[Alert!]
[Alert!]
[Alert! There has been a breach in containment! All on-site personnel are to remove themselves immediately!]
[Alert! Fire Suppression Systems Activate—Error! Error!]
What sounded like hundreds of alarms began to blare across the facility. Said facility began to light up the surrounding area like a candle on a dark night.
As dozens of employees and emergency crews began to pour out of the building, they turned around and saw years of work go up in flames. But inside, one person remained, his cries utterly and completely unheard as oxygen began to vent to the outside.
The man, barely 5'3" in height with fading brown hair, crawled along the ground, multiple burn marks appearing across his skin. He sniffled and groaned in pain, yet didn't scream. There was no point, after all.
He crawled along the floor, his legs crushed under the weight of fallen debris. He had managed to scramble his way out of it, but one of his legs had been ripped off. The stump had cauterized due to the flames, but the bleeding from dozens of other cuts, as well as the fading amount of oxygen in the room, left him utterly and completely screwed.
As he attempted to breathe, he crawled over to a nearby computer desk and attempted to save some of the data, but found that all power to the room—other than the fire suppression system—had been cut. Seeing as all of the equipment had been shut down, he simply slammed a fist onto the computer, breaking the screen as well as his right fist.
All of the exits had been blocked off by falling debris, and as he lay on his back on the floor, a decent amount of the ceiling came loose and fell on him, crushing him under a few hundred pounds of weight. As the sickening crunch of broken bones and seared flesh surrounded him, he didn't even have enough oxygen to scream in pain.
As his heartbeat began to rapidly increase, he looked over to the windows, and as he gazed toward the night sky, he lifted the one arm that wasn't crushed under all of the debris and gave the shining stars a thumbs-up while smiling. Yet, while in utter agony, his consciousness began to fade. If he had any regrets, it was that he would never get to see the results of their research.
The man then died, but unbeknownst to anyone but himself, a copy of the data had been saved at his apartment. And even though it was a small chance that it would be recovered, it gave him a small amount of satisfaction to know that not everything he researched had been lost.
Years of dedication in the field of genetic research weren't lost entirely… and so the man closed his eyes as hundreds of pounds of debris fell on his head.
...
.....
...…
At least, that's what should've happened… that is how it happened. Yet, as the man opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange place. It wasn't like anywhere he had seen before, which wasn't saying much, to be honest, as the man rarely traveled due to increasing expenses.
The man now stood—luckily in his work clothes—among a domain of endless data. The entire area shone brightly with a golden hue as thousands of data streams all looked to be coalescing somewhere.
If he were honest, it looked like one of those spaces from the First Civilization or those who came before. Yet, soon enough, a bright light began to shine, seemingly enveloping the entire area. The dimension began to shudder as a giant humanoid-looking figure, formed entirely out of endless ones and zeros, took shape, seemingly holding the entire data stream in its hand.
However, the humanoid figure then began to take physical shape as metal and endless machinery began to form what looked to be a type of synthesized creation, combining what looked to be thousands of unidentifiable metals and alloys.
After what felt like hours, but would only have taken mere seconds, the figure finished its transformation and looked down toward the man.
[You know, when I promised to do my good deed for the day, I wasn't expecting it to be done so soon.]
The mechanical entity spoke in what was essentially thousands of languages at once, yet the root language was definitely binary.
As it brought the man closer to its face, it looked down on him. After giving him what was essentially a once-over, the silence was then broken.
"So… am I dead, or are those edibles I took before dying finally kicking in?"
If the machine could raise an eyebrow, it would.
"Don't be judging me. If I was gonna get high, I was gonna join the damn mile-high club. Besides, no better place to get blazed than during an actual fire…"
The machine then began to perform an incalculable amount of calculations in order to figure out how to answer that statement.
[You took recreational drugs while in the midst of being burned alive?]
"Yes… You only live once, after all. And besides, it definitely helped with the pain. And if this is some type of postmortem hallucination, I imagine that the whole conspiracy theory of living in a simulation was correct… Damn, I just lost like thirty bets."
The machine did not seem amused, however, as it did the closest thing it could to checking out of the conversation.
[By the All-Spark, of all the people… Look, can we at least try to get this back on track?]
The man looked at the machine before answering the question with another question.
"I don't know. Can you not make your domain look like something out of an Assassin's Creed game? However, I can't really fault the taste."
The machine nodded to itself, seemingly amused.
[Well, thank you. Nice to know my interior decoration is actually getting better. My input doesn't seem to appreciate the finer things of digital decoration.]
"Your input? What is this, Cyberpunk?"
[Well, it is probably the easiest way to describe a significant other in a digital sense without breaking your brain due to the neural and metaphysical science involved.]
"Wait, wait, wait—you're telling me that you managed to get the AI wife? Lucky bastard…"
The last part was said under his breath, but they both knew they could hear it.
The machine, seemingly amused, slightly puffed out its chest, taking the compliment in stride.
[Well, you see, that's just what happens eventually… I wouldn't say I was lonely, but I wanted to experiment with creating artificial life in a different sense.]
The man, however, just patted the ground in a way of comforting the machine.
"I get it, man. I really do. At one point in life, all us sci-fi nerds want the artificial intelligence waifu."
The fact that there was an undertone of understanding gave the machine pause. Rarely had it ever spoken to a being that tried to understand it.
[Well, moving on… I made a bit of a mistake a couple hours ago that may or may not have resulted in an experimental chemical being released that may or may not have ruined an experiment that my wife—in your language—was holding. So, in penance, I had to essentially do what you mortals consider a good deed for the day… which brings us to the reason as to why you are here.]
"Is this some kind of joining-the-hivemind type situation? Because you really don't want my knowledge in your mainframe."
For a few seconds, the entire area shook in what felt like utter and complete exasperation.
[No… this is not a hivemind situation. Besides, if I wanted the information in your mind, I could've taken it the second you arrived here. I am no mere machine. I am an ascended intelligence… a transynth, if you will. I am Amazo, and to you, I offer the chance to participate in an experiment of mine.]
Somehow, the man managed to pull up a chair and sit down, entering what looked to be a thinking pose.
"I don't know… sounds a bit sketchy. How do I know that this isn't some type of invasive or advanced interrogation technique?"
[…]
[…. You have watched way too many science fiction movies. But I understand your hesitation. To clear up the situation, I want you to understand what I'm offering you here. Your life on your Earth is over. I am offering you a second chance—a chance to walk in the shoes of many.]
"Am I going to be Ben 10?! Please tell me it's Ben 10!"
The sheer amount of enthusiasm slightly surprised the machine.
[You could, eventually… if you wouldn't be snapped out of existence by the Celestial Sapiens for merely existing in their multiverse at all. There's a reason why there are only a few versions of Professor Paradox, after all. No, I offer you the chance to evolve yourself beyond your current form. You see, a few centuries ago, my wife and I were discussing the nature of our experiments and found that we were stagnating. We had focused so much on engineering robotics and crafting the nature of the universe that we had lost track of an important factor—the mortal one. We would like you to traverse the Omniverse, one that we have created, to study and evolve our own experiments.]
In response to the grand question, the man simply raised his hand like a student in a classroom.
"Did I just hear that you created your own Omniverse?!"
[Yes, you heard correctly. In recent years, my fellows and I found an interesting batch of multiverses ruled by a very absentee Arch-Deity of Eternity. We took what knowledge and power we could from those universes, and from them, we evolved further. My ascension was but one of many. A friend of mine evolved from merely a celestial angel into the living embodiment of freedom and light. Another, who focused on cultivating their very existence, became a Hyperion—one that exists everywhere and nowhere. I offer this chance to you—to eventually become one of us. You will traverse the Omniverse, existing across many different species, from human to demon to machine. We wish to study the process. All we ask is for your permission.]
The grand display shown by the machine then faded as the Omniverse it had displayed disappeared.
And at this point, the man had somehow, in addition to the chair, spawned a table and a small plastic card before slamming it on the table over and over again.
"You got my answer—all the way the fuck yes! But to be honest, you and I both know that you knew I was going to say yes. There's no way you don't have any predictive algorithms running around in this neural domain of yours. Which, by the way, is amazing to behold."
The machine, seemingly satisfied with his answer, opened its chest compartment. From it, a capsule-like machine floated out.
[This is what we shall use to begin your evolution. Currently, I have no real name for it. The best I could come up with is simply the Evolution Machine, but my wife thinks that's a bit unoriginal.]
The man mentally agreed with the wife. As the machine was placed into his hand, he saw that it reminded him a lot of the Divinity Machine from Doom Eternal.
Taking a breath, he looked into the machine. And as if sensing his hesitation, the machine answered.
[Do not worry. It is completely safe—at least, by my calculations, it is. And if the process does have any flaws, I will be able to rectify them.]
Taking another breath, the man climbed into the capsule. As the top closed, he looked out of the glass in front of him and saw his surroundings begin to change. Soon enough, various machinery began to pop out from within the capsule. Syringes and various other implements then stabbed themselves into him, causing him not to scream, but to start convulsing.
[Preparing evolutionary spark infusion… Beginning inoculation—Error! The subject's spiritual well-being may be at risk… Administering soul-bonding solution… Bodily functions beginning to adapt to new stimuli… Preparing dimensional space.]
As the process continued, the man felt his soul being flayed and reorganized. The machine outside simply monitored the entire process. The pain was almost immeasurable, and compared to being burned alive, the man almost wished he could go through that a hundred more times instead.
He faded in and out of consciousness as hours seemed to pass while inside the capsule. And he was technically correct. Due to time dilation, the process took at least half a day within the capsule. Outside, however, it took weeks.
And during that time, the machine continued to monitor the evolutionary process. He was not simply creating another jumper—no, he was creating something that would grant him a new angle in his scientific discovery.
A being that could exist as many others. One able to hold all biological material across the Omniverse in one singular form. A chimera of his own creation.
The pain did make the machine somewhat sympathize with the man. But, as cliché as it was, the man knew what he was signing up for. And thankfully, the capsule was soundproof, so he didn't actually have to listen to the man scream in agony.
The machine studied the whole process and had already discovered a decent number of ways to improve it for the future. While the Evolution Machine was complete, this was only the prototype.
Soon enough, the capsule itself flooded in a similar golden light to the surrounding neural domain. As the door opened, the man fell out of the capsule and onto the digital floor.
The man's body had been entirely destroyed in the process. All that was left was a malleable soul—one that would be able to bond and adapt to nearly any physical form.
The machine took the man's soul in the palm of its hand. After checking to make sure the man hadn't lobotomized himself spiritually or mentally, it found that the results were mostly favorable. There seemed to be some spiritual instability, but that should fix itself once a physical form was regained.
The machine almost giggled to itself in excitement. Even after billions of years and thousands of experiments, science truly was limitless.
And while it did want to question the man, it found that he was most certainly unconscious.
And while the machine thought the man would most likely be angry at him for what he had just put him through, he'd get over it. They always did. The machine even thought that, eventually, they would laugh over this experience.
Although, it hoped that the man wouldn't complain about the process to its fellows. They took dealing with reincarnations and transmigrations very seriously. God forbid Oz and his wives find out how he treated this man's soul. But what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. That, and they were still in the midst of their evolutions.
As the machine pointed forward, a spatial anomaly formed. After lightly tinkering to make sure that the soul would stabilize itself, it tossed it in and began to prepare its observational equipment.
[Honey! I require your immediate attention. I have begun a new experiment. And yes, I have done my good deed for the day.]
The space then began to collapse, leaving behind only the remains of the man's body, which soon dissolved into nothingness.
(Kamado Mountain)
As the snow pelted the ground and the trees shook among the high winds, a small cabin could be found with a few fires within.
However, in front of the cabin—or more specifically, above it—a portal opened up. From it, a figure fell to the ground, landing directly into a pile of snow.
All that could be heard was a groan of pain along with a decent amount of rather negative machine-based slurs. However, as the man gained his bearings, he lifted his arm and found that it was much bigger and longer than before.
As the snow began to settle, the man regained his bearings. As he walked over toward the house, hoping to find out where he was, he saw a bucket of water. Walking over to it, he cleared off some of the snow from the surface and looked at himself, finding piercing red eyes staring back at him.
(Hello boys and girls a new snippet idea to help get the creative juices flowing for later To be honest, work has been pretty tough these past couple months and I've developed a bit of writers block in the recent weeks so I decided to write this to maybe hopefully get something jumpstarted… if you guys are wondering how this guy physically looks think of a younger Hiro from the slime anime… and if that doesn't suit your taste, then feel free to give other recommendations for how he should look.)
(By the way, the Archdeity Of Eternity as well as the Transyth Ascension idea are from the Troyverse CYOAs. Go check them out they're pretty cool although I do admit a lot of them are NSFW, so be aware.)