- 6th July 2138 -
My name is Erik Graham, a resident of the city of Dawnport in the affluent nation of Scientia. Ever since The Great Rousing over 200 years ago humanity has had access to miraculous powers known as Extrinsic Sorceries. At the age of 16, everybody in the nation was required to take a test for which attributes of the prior mentioned sorcery they exhibit. This was stated to be for the purpose of 'nurture and education of the mightiest undeveloped minds.'
It was common knowledge that those who were found to have the greatest potential for the Extrinsic Sorceries found the best and highest paying jobs in society. Showing how deeply ingrained the concept of sorcery was with how society functioned.
This was a motivation to do well. I would capitalize on that if not for the fact the test's results were completely out of my direct control. It was a simple blood test, to test the ratio of Extrinsic Attributes within the individual. The chief reason the test remained on my mind was that tomorrow was my 16th birthday.
The GEI was a one-world government responsible for 'shepherding humanity in the right direction', as their mantra goes. They were responsible for all of the testing.
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In the meantime, I entertained myself with the concept of being some all-powerful Extrinsic Caster, capable of moving mountains and such. This was, of course, a pipe-dream, the chances of developing such powers were rather a slim 25%, ignoring outlying factors. Though a further 25% of the population did exhibit unique powers outside the regular bounds of what one would expect from Sorceries. These were known as Singularities and ranged from boring powers such as [Perception Boost] to overpowered things like [Spatial Travel]. The latter was one of the Singularities exhibited by the current Supreme Leader of the GEI, Miranda Weltraum.
Thankfully, Singularities were also tested at the facility responsible for observing the Extrinsic Attribution within teenagers. Singularities were hard to accurately describe and required special tools or powers to correctly identify. Some of them seemed to also be capable of growth through a ranking system defined by some unusual aspects the GEI came up with.
As I was mulling over my thoughts, the piercing-yet-familiar tone of my GEI-Issued InfoComm struck my ears. This was likely my neglectful parents telling me that they were not going to make it to my testing appointment. My suspicions were confirmed when I looked at the message I received.
"Apologies son, it seems like we're desperately required for an extra seminar with the Dawnport Trade Commission. Maybe next time?" The voice message bluntly stated with my father's familiar deadpan tone.
'Maybe next time?' That's a load of BS. This test was of the sort that only occurs once. This was yet more proof to add to the abundant pile of evidence supporting the idea that my parents didn't care about me.
Solitude was a core part of my routine, not that I opposed it. I'd been left on my own most of the time since my early childhood. This led to me not developing the vastest array of social skills. Either way, this came to my benefit, as I could employ my time amassing knowledge or entertaining myself with a good video game. Which I was currently playing as I received that not-so-great message from my father.
After beating one last boss on my game, I promptly decided it was time to get myself washed and fed. Walking to the bathroom, I looked in the mirror. Something felt amiss about my reflection. Flicking my straight ebony hair out of the way of my eye, I realized that my left eye usually a light shade of brown, had turned yellow with a strange sigil within the iris.
After blinking a few times to make sure I was seeing things right I scrambled to pull out my portable InfoComm device, the smooth black slab lit up with vigor as I navigated to the official GEI statement on unusual occurrences relating to the eyes. This was practical because the InfoComm fortunately possessed reliable data on a vast array of ailments and conditions, considering it sort of like an online medical practitioner at arm's reach.
Listed under the 'Eyes' section under 'sudden changes' the database stated 'If you or a loved one suddenly shows changes in eye colour, shape or similar. There is a reasonable chance that a Singularity has developed.
To test if this is accurate think thoughts of activation and power, only within a safe area away from any loved ones that could get injured by an uncontrolled and unknown Singularity.'
Interesting. As the article stated, I began thinking of all sorts of thoughts one would attribute to 'activation.' Eccentric thoughts came to mind such as "powers go!", "Ego unleash!" and "Eyes of impenetrable darkness grant me strength." After an agonizing 5 minutes of attempts that in my personal experience felt much longer, until my vision suddenly blurred from a brilliant flash of yellow followed by an effect similar to an old-school computer glitch from the 2030s.
An odd table of information appeared within my sight.
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[Name: Erik Graham]
[Age: 15]
[Singularities]:
-[Exalted Sight]: Rank I
-[???]: Dormant
[Attribution]: Untested
-[Rank]: Untested
-[Affinity]: Untested
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'This is unprecedented' I thought, as my brain filled with considerable excitement and pride. But before I started celebrating for real, I realized that I must have been having another one of those power dreams. So, carrying out the age-old trope, I pinched to wake myself up in the likely case I was merely dreaming. A rush of pain entered my hand as I pinched with greater vigor, to no effect. According to some standard classifications I remembered from an Extrinsic Theory class a few months ago, this should be one of those sight-based observation powers. As much as I wanted to play around with it, my stomach had other ideas.
Trudging myself to the kitchen I peered into the GEI-Issued food box. There were some slices of bread and other prepared foods. I tried using my newly acquired eye thing on them to unanimously confirm it was still functional. With yet another flash akin to the break of dawn, I gleaned the bread.
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[Object: Bread]
[State: Fresh]
[Rating: Safe]
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This was one interesting singularity. I'd never heard of anything like it. Ordinarily, observation-based singularities are limited to observing living creatures and such. Either way, I continued carefully formulating my meal, a classic toast with cheese. Consuming it, before slumping into my bed deep in thought. I activated my InfoComm camera to take another look at my eyes. They'd returned to normal, with my left eye expressing the same normal shade of brown as my right. It seemed my eye would only flash yellow when actively using my Singularity. This was pleasant news. As I'd look akin to a rock in a pile of sticks, possessing odd eyes in public.
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Yet again, my name is Erik Graham. My parents have been neglectful for most of my life, forsaking me to fend for myself in their pursuit of career success and wealth. My hobbies included reading and playing video games, standard stuff for somebody of my age. I'd recently finished my 5-year general education at Dawnport General School for Aspiring casters. Though it was rather boring, being theory preparation for a potential specialization in casting, given a good attribution test result. I managed to end my time there with no longtime friends and average grades. A clean slate ready for wherever my life takes me next. A perfectly average person. This was until I activated my Singularity just recently. A rare type of power held by an eighth of the population. Otherwise, there wasn't anything of note about me. My build was average for my age.
However, back in my first few years of compulsory education at Dawnport General, I was treated rather horribly by my classmates. Jeering things such as 'loner' and 'your parents don't care about you' at me. The lack of necessary support from the teachers led to my further isolation from other people. This solitude was part of why I read so much anyway. So it's a net positive in some regards.
The current technological advancement of the human species was impressive. When compared to back in the 2000s, just before The Great Rousing, most technologies looked like magic. Though arguably some of it was. The rapid growth of more innovative technology after the Rousing led to many violent skirmishes and wars. Unfortunately, this cost us our home planet, with about 100,000 people reluctantly escaping to a previously unknown planet affectionately dubbed Neo-Terra under the GEI government. A government that was still going strong 100 years later.
Neo-Terra was a habitable planet a tad smaller than Earth, comprising one large continent of various biomes. Split into two prosperous nations: Agri and Scientia. Scientia was my home nation and the smaller of the two, focusing on scientific and Sorcery-based development. It held about 25% of Neo-Terra's population mostly in cities, an overwhelming majority of that portion being casters. It was considerably easier for a Caster to find a job in Scientia than a Normie, normies being those who possessed no potential for Extrinsic Sorcery. The other potion of Neo-Terra held the remaining 75% of the population situation in fewer cities and having a more rural community, a majority being normies. With a focus on industry and sustainable agriculture, it was safe to call Agri the beating mechanical heart of the Neo-Terran civilization. Agri lacked an official capital city while Scientia's capital was GEI Central, the central operating location for GEI and the location with the greatest density of population.
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I glanced at my pocket watch, a memento from my deceased grandfather. The time came to 9:34pm. Considering the time, I must have been mulling over my thoughts for quite a while. It was likely a sensible idea to sleep early, as the test in the morning could not be missed under any circumstance.