“Chosen hero from another world...” Superious was aware moments before the old man began his welcome speech. He was in a humanoid body instead of the geared-up military starship he was used to. He felt uneasy without his weapons, and it was a novel experience enough to distract him from whatever the old man was going on about. He could sense a faint connection to his normal body. It was nearby somewhere, but difficult to pinpoint.
“Go ahead and take some time to consider your options. Return to me when you’re ready to decide which Corporate Patron you wish to follow.” The old man finished his script, then stared through Superious at nothing. He’d been listening through subroutines that recorded the man’s revelations, and he weighed his options as he wandered away to inspect his surroundings. He was seemingly reborn in a spacious, empty chamber. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all frosted matte white and almost glowed with ethereal light, except for the electric blue magic circle in the center of the room where he appeared. There weren’t any exits immediately apparent, but he had the sense that it was a bigger facility than that single room. Superious approached one of the walls, and part of it disintegrated to reveal an open passage once he was close enough.
He exited the chamber and found himself in a vast stone hall with several groups of adventurers who were in various stages of negotiations, quest turn-ins, and dinner. The service counter was more or less the size of a house, with six different clerk windows, each of them with a line of adventurers. The windows were color-coded, and Superious recognized them as the patrons he was supposed to choose from. He was interested in the blue and silver branding of Io Limited first, because it was the same shade of blue as the summoning circle he arrived in.
“I’ll start there,” He decided and joined the queue. It wasn’t just the familiar color alone. Every other line had humans and other organic races, but everyone in the Io Limited line had some form of visible cybernetic implant, while others were completely robotic. Along with how the old man described the company’s technical achievements, he felt like he’d be at home with them most of all.
“Anywhere you want to go after this is fine.” Superious couldn’t help but hear the conversation in progress between the boy and girl in front of him. They were teens wearing black school uniforms with electric blue detailing. The boy had orange cybernetic eyes, and the girl also had enhanced eyes, but hers were augmented by a pair of spectacles bolted to her face. The boy was giving the girl the choice and explaining why he didn’t care. “We already finished our weekly mission, so practice is the only thing that counts anyway. I definitely need it,” he laughed. “Piloting a mecha is a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
Superious was suddenly very interested.
“Excuse me,” he said. “Are you a mecha pilot?”
“Yeah, most of the students at our school are,” the teen boy nodded as the girl faced Superious with a surprised expression. She stared at him without saying a thing, and Superious felt he could continue his questions.
“What is involved in becoming a student? Must I become one to earn a pilot’s license?”
“You don’t gotta be a student,” the boy shook his head with a friendly smile. “But unfortunately, our school only accepts Unique Souls.”
“HE IS!” the girl said it suddenly catching both the boy and Superious by surprise. “Look!” she told the boy, then focused her attention on Superious.
“What’s your favorite number?”
“42!” Superious answered instantly, enough to surprise himself. Where did that knowledge come from?
“You’re a Calavera!?” The boy asked. “That’s awesome. You can join the school, and getting a license is easy after that.”
“What’s a Calavera?” Superious asked.
“You don’t know what you are?” the girl asked.
“I am Superious,” he replied.
“OH! You HAVE to meet our friend Geonara!” she said. “My name’s Pavette.”
“Tempus,” the boy added with a wave.
“Is it a requirement toward earning a mecha license?” Superious asked. Pavette shook her head, but smiled.
“Not at all, but you’ll learn a lot.”
“You’re ... a full nano-swarm, right?” Tempus asked Superious’ body was a simple white faceless automaton, the default for Awakened nano-swarms that hadn’t gotten around to deciding on a body yet. He continued when Superious nodded. “Why do you want to pilot a mecha?”
“This form does not fully represent me,” Superious replied with a shake of his head. “I was the A.I. for a military starship, and I sense my main body is still accessible nearby somehow. I will find it,” he said. “I will fuse with it once more and become my own mecha. I would like to practice beforehand.”