST THEMSELVES IN ORDER TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF THE INCREASE. FOR EXAMPLE, AN INCREASE IN POWER WOULD RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN MUSCLE MASS TO PRODUCE AN INCREASE IN OUTPUT FORCE.]
"Annnd what would adding 3,000 points to Mental Fortitude do?"
[AN INCREASE TO MENTAL FORTITUDE WOULD RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN GYRI AND SULCI IN THE BRAIN, WHICH ALLOWS FOR FASTER AND DEEPER COGNITIVE PROCESSES.]
[THE HOST SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT CHANGES TO STATS CAN ALSO AFFECT THE HOSTS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS. FOR EXAMPLE, A LARGE INCREASE IN POWER CAN INCREASE OVERALL BODY WEIGHT AND DECREASE REFLEX STATS. INCREASES IN MENTAL FORTITUDE MAY BEGIN TO WEAKEN THE HOSTS POWER AND STAMINA AS BODILY FUNCTIONS ARE REDIRECTED TO SUPPORTING AN OVERWORKED BRAIN.]
"Jeez, thanks for telling me that now before I start dumping points." Leta grumbled.
[THE HOST SHOULD NOT BE TOO CONCERNED AT THIS TIME. POINTS AVAILABLE FOR STAT INCREASE ARE NOT SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO WARRANT CAUTION. HOWEVER, THE HOST SHOULD KEEP THIS IN MIND FOR FUTURE UPGRADES. BY BALANCING YOUR STATS, YOU CAN AVOID MEDICAL ISSUES RESULTING FROM SUDDEN INCREASES IN A PARTICULAR STAT. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT INTERNAL CHARACTERISTIC ADDITIONS CAN ALSO INCREASE STAT NUMBERS WITHOUT AFFECTING OTHER STATS.]
"Okay, then. If I'm not in danger of a stroke, please put 3,000 points into Mental Fortitude."
A sensation of fingers trailing over her brain sent shivers down her spin as her vision momentarily went white before suddenly coming back online.
Leta blinked, waiting for something to happen.
[MENTAL FORTITUDE HAS SUCCESSFULLY INCREASED FROM 15 TO 18.]
"That was it?" Leta asked quizzically, fully expecting something more dramatic.
[CORRECT. THE HOST ALREADY HAD AN ABOVE AVERAGE MENTAL FORTITUDE DUE TO SOFTWARE UPLOADS DURING CLASS INTEGRATION. HOST'S MENTAL FORTITUDE IS ONLY SLIGHTLY LESS THAN TWICE AS POWERFUL AS THE AVERAGE HUMAN.]
Leta sighed, reflecting on everything that had happened in the last half hour. She'd woken up feeling like your average high school history nerd and was now a telekinetic wielding, static shock throwing lie detector. Not exactly the power combination of the next up and coming Marvel hero, but it was incredible all the same.
Still, like all studious, straight laced high schoolers, she couldn't help but wonder, "How the hell am I going to keep this from my parents?"