It was only when he got to his feet, that his eyes momentarily caught a glance of his own form. An under current of irritable shock permeated through his being the moment he realized that his appearance had been completely altered. Like a drunken man who had woken up in a completely different zip, and with no recollection of the night before, Vito frantically flipped his hands up and down in disbelief.
"THE HELL??? These aren't my clothes!"
A dark frown streaked across his face, and his chest swelled as he filled his lungs with air;
"Did... did someone undress and redress me?!!!"
Instead of Vito's typical grey hoodie and sweatpants which he usually wore for days on end, he was clad in combat gear. Head to toe, he was draped in black. From the sturdy black boots that gripped his feet neatly, to the combat trousers, and the efficient turtleneck sweater that was fitted with side compartments, Vito was dripped down for serious action.
"Hold the fuck on..." He stretched out his hands; "What is happening here???"
That single motion served as the kick he needed. Instantly, he felt the difference in his anatomy. The fifteen year old was pretty much the same in build. But for some reason, he felt taller, and a lot more flexible, and a hell lot lighter.
Still armed with zero information as to how he got here, or what he was supposed to be doing, or who was behind all this, Vito was at the crossroads of a true existential crisis. Taking an explorer's stance, he placed both hands on his waist and stared longingly into the distance, as he contemplated his next course of action;
"Guess there's no point in lingering around anymore...I might as well just get to the exploring part of this- whatever this is..."
As he marched forward, he remembered the new weapon he had acquired on his last mission in the game, and this only filled him with more indignation. He was supposed to be back at his apartment, making the best of his newly acquired artifact, and terrorizing the game as usual. But instead, he was stuck here in some sick person's idea of a joke...
[B E T A T E S T I N G C O M P L E T E. . . S Y S T E M A C T I V A T E D.]
Vito froze dead in his tracks.
Eyes flippantly darting back and forth, he held his breath, expecting the worst. He had heard the voice. He had heard it loud and clear, as though it had come from right next to him.
BUT THERE WAS NO ONE THERE.
Exactly six hundred seconds later, just as he was starting to soak up the allure of his new surroundings, the generic, almost arcylic, souless voice came again;
[INITIALIZING COMPLETE. ULTRON SYSTEM IS FULLY ONLINE.]
This time, Vito very nearly jumped out of his skin.
This time, even though it was barely a decibel higher than before, Vito heard and felt it as though it had been sounded right into his ear. Alarmed, on edge, and totally caught off guard, Vito jumped back, and slapped at his ear, hoping to break or damage any earpiece that had been slipped in while he was unconscious. But he ended up becoming an unwilling accomplice to harming his own self.
There was no ear piece.
"W-w-who is t-t-there?! Show yourself!"
Then in his best imitation of a tough guy's voice, he added; "This isn't funny man! Whoever you are, know that I'm gonna call the cops as soon as I get reception!!"
Once again, the mysterious voice came again;
[DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE. ULTRON IS HUNDRED PERCENT UP AND READY. SYNCHRONIZING LANGUAGE AND DIALECT SETTINGS.]
Vito heard every single word. But nothing made sense to him at all. What he had heard sounded vaguely like a command prompt. But it was not consistent with any of the programming languages he knew.
Obviously rattled, Vito managed to suppress his outright dread, and summoned the courage to reply. Right hand on his chest, he began diplomatically;
"Man/lady, whoever you are, I promise you, you got the wrong person. Now, if you won't let me go, or show your face, the least you could do is tell me WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!"
"VITO LA VEGA. HIGH SCHOOL SOPHOMORE, AND GAMING ENTHUSIAST. CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!"
Vito must have blinked at least a hundred times within the space of twenty seconds. For every word the voice said, he had ten questions. But only one mono-syallabic reply came to mind at that moment;
"What?!"
But the system's voice ignored his self indulgent sarcasm;
[MISTER VITO, KINDLY UTTER THE WORD; 'PERIPHERAL.']
Vito gawked; "Peripheral what?"
Instantly, he felt a sharp sting in his eye, triggering a sharp pain, which in turn caused him to yelp like a puppy. It had only been momentary, but by the time he opened his eyes again, he immediately forgot the temporary sharp pain he had felt.
Vito's entire field of vision had been enhanced by a thousand percent. He could now see a wide range of colors like never before. That, and some more. But the most notable improvement was the orange hologram glowing gloriously just a couple of feet away at eye level.
Awed, he leaned forward towards this wonder, and lifted up his hands to try to touch it. Vito growled in amusement as it immediately expanded into a menu, flashing options in neat horizontal lines. Inviting him to come and explore them.
[PLEASE BE ADVISED, SPECIAL PROTEINS HAVE BEEN INJECTED INTO SUBJECT'S EYES. PERIPHERAL VISION HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.]
The wide span of colorful bedecked lights from the hologram, reflected in Vito's eyes like spiralling galaxies and twinkling stars. The environment in the background paled in comparison to this aurora of blinking holograms. The gamer in Vito was no stranger to holograms.
His handsome face imperious, Vito flicked his hands eagerly across the deck, expanding the options, and regarding them with gentle curiosity. The raw feeling of deja vu that followed could not be shaken off. Vito did not know when the words came out of his mouth in low R'n'B interlude whispers;
"This all feels so familiar- could this be Ultron?"
The system replied him, and gave him a thorough briefing about his situation.
For the next three minutes, Vito remained as still as a corpse, but with the rapt attentiveness of a living scholar. Each and every word that fell on his ears was aptly received. As though his very existence hinged upon this knowledge, Vito actively absorbed the information at the speed of light.
He only dared to blink when the A.I system ceased from speaking.
[...MANDATORY INTRODUCTORY COURSE COMPLETE. QUESTIONS?]
Vito stared at the blinking hologram glowing magnificiently before his very eyes. Questions? Of course he had them by the tons!
"So," Vito began inqusively; "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're a real life artificial intelligence system called Ultron? Like Ultron-Ultron? Like from the actual game?"
[AFFIRMATIVE.]
"And not only are you real, but you can also make perfect replicas of actual carbon based material??? Like guns, rocket launchers and stuff? At ANY given time?"
[AFFIRMATIVE. USING SOPHISTICATED 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY, THE SYSTEM CAN REPLICATE ANY---]
"Yeah yeah,"he waved it off impatiently; "No need. I got that part already."
At that point, Vito truly looked like he had swallowed a sun. Shinning like he had just won the lottery, and with a smile so bright, he trembled with excitement at the thought of having an A.I system all to himself. This was insane. There was so much he could do! So much he could accomplish.
He rubbed both palms eagerly as he thought of the first thing he was to do.
"Hey Ultron, what was that you were saying about my mission here again?"
In the distance, a flock of birds shook off from a tree and scattered into the air above. The suddeness and quickness of their collective movements brought Vito back to the present again. His day dreaming had been cut short by the birds' sudden decision to take flight, and Vito was somewhat grateful for it. Once again, he was in the present, and could therefore begin the mission for his being here.
Ultron A.I. had made it very clear to him;
[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE; TO OBTAIN AS MANY BELIEVERS IN THIS ISEKAI.]
[CURRENT NUMBER OF BELIEVERS; ZERO.]
[STATUS; ACTIVE.]
[SPECIAL ABILITIES; NONE.]
(no surprise there.)
[ARSENAL; NEOPHYTE PRIZE PACK (GLOCK-A7,SNIPER'S RIFLE, NIGHT VISION GOOGLES, HIKING BACKPACK & TEN PROTEIN BARS).]
[ADDITIONAL INFO; THE MORE BELEIVERS, THE HIGHER THE SYSTEMS' 3D PRINTING EFFICIENCY.]
Vito glared at the menu incredulously.
Especially the 'additional info' section. Ultron had really buried the lead on that one!
"This damn A.I. system. Of course you had to be so selfish with this starters pack. Whatever happened to suprising me with a rocket launcher at least?"
Complaining did not stop him from forging ahead to look for a place to camp for the night. As expected, nightfall came soon enough. Luckily, the A.I gudiance system directed him towards an enclave in the cleft of the rock.
"Well, it's no five star hotel. But at least, it's cozy enough."
Vito hurriedly unwrapped his sleeping bag from his backpack, and got snug immediately. He fell asleep gazing at the stars, thinking about just how this was his third night here already.