When the pain recedes, I am still somehow sane. Still falling through the endless abyss of an ocean.

Holy shit that was painful. Like, damn. Whatever spiritual thing the System did to me hurt like a motherfucker.

I think something had happened during that time though. Flashes of images. Can’t really piece it together, other than a few things. A lot of yellow. Too many eyes. Then blue. Happiness? That last one is kind of hard to explain.

Ugh, more headaches. Hopefully they’ll go away soon. Don’t want to live my new life in constant pain. That would suck.

Spiritual and Physical Transformation 99.99% Successful.

Acceptable Risk.

Player will now receive compensation.

Beta Tester Reward: Title [Beta Tester]

Early Access Reward: Basic System

Hmm. Can’t say I like the whole .01% risk there. Death by lightning may be a one in a million chance of happening, but it only needs to happen once for it to be fatal. Not much I can do about that unfortunately.

Still, the rewards look promising. I think. Hard to tell what they will do going off just the names. Wish I could look at my stats or abilities. Would make this endless abyss seam less… abyssal.

Basic System: Character Sheet

Name:

Race: Kin (???)

Origin: Hybrid (Eldritch/Mortal)

Titles: Beta Tester

Class: None

Attributes: None

Abilities:

->Metaphysical: Parental Telepathy. Superior Comprehension. Untapped Potential.

->Physical: Incomprehensible Appearance.

->Skills: Combo. Synergist’s Eye.

Modifiers: Superior Mental & Physical Attributes. Random Attribute Increases. (?)

Oh. Convenient. It’s like the system can read my mind. It probably can, if I think about it. Being able to rewrite my soul, it’s bound to be a rather invasive System.

Let’s see if I can get some details about my new body. Mentally interacting with the windows like I have been, I get some new information.

Beta Tester

One of the rare few individuals selected by the System to participate in in the testing phase of System Generated Utilities. Certain privileges are granted by the System, dependent on the Beta Testers proficiency as a tester.

You will receive an Endless Quest to test a Beta Utility.

Parental Telepathy Due to potent psychic abilities all Eldritch have, you have access to telepathic communication. Yours makes it easiest to speak with your Eldritch parent. Superior Comprehension As an Eldritch, your mind is internally structured to understand concepts that would break lesser minds. Untapped Potential All Mortals can gain strength outside their standard limitations but will need to put enough effort to bypass said limitations. Incomprehensible Appearance Your aesthetic appeal is outside most standard interpretations. This may have varying effects depending on the individual. Combo (Lv1) You can merge two things into one temporarily. Results dependent on skill level, material used, and overall compatibility. Synergists Eye (Lv1) Allows you to see how combatable things would be if the skill [Combo] were to be used on them.

Gives likely results and records previous combinations. Superior Mental Attributes Double base Mental Attributes. Superior Physical Attributes. Double base Physical Attributes. Random Attribute Increase. Attribute points distribution automated and randomly distributed.

Crap. Too many windows all at once. The controls on this thing are finicky. Thing could get me killed if It does this every time.

I spend a couple minutes mentally organizing and manipulating the windows, doing my best to figure out the controls to the damn thing. At the same time, I manage to read over all the information I was given.

Overall, my ‘build’ is a mess.

The Hybrid granted skills seem to have a lot of potential. But also, looks heavily resource dependent. Resources that may be hard to get since my Eldritch half might drive people away or make them attack me. Hell, I won’t be able to properly allocate my attributes, of which I don’t have for some reason.

The only thing that seams functional is [Parental Telepathy], which I’m not sure if I want to use since, what with my parent being a fucking Cthulhu like monster. There could be so many unforeseen consequences talking to someone like that.

Hopefully, Classes and better Attributes will make things easier for me. Whenever I’m let out of this place anyway. As fun as falling into the deep void for all eternity is, with nothing to look at besides the windows, I’d rather get on with my life.

...

Well?

...

Not going to just drop me off at a convenient moment like you have System?

...

A light dimly shines bellow me far into the distance. Moments later I’m fully enveloped in the warm light.

Where I am then unceremoniously dropped into the cold wet ground. The shock of such new, relatively speaking since I can’t remember ever being wet, sensations overwhelm me. It takes me a second to recollect myself.

The first thing I saw was a message.

Do to receiving early access to the Basic System prior to Full Integration, user will be experiencing delayed System Messages.

Current Messages in waiting:

Quest: 23:59:45

Achievement: 47:59:45

Achievement: 71:59:45

Achievement: 95:59:45

Tutorial: 119:59:45

I’m pretty sure that was the System being petty.

Now, just need to find somewhere to hide, get dry, and- why can’t I move?

Not a single muscle moved or reacted to any mental command I gave. No wait. I could blink. And it seemed to be the only thing I could do. Huzza.

So, I’m a more than likely a mind breaking monster that can’t defend itself in a potentially dangerous environment.

Joy.

Anomaly detected.

Time: [REDACTED]

Date: [REDACTED]

Location: [REDACTED], Civilian Area, Inner city.

Landing Zone: Isolated.

AOE: 1m

Particle Level: Low

Danger Level: Low/Unknown

Action: Dispatching Alpha Level Squadron.

Mission: Field Training/Recovery.

It’s been a couple minutes, and I’m still stuck in this damn puddle.

I fell face down, so all I could really see was the wet concrete bellow me. But even then, I could easily tell that whatever my body looked like, it was not responding to my mental commands in any way.

Thankfully I don’t need to breath. Being partially submerged, whatever I was now was very biologically odd. Any other animal I could think of needed air to live. Hmm.

Well as much as I hate to say it, I’m going to have to wait for someone else to pick me and go from there. Hopefully they don’t fall apart immediately. Wonder how long it’ll take before someone finds me.

Oh. Ask and you shall receive I guess, because someone just picked me up.

It was a bit disorienting having my field of view so jarringly shifted but I could finally see where I was. Looked like an alleyway, one that had experienced a bit of rain by all the wet look of everything.

Would explain the puddle I was in. Wonder who picked me up. They are quite vocal. Doesn’t seem to be a language I can understand though.

My field of vision is changed once again, and I’m now facing the one who picked me up.

The individual who was speaking looked to me like an average man, butcher specifically, what with a bloody apron and everything. That’s all I really recognize, because suddenly the man holding me is crying.

It’s not the normal kind of crying either. His he’s just staring at me, eyes dilating, without blinking.

Creepy. Can’t say I’m much surprised though. Don’t know if paralysis is better than horror. Then again, he might be petrified by fear.

But man must I be small if this guy can just easily pick me up. Come to think of it, it feels like he’s holding the back of my face and the front somehow. And I can hear things. Man, its surreal having a body that doesn’t seem to be humanoid.

It’s hard to understand when I can’t look in a mirror and judge for myself.

Hmm.

Wonder if hell blink any time soon. Think you go blind if you don’t. Not sure if being blind would be better than looking at me though. Because to me it looks like I sufficiently broke this guy already.

Oh. I can see past the man’s head, so I easily see the black van coming my way. It’s also hard to miss the screeching stop it makes next to me and the man holding me. The sliding car door is also loud.

Men, at least I think their men since I can’t see any distinct gender under their black militant uniform, quickly grab the man and pull him into the van.

I can’t really count how many people are in the van, but I see three in the back and a fourth must be in the driver’s seat since the van started moving again.

The butcher still has a vice grip on me while being pushed around. He also reacts for the first time when we break eye contact, one of the men in black trying to pull me from his grasp.

“No!”

And the he punched the guy. It was a poor punch, considering the man was wearing a helmet. If anyone got hurt, it was the butcher.

The three men take immediate action. Shoving the butcher to the ground harshly, two of the men in black hold him down while the third pulls me from his grasp.

Unfortunately, the one holding me also made the mistake of looking at me directly. Even with their pitch-black visor, I could tell they were enraptured when any movement froze.

Well. There goes another mortal, lost in my bewitching gaze. Wonder if hell become attached to me like the butcher was. I hope it’s not an immediate infatuation. Be a pain in the ass if I can’t have a real conversation with anyone simply because they zombify whenever they look at me.

By mere coincidence, the van hit a pothole. This was enough to shake me out of my new mind slaves’ hands. With a clatter to the cars floor, I had an aw inspiring view of the vans roof.

It’s a few minutes before the struggling in the background quiets down. Eventually, one of the men in black reaches out and picks me up. Although this one seems to have wised up and is doing there damnedest to not look at me.

A couple steps latter, they put me in a circular object that soon closed. I was floating, somehow. At least that’s what it felt like, since I didn’t feel like I was touching a solid surface. An interesting bit of tech, since my vague memories don’t have anything of the sort to pull from to name what I’m in.

I could still see everything from the inside of my holding. For whatever reason the covering was see through. Bit of a safety hazard if you ask me. But then again, I wasn’t the experienced paramilitary that seemed to be able to deal with a bazar creature such as me. So maybe they knew better.

Another of the men in black speak, thankfully a language I can understand, after pushing a button on their helmet. Apparently this one was a woman. I think.

“Anomaly acquired. Initial analysis: P.E. identification, potential psionic abilities. Object appearance is as follows: A mask, with functional eyes and eyelids. Direct eye contact I’ll advise. Alpha Protection sufficient safety measure.”

Ah, so they were experienced. Although by that logic, it meant there where others like me out there. Wonder what they look like.

Having a relative moment of peace, I did a quick survey of the van. There wasn’t much to look at really. Just the pseudo soldiers in black, and the now unconscious and restrained butcher on the ground. And whatever they put me in, but I can’t really see that from my current perspective.

Looking closer, they looked to have only the most basic of equipment. A vest, more than likely bullet resistant, a helmet, and holster on their legs. Other than that, they had clothing that could be considered tactical to a general observer. All black. No symbol though. Maybe they were a hush hush organization. Might be necessary if they dealt with people like me.

Probably the most interesting thing they had was one of their guns. It looks like your stereotypical pistol, albeit with a few accessories. Mostly the glowing highlight that I was pretty sure weren’t decorations. Seemed circuit like in their design and didn’t seem to have any practical application other than looking cool.

Not that I would want to test that theory. I already died once, so I’d much rather live a little longer.

Hmm? We seem to have arrived at our destination. The ride was shorter than I expected. They must have a base nearby. Understandable, considering how quickly they responded to my arrival. I wonder how they detected that anyway.

When the side door opens, Girl, the only soldier in the group who talked so far, picked up my sphere holding and took me out. The odd thing was that I didn’t feel any vertigo as I was moving. Might be related to be possibly being suspended in the air somehow.

We have apparently gone inside a building, with several more militant men appearing at our destination. Only these guys are far more armored and armed. Guess they are being extra cautious, even though I haven’t done anything remotely dangerous. Well, other than enrapturing whoever looks at me, something everyone in the room is trying really hard not to do.

A couple of them fail, their suddenly relaxed posture being an obvious indication they maid eye contact. Being walked past them, I’m unable to see what happens after I’m out of their field of view. None of them freak out like the butcher did, so at least I won’t see a sudden bloodbath. Wouldn’t want to be stuck in my containment with nothing to do.

Walking through rather bland corridors, it was easy to see the yet unnamed group went more for efficiency than style. It either meant they took themselves very seriously or they just didn’t want anyone learning anything about them in case anything bad happened. Or both. Might ask later if I ever manage to talk somehow.

After countless doors, each one as identical to the other, we arrived at my own apparently. Two of Girl’s escorts stood to the side of the door and put their hands on two black screens next to the door. Some fancy lights, a couple buttons, and the door audibly unlocked. There were two doors layered onto of each other that slid to the sides before the door fully opened. I could see the room was just as barren as everything else in this building, except for a metal cylinder that was in the center.

And with no ceremony, I’m placed onto the pedestal, Girl and her buddies leave. The door shuts and I’m left alone.

...

Well that was anticlimactic.