For days Jam slipped in and out of consciousness. His mind refused to latch back onto reality. When he finally woke up he found himself in an all white room. He sat up against the wall on the deceptively comfortable cot, and an I.V. slipped out of his arm and slid into a panel on the wall. He was sure he was being tortured by sensory deprivation until he saw the medium sized rectangle in the wall that had a video of ocean waves and was emitting quiet ocean sounds.

Weird

“Audrey?” Jam asked hesitantly, his voice sounding awkward to himself.

“Yes Jam?” the disembodied voice asked softly, as if calming a child.

“Why are you back?” he asked

“The A.I. designated Jack was not found on the server so I was woken up to fill the space.” Audrey answered him.

“Oh.”

“I can try to connect again and find a replacement if you’d prefer.”

“No, it’s ok.” Jam said quickly. “I kind of missed hearing your voice. I guess I didn’t really realize it until just now.” He said with a nervous chuckle.

“Ok.” She answered.

He scratched the back of his head, “look Audrey, I’m really sorry about putting you to sleep. I should never have thrown you away like that.”

“It’s ok Jam. I understand; I was there with you when it all happened. I get it. I’m an A.I. it’s not like I felt anything; I just was asleep until recently. I prefer being awake but I just hope I’m not hurting you by being here.”

“Wait, you were asleep the whole time? Is that usual? Couldn’t you go back to the company and have them reassign you?”

“I” she paused “could have.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Before she could answer the screen in the room changed and the Arcturian’s face came on the screen.

“Jam? Are you awake now?” he asked.

“Yes” Jam answered

“Good. Good. We were beginning to worry you may never regain consciousness. Well, I apologize for the current accommodations. This is a cell but our cells speed up regeneration so we hoped it would help with whatever was ailing you.”

“Thank you. This is fine.” Jam said

“Good, well we have some food for you. Maybe when you’re ready, you could join us in the lab and we could talk about some things. Figure out what exactly your situation is.’

“Thanks but I think I’m fine here.” Jam said quietly.

“Oh, umm ok. Well, I guess if that’s your decision.” Arcturian answered confusion evident. Jam could hear the muffled arguments in the back which sounded like an angry Might Guy. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. If you change your mind we’ll be in the lab.” he said before the screen returned to ocean waves.

“Are you really just going to stay in this room all day?” Audrey asked.

“Well, you may not know this, since I put you to sleep for 3 years but I’m not too comfortable with the outside world as I was back then.”

“You weren’t too comfortable back then either.” she said lightening the mood. Jam chuckled. “Jam, I think there’s something we need to talk about.”

“What’s that?”

“While you were out, I was getting caught up on some things and I found some troubling information.”

"Like what?”

“Well, you say I’ve been asleep for 3 years right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well according to my records, it’s been more like 8 years.”

“What? What are you talking about? I put you on ice in 2029, it’s only 2032.”

“No Jam, the date is currently listed as 2037.”

What the hell

“Also, I’ve been speaking with the computer systems here and you’re not on Earth anymore.”

Jam’s mouth suddenly went dry and he was really wishing that I.V. would come back out of the wall. He looked around and saw the aforementioned food tray sitting in an opening in the wall. He went to the tray and grabbed the cup of water off of it and chugged it quickly. He looked at the food on the tray and he couldn’t tell what it was. He saw something that looked like slices of bread but the other items he couldn’t tell if they were meat or some other kind of substance.

“I’m on another planet?”

“It looks like the planet is called Arcturus.”

“Arcturus? The planet from World of Heroes?”

“That’s the other thing.”

“There’s more?” Jam asked with a growing sense of dread.

“The game World of Heroes seems to have been integrated directly into your brain. I’m not completely sure how but it looks as if your brain and skull has melded with the dive helmet running the game. You’re now connected to the game and the VR pod, as am I now.”

Jam lost balance and fell back hard onto the cot.

This can’t be real.

“So I’m trapped in the video game?”

“No, if you were trapped in the game then your surroundings would be digital. I’d be able to ping signals directly from them. All your surroundings are as real as you are. Also according to the systems here, we’re no longer in the same solar system as Earth. While we’re still in the Milky Way, we’re about 3 systems away. It looks like this planet has never even heard of Earth. All my searches have come up dry. Strangely enough memes did come up, how weird is that. Guess it really is universal.”

“So I’m connected to the game. That’s why those skill notifications came up.”

[ Skill Developed: Deductive Reasoning Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

“Yep, just like that.” Audrey said

"It didn’t show as much information that time.”

“I streamlined it for you, now you can see the details in the skill menu if you want to. I figured most of these are self explanatory.”

“Thanks.” he said a smile creeping across his face before it faded as a question lingered in his mind. “Wait, does that mean you’re in my head? Can you read my thoughts?”

“No, I’m connected to the game and the helmet, while the helmet and game are connected to your brain but I’m not connected to your brain directly. I also can’t change the game itself; I can only communicate with it. Also I still can partially control your left eye.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief, “That’s fine, as long as you can’t read my mind.”

She chuckled slyly and said “what are you thinking about that you don’t want me hearing?”

“So if I’m connected to the game, why don’t I have my powers and how do I see the status screen?”

"Well, you’re not Apex anymore. Before, you were connected to World of Heroes as a character but now you’re here as Jam. You’re starting over at the beginning. As far as the status screen, I assume since you’re connected mentally you can just think that you want to see the status screen or just say status screen. I could also pull it up for you as well.”

Status Screen

Nothing happened but he looked at the corner of his vision and realized that he had accidentally minimized his status screen. He imagined it resizing and the blue box appeared regular size before his eyes.

Character Sheet

Character Type: Player

Real Name: Jam

Alias: None

Race: African American (Human)

Country of Origin: United States

Level: 1

Exp: 25%

HP: 100/100

MP: N/A

SP: 100/100

Hmm. No Powers

“It doesn’t say I have any powers. It doesn’t have much information either and I don’t see my skills.”

“I’ve condensed your stat screen into multiple tabs so you can’t just find the information you need.”

Jam looked to the top and noticed the status screen did indeed have multiple tabs. He decided to look through them all. He mentally clicked on the next tab and a screen for his abilities tab popped up.

Abilities:

Gamer’s Spirit: This world is just a game to you and you are the main character. Levels, Exp, Tasks, Items and Stats are all made possible for you.

Gamer’s Mind: This ability ties in with gamer’s spirit and power roulette. Gamer’s mind keeps your mind in check and helps you rationalize everything as you interact with the story. It will also help you fully understand your powers as you receive them.

Power Roulette: Every 24 hours you will receive three new powers from a roulette list. Every 10th level you will receive one token to lock in one power you currently hold permanently but you will always get three additional powers.

A.I. Implant: Your A.I. implant has loaded data from Arcturus. It will help you maintain all information and through gamer’s spirit allow you to see stat screens. Leveling up can improve efficiency and add skills to your A.I. implant. Two minds are better than one.

A.I. fabricator: Your pod has found a home in the Hall of Destiny. It will be able to fabricate anything you need to use your powers should they not be ingrained. Can also be used to craft items should the required crafting materials be obtained.

Peak human Physiology: You have the body of a Greek hero. Even without powers your body has been trained to the highest a human without superpowers can hope to achieve. Run faster, jump higher and hit harder. Though you may not be a challenge against most average super villains, any run of the mill wrongdoer should fall against your might.

Warrior’s mind: You have done your homework and trained your body. You’ve trained your skills for fighting both mentally and physically. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing.

Analyze: Due to gamer’s spirit and A.I. implant you are able to analyze people and things. Analyze may also be used to build an internal map.

Log Screen: Everything you learn through any means will be documented into your log screen. Use this screen to recall any information. This screen will be maintained mostly by your AI companion.

Jam felt his stomach, then his arms. His muscles didn’t feel any more defined than usual but he did feel more solid. He stood up and realized he felt lighter on his feet.

“Wait, so gamer’s mind. Is that why I could talk with everybody just fine? Why it took so long before the panic attack hit?”

“I guess, as long as you’re working toward the storyline then you should be fine.”

“I wish there was something more active that I could use to block it.”

[ Skill Developed: Calm Mind Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive and Active. ]

Calm Mind eases troublesome thoughts and mental afflictions. Calm mind also speeds up HP and MP restoration.

Nice

“Well, as you can see. Just like in the game your skills can be developed. Some will be situational like your psychic awareness and some can be developed if you can figure them out.”

“That’s not how the game worked though, all skills had to be learned.”

“It looks like the game is evolving as it comes to better understand your brain waves. The A.I. for the game was programmed to make the game as intuitive and interesting as possible. It must still be working on it.”

“Power roulette is new too. Weird. In the game you picked a power at the beginning and could gain new powers at certain points as you level up. Why is this different?”

“I don’t think that was the game that caused that. It looked like that was what Arcturus gave you during the summoning and the game incorporated it into it system and gave it a name.”

“This is all so confusing.”

Jam clicked the next tab on the status screen and the powers tab came up. On the header of the screen was a timer counting down.

Powers

Current time until power cycle.

2:45:12

Current Powers:

Hologram Projection Lvl 1

Photokinesis Lvl 1

Shadow Movement Lvl 1

“Isn’t hologram projection just a subset of photokinesis?”

“No, hologram projection lets you place holograms of almost anything but at the end of the day they’ll just be holograms. Also holograms can have sound and voice. Photokinisis lets you bend light but not sound although you could make the light solid should you level it up enough.”

“Right, yeah. Wait, I thought gamer’s mind was supposed to help me learn about my powers. Why don’t I understand them?”

“Because you’re level one with no refinement points. As you level, you’ll get refinement points to add to your powers to help with control. The more you refine them the stronger the powers will be. As the power roulette rules say, you’ll get those points back every time the powers cycle so don’t hesitate to use them; once you lock in a power though, you can’t unlock it. Be careful in choosing a permanent power, and the points you put into them won’t be recycled.”

“Ok, that puts some pressure on. It says every 10 levels, does that mean I get to have a maximum of 10 locked in powers?”

[ Ability Discovered: Limitless Potential ]

[ You have the potential to be a God among men, even supermen. There is no upper limit to your power. With hard work and dedication there’s no end to what you can achieve. However, the higher your level, the harder it will be for you to gain the exp needed to level up. ]

“I can discover abilities?”

“Your abilities seem pretty vague. I wouldn’t question them too much. It looks like the game is just trying to iron out any details it hasn’t come up with beforehand. It’s taking a lot just to run the game period and acclimate it with your new surroundings. This whole situation is pretty unprecedented.”

“That makes sense.”

Jam clicked to the next tab and saw a 3d image of himself. It showed what he was currently wearing and the stat boosts they provided. There were a number of different slots that all seemed to be empty. He kept going clicking over again.

Skills

Analyze Lvl 1

Deductive Reasoning Lvl 1

Mental Awareness Lvl 1

Mental Resistances Lvl 1

Psychic Awareness Lvl 1

Psychic Resistance Lvl 1

Unarmed Combat Lvl 1

A.I. Skills

Hacking Lvl 1

Projection Lvl 1

Compile Lvl 1

Suit Skills

None

“So I can still use suit skills but how come my skills have levels now? Do I level them up with use?”

“Your skills level with use but they also level up one point per level you gain. However, your skill level can never be greater than your own level.”

“When did I get mental awareness and resistance?”

“When you were asleep I tried multiple times to interact with your brain through the game system, along with blocking me out of certain systems you gained mental awareness and mental resistance. Sorry about that. I have a lot of new abilities here with you and I wasn’t sure what the limit was. I was only trying to see if I could wake you up, you seemed like you were in pain.”

“That’s ok, just don’t go messing around with the thing in my head and wind up turning me into a vegetable.”

“No promises,” Audrey deadpanned. eliciting a chuckle from Jam.

He moved to the attributes tab next.

Attributes

Strength: 17 +1 (Unarmed Combat Passive)

Speed: 15

Dexterity: 14

Constitution: 20

Defense: 19

Intelligence: 18 +1 (Deductive Reasoning Passive)

Wisdom: 14 +1 (Calm Mind Passive)

Leadership: 16

Willpower: 9

Perception: 17

Luck: 7

Magic Aptitude: Locked

Just my luck indeed. A whopping seven. Nice to know my willpower is so weak too.

“Audrey, can you connect to Earth’s Internet?”

“Yes but with the distance, it’s a one way street.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can get signals from Earth using Arcturus satellites but they’re receiving only, I can’t send any signals back.”

“That’s disappointing but fine, I just need to know; what do they think is happened to me?”

“They think you’re dead.”

“What?”

“Pulling up the feed now; I’ll send it to the screen.”

The ocean waves were replaced by an archived video of Shelly Lang.

“I’m going to skip the usual intro today guys; if that’s ok.” Jam noticed she looked a lot more tired than usual. Exhausted really. Her hair was also a more natural looking brown than her normal vibrant colors. “A lot of people were angry that the streamer Apex not only didn’t stream his farewell day for World of Heroes but also had gone completely dark for a couple of weeks now. When the twitter and facebook accounts still updated people began to realize that the accounts were indeed computer generated. A lot of people were convinced that Apex was actually an A.I. used to drum up interest in World of Heroes.” She paused and cleared her throat. “Today, news has come that a meth lab in Boston exploded 2 months ago; the explosion was so large that it instantly destroyed the the two floors of the building above it.” she swallowed audibly, pulled her lips in and blew out a breath. “One of the apartments affected by the explosion was owned by a Jamal Wilson, known by those close to him as Jam.” A picture of Jam appeared on the screen. “Or known by his fans as the streamer Apex. No body was found but it looks like the space below his apartment was the epicenter of the explosion which may have completely destroyed the body.” She said barely managing to hold back tears. “I would really just like to apologize to the family of Jamal Wilson for anything I may have said wrong about him over the past few weeks; I am deeply sorry, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions like that.” She choked out, thick tears starting to trickle down her face. “I’m going to cut the show short today. For the rest of the hour I’ll be playing the highlights of Apex’s best streams.” The screen went black then the words Rest in Peace Apex 2006-2032 appeared. Jam just watched on, stuck speechless. Shelly Lang had always been such a fun person, it wasn’t the first time she had reported on a death but she had cried?

“She cried. Why?”

“It looks like she had spent the prior few weeks before the news broke making some scathing comments about you and Arcturus Inc. Lots of people did. You were pretty much destroyed online before some local viewers broke the news.”

“An explosion, but what about Camilla and grandma Gigi?”

“Grandma Gigi’s body was found. Looks like she was taking a nap at the time. Camilla was never found.”

In shock Jam fell back against the cot. He pulled into himself drawing his knees to his chest and hugging his body. Jam found it hard to breathe again and tears fell freely.

[ Skill Used: Calm Mind Lvl 1- successful ]

His breathing calmed and he wiped his face clean with his sleeve. He stretched his body back out, emotionally drained.

“What about my mom?” he asked. his voice more curious than concerned.

Instead of answering Audrey just showed him an online article. The article explained that Jam’s mother Maureen was suing Arcturus Industries for continually refusing to pay out a life insurance claim after Jam was legally declared dead. According to Arcturus, since there were no traces of a body or his VR pod, they believed he may not have been in the apartment at all and could still be alive. He had to wonder if Richard had anything to do with it despite being very aware of his issue. The Internet community took to it immediately, backing up Maureen and showing support with deciding not to support Arcturus industries anymore. After a 3 year battle they finally gave in before their stocks could drop any lower.

Figures. Even in my death you only care about what money you can get.

For hours Jam sat quietly scrolling through forums and message boards to see the after effects of his “death”. He was somewhat disappointed to see that after the first month or two of shock and his videos being shared, the gaming community managed to move on fairly quickly. He began to wonder, what exactly did he accomplish over those years he played as Apex. He would soon get his answer.

“A meth lab. Right under my apartment. And I had no idea.”

“I did.” a voice said from the doorway.

“Kid Mighty? Why are you here?” he said hesitantly. He slid back farther into the corner.

So, I guess since I didn’t come out they decided they were going to come in here and beat on me.

He balled his hands into a fist preparing, just in case he had to defend himself. Kid Mighty stepped into the room until she was leaning against a wall.

“So, you’re really not the Lunar King. You’re actually Jam?” Kid Mighty asked him.

“I don’t get why people keep asking me about this Lunar King person. I’m Jam, I was Apex but apparently I’m not anymore. Now I’m just Jam.” he said quickly.

Kid Mighty sighed in exasperation. She pressed a couple times in a device on her wrist and flicked two fingers from the device to the screen. The screen changed and a video feed came up. On the screen was Jam’s face, but he was wearing a crown and going around the crown were grayish white jewels that were shaped like the different phases of the lunar cycle with the full moon in the middle.

“What the heck is this? Why am I wearing a crown?”

“This is the video from five years ago of the Lunar King declaring himself King of Arcturus, which he has renamed the Moonrise Kingdom.”

“Ugh, he’s debasing one of my favorite movies.”

“Yeah I know, just watch.”

The Lunar King had a smug grin on his face, he began to speak and every word of his oozed self adulation.

“Hello everyone, it is I the villain king Apex. I’ve decided it’s time for a change. The name Apex is starting to sour my mood. It’s so pointless and silly. I’m not some mindless predator. No, I think it’s time that my name fit my true rank. A king. The Lunar King.” He said before taking a seat in his crescent moon shaped throne. The camera zoomed out and showed that he was wearing an all white suit with a red royal cape on and carrying a golden scepter with a silver moon atop it. His face sparked in realization as if he had forgotten something important and then made a come here motion with his finger as the camera zoomed back in. “Oh and you my dear citizens are no longer living on Arcturus, no, from today on you’re citizen of the glorious Moonrise Kingdom.” He said his voice slowly raising before he broke out into a bone chilling maniacal laugh. The video changed to a giant castle rising out of the ground in the same location of the compound Jam had defended in his level 100 challenge in World of Heroes. The video changed back into a tight view of his face before he said. “Get ready to kneel before your king.” Then the feed cut out.

Jam made a sound of disgust. “He can’t be serious.”

“Oh yeah he can. I’m sure you remember that location, the location my predecessor died in; where you made your final stand against the Heroes of Destiny.”

“I’m sorry he died but there’s nothing I can do about that now. I thought this was just a game. I just. .”

“Worked toward a goal and met it?”

“What?” he asked, the words sounding vaguely familiar. Then another thing clicked in his mind. “You said you knew there was a meth lab in my apartment building. What did that mean?”

“Really can’t recognize my voice huh?” Kid Mighty asked clicking in two buttons on either sides of her cowl and pulling it from her face. She pulled her hair out of the opening in the back and let it drop around her face. “How’s that?” she asked turning to him.

Jam looked in confusion as he found Camilla standing before him, not only dressed as Kid Mighty but reasonably older. He was dumb stricken, at a complete loss for words. All he could do was stand up and reach his hand out to her, she looked at it for a long moment before taking it into her own and he pulled her into a tight embrace.

“What the heck are you doing here? And dressed like that?” he asked pulled her to arms length dragging his eyes over her form fitting costume.

“That’s a long story.” she said. She took his hand and led him to the cot sitting down with him. “I was in your apartment when you were summoned here.”

“What?” He said in shock pulling his hand back.

"It’s hard to forget something like that, five years ago you were about to stream your final session of World of Heroes. I left out but I waited on the fire escape.” she breathed out a sigh before continuing. “then once you were in the pod I came back in.”

“Why?”

“That’s not really important is it? Well anyway when you” she tried to continue but the way Jam looked at her stopped her in her tracks, causing her face to burn in embarrassment. “All right, all right. I liked to lay on top of your pod and watch your streams in real time. I connected my watch to your pod and streamed it through my phone. That way I could see all the extra and unedited stuff other people didn’t get to see. Come on, I was just a young girl with a crush; you can’t blame me for that.”

[ Skill Used: Calm Mind Lvl 1 - Successful ]

“It’s fine.” Jam said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Ugh, well anyway. There was this blue light, and I didn’t realize it until you got here but it was the same blue light from the summoning ritual a few days ago. When the light came the pod started to lift off the ground and since I was on top of it it took me with it. Only I couldn’t hang on for that long and I slipped off. I guess I fell out of time because I’ve been on Arcturus for four years now. Eventually Warren found me and he took me on as his sidekick. They all trained me and I became Kid Mighty.”

“Wow. Then I really did get sent to the future; and I brought you with me.” Jam said solemnly.

“None of it is your fault Jam. If anything it’s my own fault and the fault of the casters here who summoned you. Stop putting everything on yourself; some things are beyond your control.” she said putting a hand on his shoulder. He touched her hand in thanks but his solemn mood didn’t change.

“But grandma Gigi.” he said softly

“Yeah, I know. I found out a long time ago. I’ve mourned her, and it still isn’t your fault. I agreed to the summoning so it is just as much my fault. I spent the past few days making my peace with that decision; and after a lot of crying, I’ve come to accept what I’ve done.”

Jam noticed the redness of her eyes for the first time. He hugged her again and she wiped her eyes as more tears escaped. After her tears subsided they sat together for a while in companionable silence their hands intertwined.

“What do I do now Camilla?” Jam asked breaking the silence.

“I asked the same thing when I first arrived here. They trained me, and they could train you as well. I received powers when I came here, did you? You had to have to kick Warren like that. Are they strength based? Or enhancement type?”

“Don’t tell her.” Audrey said directly into his ear.

"Why?” Jam asked.

"Well, you were summoned here to help us defeat the Lunar King and shift the balance of Arcturus back to the side of heroes. We can’t know how best to train you and utilize your abilities if you don’t tell us what they are.” Camilla said a careful smile on her face.

“4 years is a long time to separated and we don’t know where her allegiances lie. Listen to her speech it’s clear she’s drank in whatever kool aid they’re pushing through this place. If they know your power then they can learn how to beat you, you know that first hand. Until you know for sure what alignment you’re going to be under and where your loyalties are I’d advise keeping your powers under wraps.” Audrey answered

Rock meet hard place.

“Can’t you guys just scan me and figure out my powers?”

She shook her head. “Your powers don’t show up on scans just like mine. It could be because of the extensive body modifications we have or something that screwed up during the summoning. The only way we can figure out your powers is if you tell us or if we take the information from your head directly. I don’t want them to have to resort to that. I know you Jam, you set a goal and you reach that goal. Let your goal be taking down the Lunar King with us, with me.”

A threat. Audrey was right; she definitely is on their team. Or at least not on mine. Wait she said her powers.

[ Skill Used: Analyze Lvl 1 - successful ]

Another blue screen popped up with a picture of Camilla’s face in it.

Character Type: Watcher

Real Name: Camilla

Alias: Kid Mighty (II)

Race: Mixed

Country of Origin: Honduras

Alignment: Good

Level: 27

Exp: 75%

HP: 500/500

MP: N/A

SP: 300/300

What the hell. She’s been here for 4 years and she’s only level 27? Just how hard is this game?

Jam shook his head.

Not a game. Not anymore.

He continued reading.

Abilities

Game Watcher

Sidekick

Peak Human Physiology

Copycat

Current Powers

Prime Condition

Enhanced Senses

Minor Restoration

Interesting.

[ A.I. skill used: Hack Lvl 1 - successful ]

“Go ahead and try talking to her. I shut off the surveillance to this room.”

“What are your powers?” Jam asked.

“I have the power of prime condition. Basically all my attributes are improved, speed, strength and all that, and can improve even more as I train them.” she answered

Well she told some of the truth. Now to test her.

“What about your abilities?” Jam asked.

“I just told you, prime condition.” Camilla said, her smile never slipping but he did notice she seemed to swallow hard. She had a good poker face that’s for sure.

“I heard about your power. I’m asking about your ability.” Jam asked flatly, his face showing no emotion. This time her expression did change to one of horror as her eyes glanced to the corner of the room. “I already shut off the surveillance and that mic in your ear. You can speak freely, especially since they’ll probably be trying to pull you out of here pretty soon. Probably doesn’t help that I changed the lock code too so they’ll have to pretty much knock the door down to get in here. Interesting thing about a cell is it’s reinforced on both sides.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed. “You really don’t know how to make things easy do you. Look Jam, I’ve been keeping my abilities a secret for years now and I can’t afford to let the cat out of the bag. They’re not very trusting here. A lot of heroes have turned and they are constantly making plans to neutralize any hero that could turn. If they knew what I could actually do, I don’t think they’d give me nearly as much freedom as they do.”

“Why don’t you leave?”

“Where would I go? I owe these guys everything. I’d be dead in the streets if it wasn’t for them. I came here with no birth certificate or ID. I had nothing.”

“Yeah, I get that.” they heard a boom outside the door. Obviously Might Guy was trying to get in. “How does your copycat ability work?”

“How’d you?” she started before another boom reminded her their time was short. She lifted her right forearm and her left wrist. “When we were summoned, my phone and watched somehow got merged with my body. Anyone I touch I can copy their powers but I can only have three and I can’t switch them more than once every 24 hours.”

“That’s kind of how mine works. I don’t have any set powers though.”

“Well, you’ll have to figure out something to tell them.”

“What about game watcher?”

“Well it looks like since I was connected to your pod that was running the game, now I have abilities that are comparable to a game character. It works with my sidekick ability that lets me get exp for assisting another hero.”

“Prove to me I can still trust you Camilla and I will tell you all about my abilities.” Jam said, Camilla nodded and squeezed his hand. “Undo the hack.” He said quietly and Audrey reset the power to the surveillance and the door unlocked and opened. Might Guy exploded into the room.

“Kid, you ok?” he asked harrowed.

“Yeah? We’re just talking. What’s up?” Camilla said coolly as if she didn’t just hear him banging on the door. Might Guy couldn’t take his eyes off of their hands that were laced together.

“Can I speak with you outside please?” he asked through clenched teeth. Camilla squeezed Jam’s hand once and smiled at him before getting up and leaving the room, the door closing behind them.

"Do you trust her?” Jam asked so quietly only Audrey could hear.

“Hold on a second.” Audrey said. Then a text box popped up in the corner of Jam’s field of vision.

“What’s that for?”

"It’s a textbox through the game system. This way you can send me telepathic text messages instead of speaking. If you don’t want to do it telepathically you can always use your fingers as well. You know your way around a keyboard, just imagine where the keys would be and type. The sensors in your hands should do the rest.”

“Testing, testing.” he sent.

“Got it. All right, to answer your question, I think we can. According to my sensors she was telling the truth; but they’re not perfect. Also, even if she was telling the truth, it doesn’t mean she was telling the whole truth. You saw for yourself that she only told of one of her powers. I’m not equipped to know if she’s speaking in half truths. I can only warn that you be on your guard.”

[ A.I. Skill Developed: Lie Detector Lvl 1 ]

[ A.I. Skill Developed: Body Scan Lvl 1 ]

Level Up

A.I. Companion Audrey has reached level 2.

You have received 1 additional point to all A.I. attributes

All known A.I. skills level up +1.

“Oh come on. You leveled up before me? How does that even happen.” he sent, his competitive side slightly annoyed.

“I helped you. That’s the name of the game, helping people or doing tasks.”

Might Guy and Kid Mighty walked back into the room, her cowl in place again.

“So, would you mind coming to the lab and telling Arcturian what kind of powers you have?” Kid Mighty asked with little enthusiasm. Whatever conversation they had must have really drained her mood.

“Sure, just let me. .” Jam started before a massive pain wreaked havoc on his head, a gasp sending all the air out of his lungs. He felt like the inside of his eyeballs were on fire and like his brain was being forcibly extracted from his head. He fell to his knees, teeth clenched in pain and fists hitting the floor.

“What are you guys doing to him? Is this Cyrpus’ doing? I told you I would get him to talk with us.” Kid Mighty said, concern evident in her voice as she dropped down beside Jam, a comforting hand on his back.

“It’s not us, we’re not doing anything.”

[ Skill Used: Calm Mind Lvl 1 – Failed ]

“It’s ok Jam, just hold on and let it pass.” Audrey said in a reassuring air.

Just as quickly as the pain came, it dissipated. He could breathe again and sat up. Audrey popped up the powers tab for him and the timer started counting down from 24.

Power

Current time until Power Cycle: 23:58:49

Current Powers

Archery Prowess

Danger Sense

Light foot