Date: Arrival +1

Location: Drewmere

System Initializing...

Checking Host Condition...

Host Condition: Nominal

Examining Host for latent Psi Ability...

Psi Potential: 0.04%

Potential Psi Booster Found...

Attempting to Reprocess Psi Potential...

Reprocessing: Successful

Psi Potential: 99.6%

WARNING DANGEROUS Psi Potential

Locking Psi Potential: 5%

Improving Physical Traits of Host...

Starting Boot of Companion AI eRrOr

Uploading of Companion Intelligence...

Upload Complete...

Begin Wakeup Procedure...

Callum awoke with a start, the small dart dislodging from the base of his neck. Swiftly he reached for his pistol at his side, pulling it out with one hand while the other had begun to rub the base of his neck. His fingers following along the edge of a small bump that was beginning to rise from his skin.

His eyes taking in the moonlight illuminating the field and some of the dark treeline. Nothing moved, and all was still.

What the fuck was that. It doesn't seem like I had been out long either.

'You are correct. You have been only incapacitated for roughly five minutes.' a small feminine voice echoed seemingly from everywhere.

"Who is there?" Callum shouted, vocalizing his surprise. His eyes continuing to scan his immediate surroundings and still seeing nothing.

'You won't find me out there, Callum. You are both in me and me in you... please be gentle." a small giggle sounding in both ears equally followed the voice.

"What is going on?" anger starting to creep into his voice as he noticed a small square box high in the sky out of the corner of his vision. Similar to that of an IFF identifier.

'Sorry, I suppose you have had a rough time of it so far since arriving. Would you like me to explain what's going on, Callum? Though please don't speak out anymore, it would not be wise for the natives to think you were crazy. All you have to do is think about what you want to say, and I'll understand.'

Callum still feeling unsure of himself, holstered his sidearm and sat back down on the stump, trying to communicate with his thoughts, 'Maybe I am going crazy, but what is going on? Who are you?'

'Well, you can just call me Tec. A better question would have been what am I rather. I am what you would call artificial intelligence, which is not strictly the case, but what would make the most sense for you. As for what's going on, even I am not 100% sure. I have been asleep for a very long time. I was awoken just minutes ago when I was injected into you with the rest of the nanite solution. I was given a small information packet upon awakening but beyond that nothing.'

Tec continued giving a small sigh if such a thing would be actually possible for an AI, 'I have no clue as to the current year, but a large amount of time has probably gone by since I was put to sleep. Which was around 2840 AD on Terra. We are on the planet, Nou 6125-B, the first life-supporting planet found upon UES Frontier entering this Universe. The UES Frontier being an exploration and colonist vessel whose Jump Drive malfunctioned, bringing it to this Universe on accident. As for how you came to be here, for some reason, the ship had brought you here in some way.

I am not aware of such a device capable of moving someone across both space and time. Small distances travel sure, but time travel or even research on the subject has long since been banned by the UE. As for the reason of you being chosen. It is beyond me at the moment. It's not something in the packet. Possibly it has something to do with your military experience and your death in May 2022 taking you out of affecting the timeline of Terra. Well, apparent death at least because here you are. Also, the fact was the new material found in the Congo was the first step mankind took towards their current future.

Anyways, I have the Frontier's location and the sole objective given to me, and you are to make our way to the ship. The packet stating that more information would be revealed in doing so, the only problem being that you were transported a large distance away. This planet seems to be a lot larger than Terra, and we are 23,396 miles from the Frontier. Which is only slighter shorter than the circumference of Terra. This would not be so much of a problem if the Frontier dispatched a ship to bring you back. Yet they did not only sending a drone, albeit a very nice drone.'

Tec had droned in a dry robotlike tone through much of her spiel, only gaining more emotion towards then. Callum mulled over what she had said. Frankly, it was so much to take in and just plain ridiculous. But so was his situation. Deciding to just go with the flow, for now, Callum sighed. 'Why am I so calm? I should be freaking out.'

'I took the liberty of releasing some endorphins to help relax you and ingest this information. It's not something I would normally do, but considering the circumstances, I figured it was a good idea.'

'I would prefer it if you did not mess with my emotions or mind. Can you like harm me? Or is there some like rules saying you can't hurt a human?

Also, do you read all of my thoughts? Or just ones I wish to convey.'

'I will do then as you ask, as for any rules. I did say I was a bit different than the AI you would think of. I could hurt you or simply turn your brain into mush if I wanted to, not that I would. I am not artificial. I have feelings, desires, and aspirations. I was born, and I will one day die. My life is just a bit different than yours. This is why "AI" like me were banned by the UE government. Most AI you would meet out in the Universe are just simple husks of what they could have been. Made to answer questions as interfaces, do computations, and complex tasks too far beyond what a human is capable of. Not having any free will.' a bit of melancholy having laced itself into Tec's speech. 'As for your thoughts, I can read them all. I can limit myself to just what you want me to hear if you would favor that. I could also open up my own, but I can understand your need for privacy.'

'No, just limiting yourself is fine, Tec. You mentioned something about nanites earlier. Are you talking about the miniature robots from science fiction?'

'Then it shall be done. Yes, to put it simply, they are one and the same. The name having come from the science fiction of the past. They are small robots not much larger than your cells. They have a lot of uses from keeping you healthy, improving your lifespan, increasing your strength, among many other things. There are some other things that we need to discuss. Namely being some abilities you know have. Have you ever heard the term Psi before?'

'No, not really. And what kinda abilities are you talking about here?'

'Well, Psi refers to psychic or psychic ability. Most humans from your time were born with almost no Psi potential. Slowly though, humans became aware of the possibilities of the mind. Through some experimentation and evolution, the brain was able to bring these possibilities to light. The potentialities are pretty much endless when it comes to Psionics. This would not have really mattered much to you as frankly, you have abysmal Psi potential.'

Cutting her off, Callum responded, 'So I won't be having any of these abilities then I take it? No moving things with my mind and whatnot. Kinda a bummer.'

Somewhat annoyed Tec continued 'If you had let me finish, no you would not be able to. But for some reason, you had a large amount of the latent particles that are abundant in this Universe bonded to your cells. The nanites, upon discovering this, used them as a catalyst to improve your psi potential. Moving the particles to the portion of your brain responsible for Psionics. There was one more considerable amount of the particle that could not be moved from your heart. I do not know the purpose of it or why these particles seem to have bonded with you. Though it is going to be a great boon to you.'

Getting somewhat excited at the potential of the Psionics Callum asked, 'So how much did these particles improve my potential?'

'Well, it increased your measly 0.04% to 99.6%. Which to put it into perspective, the average human of my time had and an average of slightly over 1%. With true Psionic users having between 5-15%, the top percentiles having a potential of 25-40%. Being able to influence people's minds, among other things. Most of the truly powerful able to rend people or things in half, and many other fantastical abilities. The largest potential ever recorded was 65%, the result of experimentation. The patient going completely insane, babbling inanely. The researchers being squished, his mind turning them into little globes of meat and viscera only a centimetre across in diameter. He disappeared from the facility afterward and never was found. Only after he had completely destroyed the outpost, leaving not a scrap of anything remaining.' Callum gulped between the small break in Tec's description.

'Do not worry. I have limited your psi potential at 5% for you to grow into it. I will slowly increase the limits as time, and your control grows.' Tec added, sensing Callum's worry. 'All you have to do is practice, here try moving something. Telekinesis should well be within your ability with your current potential.'

Callum nodded, grabbing a small stone from between his feet and holding it in his palm. 'So how do I actually do this?'

'Simply imagine with your mind the rock moving.'

Callum stared at the rock in his hand. Willing it to hover slightly above his outstretched hand. He stayed that way for around a minute. The rock never leaving his gaze, the strain beginning to show on his face from trying to move the rock and... nothing happened. 'Tec, are you sure this is possible?'

'100%, just think of your psi as a muscle. You have never used it, so it will be difficult at first, but once you get it, you'll quickly pick it up. Maybe try imagining a part of yourself, a part of your conciseness branching off, and picking it up.'

Once again, Callum stared at the rock, as if trying to discover some inner meaning into the insanity he found himself in. Taking Tec's advice, he tried to imagine a figurative hand lifting the rock a few inches off his palm. This also went on for several minutes. Just as he was about to say piss on it, and that Tec was just having a laugh at his expense. The rock moved, rocking ever so slightly back and forth.

The sight made him lose his concentration. The rock coming once again to rest on his palm unmoving. Happy with his progress, Tec giving him a few encouraging words, and he tried again to lift the rock again. This time the rock started rocking almost instantly. Shakely, it rose several inches above his palm.

Beads of sweat rolled down his face, a small headache beginning at the base of his neck.

'That is probably enough Callum, though you have great potential you have never used Psi before. It will take some time to get used to it.' Tec spoke, pulling him from his trance of holding the rock suspended.

He let the rock drop to the ground and stretched. Bending over, he picked up his rifle from the ground, opening the breakdown pins and putting the bolt carrier group back in. 'So where is this drone Tec? You mentioned something about a very nice drone.'

'Oh yes, well, you did notice it earlier. That green box in your vision is the IFF for the drone. It's currently orbiting over the area taking in the surroundings. The nanites can communicate with it and relay instructions. They can also relay images and video.'

His vision immediately shifted to a bird's eye view over a forest. The distance being well over several thousand feet up. His legs becoming uneasy, his brain having trouble with his feet planted on the ground but vision being thousand of feet about said ground.' Tec, you could have warned me.'

'Oops, sorry, I forgot.' she answered, trying to hide the obvious giggles. 'With the nanites, your vision is capable of much more as well.'

His vision returned to the field but not in the way it had before. He was able to see everything as clear as day. The darkness being nonexistent. His vision then switching to some form of thermal vision, making out small critters making their way around the edge of the forest and in the tree boughs. His vision continued to switch through several different versions before coming back to the enhanced night vision version.

This time though, he could see small spirals of light around everything and simply floating through the air ambiently. There were large as what could only be described auras surrounding the plants and trees—all varying in intensity. There was something serene about their presence. Blowing along on the whims of the wind, being carried off into the distance.

Tec broke the silence, 'These are the new particles of this Universe. Every living being you have come across seems to have their very being weaved with them.'

A video of Eloisa played at the center of his vision. His memory of her relighting the fire, this time overlaid with the same vision he was currently experiencing. Once she had begun mumbling words under her breath while stooped over the dying fire, the particles in the room had become to gather at her fingertip. A small amount left her from her fingertip to join the clouded mass. Once the amount from her fingertip met with the mass gathered at her fingertip, all the particles turning a hue of red and moved to the fire, withering into nothingness - fire sprouting from their release.

Eloisa herself had a small hue surrounding her body, seeming to exude the power of the particles. Images of Nym also flashed in his vision, her aura much dimmer than Eloisa's.

Looking down, he glanced at himself, he emitted no such aura. 'I wonder if everyone here has similar auras. If anyone can see the particles like I can now, I'll stick out like a sore thumb.'

In front of him, a being materialized from thin air. A young woman with a slim face, silver long hair, and ice-blue eyes. A form-fitting suit taken out of some sci-fi movie accentuated her none existent curves.

Only one thing crossing Callum's mind, 'Flat as a board.'

Swearing, he could see a slight tic of one of her eyebrows Tec answered in his mind, her figure's mouth moving completely in sync. 'I figured this would be a much better tactile experience than simply speaking in your mind. I didn't do so from the beginning as to not alarm you.'

She moved opposite to him. A simple chair also materializing as she took a seat crossing her slim legs over each other. 'Yes, you most likely will stick out. From the information packet I had received, there was not any intelligent life on this planet from preliminary scans. I have no idea to the time that has passed. It seems as though a very, very long time is the likely case.'

Callum's heart rate started to increase, he could feel as though it was trying to thunder out of his chest. Whatever hormones Tec had released had started to wear off. The immense gravity of the situation weighing down on his shoulders. He was in an unknown world in a completely different universe. Tec had been put to sleep over 800 years in the future from when he was plucked from the jungle. It seemed as though an immeasurable amount of time had passed from that. Everyone he knew was gone, his family gone.

Tec noticing the elevation of his heartbeat, 'Callum, do you want me to...'

Callum once again speaking out loud, completely forgetting the ability to just communicate in his mind, "No, just give me a minute."

Closing his eyes, he started to control his breathing. Making sure to take deep breathes, focusing on keeping them uniform and steady. His heart rate beginning to fall, and his breathing falling into a slow rhythm. The thoughts still running through his mind, but he was going to own them. Turn them into his own catalyst to move forward. To find out the answers he wanted, no needed from whoever had decided on bringing him here. The faces of his father, his mother, and Will once again ran through his mind. No longer did he feel lost.

Taking one last deep breath, Callum opened his eyes. Looking directly at Tec's projection in his vision. Looking directly into her eyes, "Can you help me with learning the language?"

A simple nod was his answer as he stood up and began walking back towards the cabin.