Justin woke, his mind floating in a silent darkness. Not only was there no light to see, but there wasn't even the awareness of eyes. There were no ears, no hands, he couldn't feel his muscles or his skin, there was no heartbeat, no chest moving to draw in breath. There was just a vague sense of shape, like his entire essence had been boiled down to a liquid, and poured into a smooth glass sphere.

'Systems rebooting,' a voice said within his mind. He recognised it as the voice he'd just chosen for his character. Wait, does that mean I'm talking to myself? 'External sensors offline, flight control offline, core shielding offline.'

Thank you, me. Now why don't you tell us what's actually working, oh, and you know, what the hell is actually going on! Flight control meant he was probably in the air, and since he couldn't see, and the controls weren't working, it was probably safe to say he was in the process of crashing.

He felt his substance roil in panic as his mind pushed itself out, trying to see or feel anything. Ok -----, calm down. Dammit! Ok, KIP, calm down.

KIP (Ketican Interstellar Probe VDCI) was the designation he'd chosen for Artisan while finalising details with Janus. The Ketican were a distant race unknown to the Sol system, their deep space probes were sent out to neighbouring galaxies to explore and see what's happening, before reporting back a few eons hence. Apparently his designers were a patient and scientifically minded people, even if they did look like small blue goblins.

Justin tried to get control of himself. If I don't calm down, I'm never going to figure out what's going on.

This was exactly what he'd signed up for after all. He'd known getting to grips with the simulated consciousness of an AI would be difficult, and for a few extra points, he'd even choose for his initiation to be extra confusing - sudden amnesia is rarely peaceful after all.

He focused on stilling his thoughts, on letting go.

Imagining a still lake, its surface rippling in a summer breeze while its depths stayed cool and untouched. It was one of his most peaceful memories, a childhood holiday to Canada. He was a little surprised Somnus let the memory through, and resolved to check the filter's limits later on, before letting go of that thought too.

After a minute of imagining the placid lake he felt calm enough to consider his options, before a few seconds later accepting that he didn't really have any. With nothing else to do, he focused on the only thing he'd been feeling since waking up, (other than panic that is) the strange sensation at the edge of his being, the smooth boundary around him. Minutes ticked past while he studied it, reaching, questing. Why did it feel 'smooth'? How far away was it? Was he the only thing inside of it?

Gradually details began to emerge. It turned out it was nowhere near as smooth as it had first appeared, in fact it seemed like the entire thing was cracked like a dropped egg. But as he continued his inspection, he noticed patterns and movement within the 'cracks', like interlocking puzzle pieces rearranging themselves.

He froze as he found a piece missing, a shape that for some reason made him think of looking out, of colours and and the taste of chemicals. He reached through the hole, seeing if it lead to any of the things of which it promised, but found nothing. Not an absence like earlier, but like a sucking void, draining his focus and energy away to fill itself.

About to pull himself back to the relative safety of his cocoon, he instead found himself forced back, as a vision of fire and light rushed towards him, plugging the hole he'd been exploring. 'External sensor feed re-established.' The voice from before said.

Realising he was unhurt by the fire, only startled, he studied the formally missing tile. It was as solid now as any of the others pieces that formed his shell, displaying the vision within his mind only as he touched it with his focus.

Its not fire I'm seeing, he realised, not knowing how he knew, something about the taste perhaps, which was a strange thing to think. He studied the almost liquid flame with interest, finally reaching a conclusion to meet the facts. I think it's a plasma cloud caused by extreme gas compression.

Not a moment after thinking it and he was proved right, the view clearing as the plasma rolled back in a smooth wave, like surf on a beach. Ahead of him he could now see diffuse light reflecting from the upper surface of clouds, and beyond that, the greens, browns and greys of land.

It appeared he'd just entered a planet's atmosphere, and unless a miracle appeared, he was heading for a hard landing on a familiar-looking continent. When I decided KIP would crash-land on Earth, I didn't expect to have to live through it.

'Sensor downtime confirmed at 48 seconds, attempts to re-establish flight controls have failed.'

Wait, what? Justin would have sworn he'd been swimming blind for over five minutes. That would be the time compression then, he realised. Which meant he probably had at least a few seconds left to enjoy the view.

As the Earth approached, Justin decided he'd probably go for a human inventor next time, I could have started with a mansion, a butler, and a crippling fear of commitment... but no, I let myself get conned by Janus, and now I don't even have the fingers to flip him the bird.

Dave was enjoying an afternoon fishing out on Lake St Clair.

He'd just stood up to grab a fresh beer when a shinny ball of cherry-red metal hit the water travelling at something approaching the speed of sound. Impacting only a few hundred meters from his prow, the resulting wave nealry swamped his boat, leaving Dave upside down against the tiller with his mouth full of muddy-tasting water.

Righting himself after only two attemps, Dave decided he'd tried his luck enough for one day, best to head home and leave the lake's residents (now plus one) in peace.

Welcome Ketican Interstellar Probe VDCI to

A Time of Heroes

Notifications are now active.

New Skill Discovered! Meditation has been added to known skills.

Successful Skill Use +8 xp to Meditation - Beginner Level 1 [08%].

New Skill Discovered! Visualisation has been added to known skills.

Successful Skill Use +10 xp to Visualisation - Beginner Level 1 [10%].

New Skill Discovered! Analysis has been added to known skills.

Successful Skill Use +4 xp to Analysis - Beginner Level 1 [04%].

You have successfully identified a Ketican code structure.New Skill Discovered! Decipher has been added to known skills.

Successful Skill Use +6 xp to Decipher - Beginner Level 1 [06%].

Successful Skill Use +8 xp to Decipher - Beginner Level 1 [14%].

Successful Skill Use +6 xp to Decipher - Beginner Level 1 [21%].

Focus Drained -50 points by Sub-Routine (Focus 60 / 110)

New Skill Discovered! Awareness has been added to known skills.

Successful Skill Use +6 xp to Awareness - Beginner Level 1 [06%].

Successful Skill Use +6 xp to Physics - Novice Level 1 [01%].

+3 xp to skill group Science - Novice Level 1 [00%]Successful Skill Use +10 xp to Awareness - Beginner Level 1 [16%].You have been dealt 2,000 falling damage by Lake St Clair.

Armour has reduced damage taken by 90% (-1,800 damage).

Armour broken!

Damage taken 200 (Integrity 10 / 210)

Warning! You have been dealt damage exceeding 50% of your remaining Integrity.

Stunned!

Warning! Integrity less than 5%.

Unconscious!