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BII: Epilogue 2 (Cyrus)
🕑 Added 2023-06-01 21:05:36 +0000 UTCRays of static crackled along Cyrus’s peripheral. He gritted his avatar’s teeth as he threw himself into a roll animation. A guillotine of steel cleaved through asphalt in a geyser of shrapnel and sewer water. Better the street than his avatar’s head.
Any time his character died, he had to wait an hour for it to respawn. Not to mention that his pending character experience reset.
Systematic Gamer threatened to short-circuit as he pushed a slew of commands through it. Prompts transmitted out of his consciousness and body sleeping in the Newton living room through his power into his avatar.
Cyrus double jumped at the same time he blocked with his shield and activated the Charge skill. Reality broke around his avatar in a field of static as the video game glitch transferred to real life.
His avatar shot forward in a blur toward the sapient armored robot wreaking havoc in the streets of New Faram. Red lightning sheathed his tutorial sword as he ignited Arcane Strike.
At the last second before impact, he blocked to cancel his attack and swapped his weapons to the enchanted greatsword Romulus gave him. Systematic Gamer buzzed as the attack dupe glitch carried over.
All his momentum and skills split into two attacks and weapons. Both his training sword and the incompatible greatsword blazed with power as they sheared through the armored hull of his enemy.
Sparks danced through the air as the latest Automabot fell into two pieces. Motes of static streamed into his avatar as his power translated the very real experience into something the Rings of Uneira engine could understand.
Cyrus stumbled back as Systematic Gamer enforced its penalties of low stamina and mana on his character. He sheathed his weapons as he activated Rest.
His character knelt in the middle of the street.
Cyrus took the opportunity to swap his perspective from first to third person. Awareness of the faint aches and pains of his avatar faded as it transitioned to an over-the-shoulder view behind his character.
He spun it despite the waves of nausea that swelled through the link into his real body.
New Faram’s broken streets and cityscape filled his vision along with the scrapped heaps of Automabots. Burnt husks of buildings blurred as he finished the camera’s rotation.
Good. There was nothing else to threaten him on this block. Nothing visible at least. He tried again to force a mini-map to appear in his awareness, but he only got a snarl of static for his efforts.
A part of him was glad that the battle with the greants had been so effective. Yet, with the battle over he had been forced to send his avatar further away to grind out character levels. Rings of Uneira’s code dictated that his character could only level through conflict, so Systematic Gamer enforced the same.
If he managed to assimilate other video games, he’d choose some of kind fantasy or crafting simulator.
While territories from New Faram had been trading with Farbrook, it was limited in scope and scale. He had never been to one of the meetings, but he had heard how antagonistic they were to anyone who came.
Cyrus would’ve never imagined the sprawling metropolis was home to hordes of different species of monsters. Living machines that his Identify told him were called Automabots, Insectoids that skittered and ambushed anything that drew near, and offshoot greant stragglers.
Barely any people seemed to remain here.
Time blurred as Rest fueled his character’s metrics and let him offload the stress of Dreaming the Rings of Uneira video game into reality. A tug of his consciousness back to his real body filled him with a vision of a migraine and sweltering heat. Sweat beaded on his skin.
Computers had fans and other hardware in place meant to help them withstand the rigorous tests of their programs on their system. Cyrus didn’t have those benefits.
Motion blurred out of the corner of his avatar’s eye as a human teenaged girl came sprinting out of an alleyway. Ichor and dark prismatic oily blood dripped from her hands which bristled with blades.
She came to a stuttering stop. Her boots carved furrows into asphalt as if her feet were honed skates.
Identify pulsed piecemeal knowledge into his mind with a hiss of static.
<[HUMAN: Not a Game Summon.]
Stats Redacted
Blademeister’s Proficiency Ev. 2/Lv. UNKNOWN
Perks Equipped: UNKNOWN
Barbed Defense Ev. 1/Lv. UNKNOWN
Sword of Fable Ev. 2/Lv. UNKNOWN>
Cyrus rose to his feet with his hands in the air.
She narrowed her eyes at him as an armored cocoon festooned itself around her. Hooked knives and thorns grew out of her bloodstained clothes until she was a tangle of blades.
Crashes stampeded behind her.
Brickwork shattered as an Automabot fitted with the armored hull of an old tank burst out of the wrecked storefront onto the street with them. Four barrels telescoped out of its bulbous back.
Three swiveled toward the girl while a single one twitched to point at Cyrus. Red light glowed as something whirred inside of it.
“Truce?” She screamed out as a volley of knives spun out from her iron briar to skid off the Automabot’s body. Thin scratches coated its outer layer of armor.
“Truce!” Cyrus shrieked in agreement as he swapped to his bow and arrow to draw, then block cancel before casting Magic Bolt at the same time he loosed his arrow.
Red light enveloped his arrow as the spell flew in time with it. It tapped against its green breastplate ineffectually before Magic Bolt nailed it through.
Discarded knives stirred as the thin scratches twisted, each slice rendered a gash. Honed blades of its parted plate twisted as its armor crumpled. The girl drew a shining sword out of the air before she flickered to reappear behind their enemy.
Mortar shells burst with clouds of smoke and shrapnel. Heat washed over Cyrus’s avatar as shards of hot metal pierced into him before he could block or dodge. Heartbeats squelched in his ears as his avatar’s health dwindled to zero.
Cyrus groaned as his awareness twitched back toward his real body. His character died and would take an hour to respawn. Systematic Gamer twinged as he kept himself projected.
A projection of his own body stood in his avatar’s place.
Fingers of light streamed through the smoke as she cut into it. She howled with a grunt of pain.
Manasight activated, consuming more of his character’s, no, his resources. With his character dead, he had no fictional buffer.
Hues of crimson devoured his vision while he watched.
The girl skated backward on her bladed cleats. Tank Automabot charged toward her despite the massive twin rends in its armor. It hammered a mockery of a human hand into her bladed armor with a screech of metal and sparks.
Cyrus activated skills he hadn’t earned or unlocked through Systematic Gamer, but long hours grinding for achievements.
Wasteborn’s Fury boosted all his attributes for a triple multiplier to his damage in exchange for 3 HP per second. Pursuit dragged him forward as it threw him en route to his target. The New Game Plus skill Fist of Aleyr turned his bare hands into weapons of divine retribution.
Despite his shorter stature, now that he was his true height, he plunged his fingers into its hip pistons. Metal ruptured as he squeezed. Cyrus twisted as he thought of the game Throw Yo! Bros.
Trajectory arrows filled his mind as he lifted the Automabot over his head. He released it as he jabbed his hands forward at the same time he triggered Fist of Aleyr.
White light screamed from his knuckles as he made contact. Raw force rammed into the robot, blasting it back. Cyrus blinked as numb static filled his mind. Thoughts lost cohesion until they were more like mush than anything precise.
He wobbled as he collapsed.
Notifications from the System appeared despite the fact that Systematic Gamer always devoured any kill messages for his character’s experience.
<congratulations an="" anders="" automabot="" cyrus="" have="" powers:="" slain="" the="" with="" you="">
Mechanized Autonomy Ev. 1/Lv. 6 (Common)
Technokinesis Ev. 0/Lv. 4 (Common)
You may now select from one of the following options:
Siphon Power Experience
Gain a Power Perk
Obtain Power from the Conquered>
<congratulations anders="" cyrus="" ev.="" following="" gamer="" have="" leveled="" power:="" systematic="" the="" up="" you=""> Systematic Gamer Ev. 0/Lv. 5></congratulations>
<congratulations anders="" cyrus="" following="" have="" maxed="" out="" power:="" the="" you="">
Systematic Gamer Ev. 0 (Rare)
You may now select from one of the following options:
Evolve Power
Obtain New Power
N/A
N/A>
An inadvertent prompt opened Obtain New Power while he spasmed on his back. The couch beneath his back stabbed at him like the rubble did in the streets where his projection lay.
Words buzzed all around him as visions flooded his mind. In his feverish state, visions codified into descriptions.
<you following="" from="" may="" now="" of="" one="" options:="" select="" the="">
Glitch Ev. 0 (Uncommon)
[Description: Cre__ min_r glitches in rea__y]
Geometric Shift Ev. 0 (Common)
[Description: Ch__ge polygons b__we_n geometric dimensions ____ telekinetic c__trol ____ ____ in transition]
Boolean Ev. 0 (Common)
[Description: Set if-else conditions ____ will execute bas__ on available ab___t__s and tools.]
Resource Allocation Ev. 0 (Common)
[Description: Man__lly adjust a_d control input and ___put of available resources internally.]
Bullet Time Ev. 0 (Uncommon)
[Description: Dream a projection in altered time that can either act independently or swap with you after i_ concludes.]
BACK>
“Are you okay?” asked the sword girl as she stood above him with that shining sword of hers held in her hands.
At the same time, he heard multiple voices arguing over him. “This has something to do with his power. I’m sorry, I can’t heal power usage, Rome,” Eli said.
“Fuck! I’m breaking Theo out of prison. I don’t care, we have to do something.” Roman shouted.
“I am. Aurora Stardust is stabilizing him, but I’m afraid it’s too powerful. I can feel it eating away at something inside of him.
“Stop fighting!” Les snapped. “Herbert, cool Cyrus down now. He’s burning up with a fever. Roman, back the fuck up. Your powers can’t do anything here. Eli! You have the best recovery, so I’m putting linked gauntlets on you and him. Keep doing what you’re doing and it’ll drain you instead of him. Yes?”
“Fine!” Eli said while icy water washed over Cyrus’s body.
Cyrus shivered as the girl spoke again.
“Sorry, but if you’re going to die, I can’t let your powers go to waste.” Her sword flickered as it transformed into a menacing knife that dipped toward his throat.
“I’m o-okay! Just gi-give me a second,” He stuttered as he tried to roll out of the way of her looming knife.
“Are you sure?” She frowned.
“We have to cool you down, Cyrus. Your fever is 101 and climbing. Keep going, Herbert.” Les commanded as the cold waters sapped the warmth from his skin.
“It’s not that, ugh, my head.” Cyrus winced as the static gnawed at him. A frayed tether yanked at him from street to couch.
Sensations piled atop one another. Cuts from rock, burns from ashen smoke, fragments of metal embedded in his body. Meanwhile, in the other, he felt limp and drawn out. An inferno blazed inside of him while starry clouds nipped at him. Cold stabbed at him.
“I’m not so sure.” She moved to cut him with the knife.
“What’s your name?” He shrieked as he twisted away from it and her.
“Sarah. Yours?” Sarah narrowed her eyes while back on the couch people yammered on about if he was in his right mind or not. Delirious.
“I’m Cyrus. Please don’t kill me, okay?”
“I can’t heal you and I don’t feel right leaving your powers to the Bots, Vermin, or Roots.”
“Oh, I’m not even here. I’m back home in Farbrook. Don’t worry about me.” He smiled to put her at ease.
Static devoured his body and mind as he felt the tether connecting his projection to his body snap.
Cyrus found himself in a void of uncertain time.
Aware of everything around him, but unable to act.
Words lost most meaning, but he still understood enough.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Newton watched over him. Pressed cool washcloths against his forehead. Spooned warm soup into his mouth that filled his stomach with a glowing vitality.
People chattered in the background.
Reality stretched, then failed to change around him. Lyra said something about how he had Dreamed too much for her to Will him awake.
Roman begged Eli, Les, and Herbert to help him break Theo out to save him from execution. He had admitted his involvement in the creation of the ‘spawn’. Something about sending him to another dimension afterward to keep him and others safe. Roman’s pleas dissolved into a droning sea of crackling.
Cyrus stirred at the thought of Theo leaving or being executed. Even if he had been cruel and distant the last time he had seen him last night? A couple of nights ago?
People came and went as time passed.
Static spat then surged through him with blinding agony whenever he tried to use Systematic Gamer or interact with the System.
All consuming black and white fuzz lessened until he felt whole once again.
Cyrus woke up cradled in an unfamiliar bed. Fanciful canopies above him draped across four posts. He sat up expecting a wave of pain or discomfort, but felt nothing out of the ordinary.
Angry red scars dotted the back of his right hand where he had punched the Automabot. He glanced down at the marks in disbelief as he pulled the curtained canopy back. A window set in the wall overlooked a void full of stars. Bolts of electricity arced from point to point in a never-ending, evolving constellation.
He gently scooched himself off the bed.
Space parted apart with a crackling tear like velcro as Roman appeared in the middle of the room.
“Cyrus! You’re awake!” Roman shouted as he barreled into Cyrus with surprising strength. Roman’s arms crushed against Cyrus’s.
“What happened?” Cyrus tried to push himself out of his brother’s embrace, but his arms were unyielding. He was too weak compared to whatever powers Roman used to enhance himself.
“You’ve been in a sort of coma for the last two days.” Roman pulled away with a wide smile. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I feel great. But where are we?”
“We’re in Eli’s sanctum right now. Being here has helped us keep you regulated.” Roman shifted nervously. “I need to tell you something about Theo.”
“Did you guys break him out?”
“Not exactly… I don’t want to sugarcoat anything, but they tried to execute him. Nothing stuck until it suddenly did. But I don’t think he’s really dead. His body seemed wrong, as if he made a decoy so he could escape somehow. If he approaches you, ever, you need to tell someone, okay? I know he’s our brother but he’s capital d Dangerous.”
“Okay.” Cyrus nodded while his thoughts whirled around in his head.
Eli popped in beside them with a nod at both of them. “Not to interrupt, but they’re ready to go.”
“Go? Where are you going?” Cyrus blinked at the jarring snap in conversation.
“We’re going back to Herbert and Les’s dimension to drop them off,” Eli said.
“Oh.” Cyrus frowned. He didn’t want to be left behind again.
“No, Cy, we’re all going,” Roman explained as space warped around them. A buzzing tingle spread through his body as motion hurled them smoothly through a starry void.
They appeared in the middle of nowhere in the center of a field.
Eli’s parents swerved out of their conversation to sprint toward them. Without a word, Cyrus surrendered himself to their embraces. He didn’t even remember the last time his own mom held him close enough that her hair tickled his cheek like Mrs. Newto–Addy did. Rick knelt down to squeeze Cyrus and his wife into his chest. Dad definitely never gave him, his brothers, or even his mom any affection like that, either.
Cyrus was pretty sure the instant he started walking was when his father gave up on the three of them. He happened to glance over and catch the slight frown on Eli’s face.
Jealousy. Resentment. Loneliness.
A fragment of Identify went off despite the fact that he wasn’t playing as his character. Pressure spiked through his eyes into his cranium. His knees went weak as he sagged in between Eli’s parents.
“Your fever went down, but are you feeling any better?” Addy withdrew from the triple hug as she lifted her hands together to conjure a steaming brisket sandwich. It floated above her hands. “Here, eat this.”
“I feel fine, great even.” Cyrus smiled as he took the floating sandwich out of the air and ripped into it. Brioche bread crunched in a flood of sauced, tender meat. Warmth rippled through his skin at tangy spices.
“Excellent! I’m glad to see you up on your feet. Really gave us all a scare. Are you ready to come with us for a short dimensional visit?”
Cyrus nodded. His attention wandered to the allure of his waiting powers. Not to mention the thrill of traveling to another dimension.
He peeked around Rick to watch what Herbert, Lyra, and Les were doing. They stood on the deep end of the field while they played with their powers.
Herbert siphoned water out of the nearby plants and the humid air. Water condensed into a bar of frost that sharpened into a sword. It flashed toward Les before he summoned an enchanted shield that intercepted it with a flicker of blue light.
Cyrus charged toward them while he tried to figure out the game. Identify twinged behind him, letting him know that Roman followed close behind him.
Eli vanished, then reappeared by himself far away from everyone else.
As Cyrus ran, aches detached from any physical injuries grated against his bones, but it felt good to run. Reminded of him when Lana and Theo had started dating and they included him in their jogs and dates.
Before they shoved him away like the accessory he had been.
Les’s hovering shield twisted to point toward Lyra. A horrendous clang resounded from the shield as the blue light streaked toward her.
Lyra swished her hand up with a flick of her wrist. A shelf of stone surged out of the ground. Dazzling blue light sank into ridges of rock before it vanished leaving a wash of ice in its wake.
She snapped her fingers. Spikes of icy earth shot toward Herbert which he deflected with a gust of glacial wind.
On and on they went, throwing the last person’s power to the next. Or they dispelled it before using their own.
“Hi guys! Can I play?” Cyrus bounced to a stop far enough away none of their powers were likely to slip to hit him.
“We’re training, not playing.” Herbert stared at Cyrus with crossed arms.
“It’s kind of a game, Herbert,” Les chuckled. “It’s all about control. We each get one move where we have to counter or redirect what someone else does. It’s usually encouraged to only use one power for the best results.”
“It’s fun. If you’re up to it, you’d like it, Cy.” Lyra grinned.
“Maybe, I don’t know how I’d use Systematic Gamer with this…” He tapped his foot while he thought. Rings of Uneira had block and parry mechanics, but he didn’t think it would be as controllable as what they were displaying. Maybe that was part of the point? “I do have some new power options available though that I’m considering.”
“Oh? Such as?” Les’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“Well, I got offered Glitch, Geometric Shift, Boolean, Resource Allocation, and Bullet Time. The problem though is I like all of them. I want to merge Glitch with Boolean so I can create specific effects when conditions are met beyond what it’d let me do normally. Merging Resource Allocation, Systematic Gamer, and Geometric Shift seems like it’d also be really cool. But all of those feel a bit… lacking right now? While Bullet Time would let me essentially warp my perception of time and let me do more right away.”
“That’s quite a few options,” Roman commented as he sidled up to the group beside Cyrus.
Vibrations rumbled beneath his feet as a radiant tear cracked open in the air in front of Eli.
Cyrus nodded sagely while he also considered his picks from the Automabot. He wasn’t going to mention anything about them. Projecting to fight was a bit of a secret since he felt like the others would hold him back somehow if they knew. Very few children were allowed to actually fight with or without powers.
Mechanized Autonomy felt like it’d let him make a program or machine work independently of any direct control. While Technokinesis would give him rough control of machines?
Technokinesis was the obvious choice for utility and synergy with Systematic Gamer and his future options. Or he could take the perk from Mechanized Autonomy?
He decided to do that.
“Have you decided?” Roman chuckled when he blinked his eyes and refocused on the conversation. There had been an empty lull while he had thought his options through.
“Kind of, I’m split between two.” Cyrus smiled. “Geometric Shift would give me the most utility by letting me control shapes and shift them from 2D to 3D. But I might also take Bullet Time. My only issue with it now is how inflexible it feels right now. If I take one power, will my other options disappear?”
“Not necessarily. If a power is too closely related to another or opposite of each other, they will, but most of your list is complimentary so most of them should stay,” Les explained.
“So is Geometric Shift basically telekinesis with extra steps?” Lyra asked.
“I don’t think so… But I know I’d definitely be able to control shapes somehow.”
“Out of curiosity, why not Boolean, Glitch, or Resource Allocation?” Roman asked. “They all sound like they fit you a bit better. With Boolean, it basically sounds like you’d be able to program reality. I know a little bit of code and I bet Rick would be willing to help use it. And you love looking for glitches and Easter eggs in video games. Would Resource Allocation be like stat points in a game?”
“Nah, it’d be all about making me more efficient. Plus, it wouldn’t give me anything new, it’s all about managing what I already have. I definitely want to take it, but it’s like the other two. They’ll be incredible later, but right now I’m really limited by what I can do.” Cyrus rubbed his head as he hoped none of them connected the dots. He’d kept it a secret that he could pilot his summons while sleeping the last few days and would hate for it to be found out.
“It’s important to trust your instincts when it comes to powers. If you won’t enjoy them, it’ll make pushing through the hardship of them even harder,” Les said.
“I disagree. Practicality and specialization is more important,” Herbert protested. “In Power Crafting we learned that it’s better to be diverse, but consistent for best results.”
Cyrus tuned them out.
Arguments around him had a way of going in one ear and out the other.
<you autonomy:="" following="" for="" from="" may="" mechanized="" now="" of="" one="" perks="" select="" the="">
Mechanical
Autonomy
BACK>
<congratulations anders="" cyrus="" have="" selected:="" you="">
Geometric Shift Ev. 0/Lv. 0
Perk: Autonomy
Would you like to equip it? Y/N>
Cyrus gasped as his perception of his thoughts and stream of consciousness shifted. Endless geometry bristled at every vector where he touched something. From every thin triangular prism of grass beneath his shoes to the rounded rectangular prisms of his fingers.
He bent down to pluck a blade of grass and roll it between his fingers. It spun on its axis as his awareness of it swamped the rest of his mind.
Guided by his instincts, Cyrus pinched it with Geometric Shift and watched as it folded into itself until it was a long green 2D triangle.
Wind whistled around its non-existent edges as the breeze stirred.
Cyrus thought about what Lyra said about telekinesis and pushed his will into it. Leverage twisted in his mind as it lifted. Where his exertion curled it upward, 2D lines bulged into 3D bubbles.
He shoved harder while he willed it away from him.
A 2D triangle blurred forward with barely any friction to slow it before it buried itself in the ground. The 3D blade of grass wafted in the breeze upside down.
Nausea and agony sizzled down his spine as he wobbled from pushing his new power so far already, but true exhilaration ignited with equal measure inside of him.
Questions rattled in his thoughts as he stooped down to pick up another tuft of grass.
Could he turn 2D drawings into 3D objects? What about 3D into 4D
Did this work while playing as a character or piloting a summon?
Cyrus twisted the blade of grass around into a circle before activating Geometric Shift. It flowed together in a seamless loop that bulged outward as he continued to expand it.
He held an almost weightless sphere that he willed to flatten into a 2D circle. Another pull adhered it to the skin of his palm. It tickled.
Countless shapes joined his collection as he grafted triangles, rectangles, and circles together that would expand into arrows or knives. Squares that could be walls or shields.
If his character ever died in a projection again, he wanted to be ready.
Thunder roared as Eli’s portal flashed.
Cyrus blinked back to himself where he sat next to Roman and Lyra. They each had their own projects in their laps.
Roman had some sort of gauntlet vambrace contraption in his lap with little vents across the knuckles. While Lyra had a sketchbook open, showing a photorealistic drawing of Eli and his portal.
“Alright guys! Eli says it’s time to head out.” Rick called out as he walked over with his hands in his pockets.
Cyrus pushed himself to his feet with a wide grin as he looked at the scene.
Eli’s portal was a gouged out hole in space that wavered as it folded back around itself. Through the other side, he saw what could’ve been Rick and Addy’s younger twin siblings standing side by side on a picturesque lawn. The pair waved at them.
Herbert, Les, and Maeve stepped into and through the portal while he watched. Cyrus frowned. Where had Maeve been this entire time?
Addy waited by it with a glum Lana at her side.
Cyrus charged forward with a rising thrill at exploring another dimension even if it was just for a little bit. It was like a whole new adventure.
Too bad Theo wasn’t there to join them.
</congratulations></you></you></congratulations></congratulations>Comments
Fisher McLaughlin
Hey just a thought 😉 it would be interesting 🧐 if while Cyrus was in second dimension his gamer avatar turned out to be still active! In his home dimension 😯!. Just a thought 🤔
Beeees!
Big hints at theo popping up in the future... Should be very interesting
weas97
It was interesting to see Cyrus's perspective and see from the side what is happening with the others in the meantime, I'm not going to lie, his power confuses me a bit but he has a lot of potential if he receives help from others because along the way he is forcing him and the Harsh effects that it caused could end up being dangerous for Cyrus himself if he doesn't have a guide, that the next chapter is from the point of view of the savior intrigues me and for some reason between how the system reacts with Cyrus and some of the mentions of the Salvador, it seems to me that perhaps they have some things in common or if they meet at some point.
