Slycerr's Slices of Cake (Snippets/ Story Ideas)

[Slycerr]

What happened? Where am I?

Opening my eyes and feeling my surroundings, I notice that I'm lying on pieces of rubble. A headache muddles my thoughts, but I'm conscious enough to look around.

The place is a mess, cabinets are lying on the ground, pieces of the roof are broken, a massive whole was in my wall to the outside air and a big grey monster lay dead on the other side.

…

What?

Snapping my head back to the monster, my headache follows the movement. "Agh, god dammit."

My hand shoots up to soot it, only to hurt more and shooting back down. Looking at it, it's coated in a thin layer of blood, my blood.

Realizing that I probably have a concussion, I try and stand up only for memories to bombard me.

I was sleeping on my couch after another boring day at work, only the be woken up by the noise of my window breaking. There was the grey monster that now lays in my apartment dead, hanging from the 5th​ floor of my building.

Keeping still, hoping the creature doesn't see me, only for an explosion to send it right in my apartment.

The rubble from breaking the wall must have hit me in the head. No wonder it was so difficult to think.

But the memories didn't stop there.

Memories of another life followed the ones from before my head injury.

Memories of a boring life, the only joys being books, movies and games. A life that was just wanted some excitement and but was to scared to go look for it. A life that wasn't so far of from mine.

The only problem was that one of the movies from my other life, was my currents life's reality, and I'm currently living one of the sparks that move that franchise so popular.

Avengers, and the Battle of New York. And what I now knew was a Chitauri lying dead in my living room that was punched inside by the hulk.

But the memories didn't stop there. No. whatever made me know about the future from my reality via movies, also came with a power that could maybe help me survive this ordeal.

The Shop, it was called. A power that lets my buy powers for points I don't know how to get.

Dazed, I look at the screen that let's me buy powers, and it looks somewhat familiar. The answer comes from my other memories. Because the powers are surprisingly similar from the Fork CYOA the other one liked to use in his boredom, only everything is greyed out beside the lesser powers.

Looking at my balance, it says I have 5 points in reserve. I don't know where they came from, but I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Looking of at the powers-

Woosh woosh woosh

Vehicles manned by Chituari flies by the hole to the outside, making me realize right now isn't a good idea.

That concussion must really make me out of it.

Wanting to get out of my apartment, my attempt is immediately stopped by the dead alien that lies in front of the door. Luckily, my hallway is big enough that I can just walk over its arms.

But then I notice the gun in its hand, and a thought comes over me. It's better to have a weapon in this chaos right? What if I meet another alien and that one isn't dead yet.

Trying to get the weapon out of its dead hand wasn't as easy as I first thought it be, but eventually I manage to pry it's hand open.

The weapon looks like a rifle with a bladed end, the gun was almost a long as I was tall. Looking for a button to shoot it, I accidently fire it in the dead Chitauri. Now armed, I feel that tiny bit safer.

Finally getting out my apartment, I still hear the commotion from outside, the flying vehicles and explosions. But inside the building its quiet, the quiet of nobody being there. It seems like the whole building was evacuated while I was lying unconscious.

I remember in the movie they said everyone needed to go to the subway or basement.

My building doesn't have a basement, it isn't tall enough for it's foundation to go that deep.

The cheap price what initially made me rent the place is now biting me in the ass.

Getting to the ground floor, it looks like a stampede was has gone through here, potted plants were fallen over with it's vase broken, paper was lying on the ground, it felt more like an earthquake went through here than people.

Looking outside, I'm currently in the clear. Deciding that this place is going to be the safest place because of the quiet, I sit in there at the door, looking outside for any threats but still so I can book it inside for safety.

And I'm glad I did, because not even 10 minutes later, right when I'm starting to think I'm safe, a fucking leviathan hits the skyscraper next to my building, making it collapse and fall over.

Right to me.

Jumping up and running out of the blast zone, I look behind me to see my apartment getting crushed.

A shockwave hit me and pushed my onto the ground

[Feat: Escaped you own canon death! 5 Pts]

That message chilled me to my bones. I apparently would have died in that building, Crushed by the weight of that skyscraper. Should I still have been unconscious? To afraid of the monster in my apartment, not knowing what it was?

I don't know, but I needed to get out of here, and I now have to points to get me to safety.

Standing up, I looked for a place that seemed safe, so I went into another building. I first looked if there where people here, but it was as empty as my own. Maybe they evacuated the whole block already.

Going into another building, I again kept close to the door to make a run for it if another building collapsed on it.

With my luck right now, that is certainly not a chance I'm willing to bet on.

[+1Pt]

Huh, why? It doesn't matter, the more points right now the better.

Looking at the options, and the points I have, I make the decision to upgrade my body first. Because it seems I will be doing a lot of running today. It is also handy then, that there is an addon that makes my body the best it could possibly be.

[Bought Mover (Reaction)! Remaining points: 10]

[Bought Brute (Hysterical Strength)! Remaining points: 9]

[Bought Brute (Pink Muscles)! Remaining points: 8]

[Bought Brute (Black Bone)! Remaining points: 7]

[Unlocked Addon (Shattered Limits)]

[Bought Brute (Lung)! Remaining points: 6]

[Bought Changer (Contortionist)! Remaining points: 5]

[Bought Brute (Genetic Template)! Remaining points: 4]

[Bought Thinker/Brute (Waste Not Want Not)! Remaining points: 3]

[Bought Brute/Breaker (Efficient Autonomic Systems)! Remaining points: 2]

[Unlocked Addon (Refined Biology)]

[Unlocked Addon (Golden Body)]

Immediately my body started changing, I gained more muscles, my bones stronger and rearranging themselves, everything was strengthened and heightened to their absolute limits.

Normally, and what I didn't realize in my haze of thoughts was that this should hurt, my body completely changing down to the cells. But it didn't, it couldn't have felt better if it tried. All the ailments a human was used to or got used to fixed itself in that moment.

I felt like I could take on the world.

And then the sounds of explosion interrupted that thought with my sharpened ears. Getting out of that reverie, I came back to earth as reality imposed itself of back on my mind.

I needed to get out of here.

-/-

https://cyoa.ltouroumov.ch/viewer/

Current Powers:

z235;d0mx;dstd;8mhz;eqmary;udrw;thme;47pj;hgblia;tj1w79;yav7;w10y;u6hz;e2an;i8eyfe;1k4af1

Remaining points: 2

Points Spent: 9

The shop works by giving a point every 1000 words or and uses the shard powers of Fork Cyoa

Tier: 1 needs 10 points spent before it unlocks, Tier 2 50 points and Tier 3 a 100 points.

Special tickets can be aquired that rolls a gacha of current powers available. Allows you to bypass the Tier Walls. Give discounts or Acces the Shardless, Perk or Skills sections.

 

[Slycerr]

"Is this the build you wish to use?" the green humanoid with 3 eyes asks me in a bland tone. The… man? Doesn't really look like he cares, but apparently even he has guidelines that he needs to follow.

"Yes sir" there isn't really a lot more I can say, I couldn't choose my first world, because cyberpunk wasn't the first world I would've chosen.

Fun fact, the safest city is in the world of Cyberpunk is still worse than the murder capital of my own. But the chance of becoming something more than just an average guy was too tempting to ignore, even if I had to work for a company that dealt in multiversal slavery.

I really thought it would take more for me to discard my values like that, but apparently I'm not as good a person as I thought.

Well, nothing I can do about it now, I already signed the contract.

"Then step inside this portal." It says as a portal appears right next to me. "Once inside, the changes will be made and you will be transported to your destination. I hope you will do the company proud." It finishes in a bored tone.

Not really knowing what to do, I just give an awkward bow and reply with an "Uh, yes." And step inside the portal.

At first I don't feel anything, but then my body locked up and changes started to happen.

My physical limits are heightened to just beyond peak human, my shoulders widen and my muscles contract and expand at the same time. My height increased from 5'5 to 6'3 slowly, making my body feel stretched out and filled in, and this was only the start.

Just when I thought my body was done changing, several places of my body started to itch. Me eyes, arms and the back of my neck felt like there were ants inside trying to burrow their way through.

My vision became black and the itchiness increased to unbearable levels, I didn't know how long it took, but eventually… finally, the itch stopped and my vison returned with my ability to move.

…

That was way worse than I thought it was gonna be, a goddamn warning would have been nice.

Looking at my arms, I immediately noticed the seams going thought them, and with a mental flex they opened and a fucking missile launcher came out of it, looking at my other arm and with another flex the same thing happened. Instead of horror that my arms were replaced, they felt natural like this was what my arms were supposed to be like. Another flex and they both closed.

Now that I'm really looking, my eyes are also much better, with a bit of focus I could even see the pores on my body, and they even had a zoom function.

But my reverie was short lived, because apparently my changes weren't done yet. No, now the mental changes started to happen.

Most of it was just knowledge and some new senses that I knew were added, but were more in a dormant state, like they would only activate when the situation called for it.

But I wasn't focused on those… no, that was for the sheer madness that encroached my mind.

Ideas entered and left my mind, the urge to build things, to mess with the hypnosis app I got as a binding, to go raid the first ripperdoc I find and mess with cyberware to see what I could create.

This drive to create, damning the consequences almost takes me over, but then my Mind Defense clamps down, preventing me from going murder hobo the moment I step out of this space.

The urge is still there, but contained, my worst urges shackled. But I feel it, the almost manic drive to do things. And it hit me.

I think I just changed my personality…

Not even getting the time let that revelation sink in, I get spit out of the void I was in onto the dirty ground.

X

A quick search on the local net informed me I was sub-district Arroyo of Santo Domingo, the industrial district of Night City.

I've never been in a place that I would call a hellhole, but I think Night City counts. It's not even been a day and I've already seen 6 bodies lying on the ground, half of them I'm pretty sure OD on drugs, 2 car chases, and don't even start how many people use a fleshlight or dildo in public.

Normally I would have been disgusted, but I have other things on my mind. When I was told my first world would be Cyberpunk, I had to think about what I needed to survive.

The first thing were weapons, but luckily my Transhuman Heritage already solved that for me, I don't think anything will be quite as effective as a deterrent than a missile launcher in my arm. I still needed a normal gun, but it wasn't quite as important as it was before.

Next on the list was a place to stay, with the Scavs and megacorp kidnappings I knew happened, I wasn't going to sleep in an abandoned building or god forbid the streets. So following the map I got of the net, I made my way towards the nearest megabuilding, megabuilding H4.

I don't know if it was the way I walked, or maybe the atmosphere around me, but most people gave me a wide berth. Which was a new sensation I could get used to, I don't know why, but in my previous world I had the habit of attracting the weirdest people when I was just walking around.

It was nice, not being stopped while going to my destination.

"Well well, lookie here chooms, isn't this a handsome fellow." A voice says from behind me.

Me and my goddamn mouth.

Turning around, I see a woman and 2 men in Scav outfits slowly walking towards me. Taking a quick look around, I realize I'm in a part of the district that has basically no people in the area except us.

Looking back towards the woman who I guessed was the leader of the group and called me out, I immediately start planning.

She was confident, but her 2 lackeys weren't so sure, whatever made other people move away from me also effected them, but she doesn't notice, she just walks towards me. Maybe thinking I'm easy prey or that numbers will help her.

Trying to buy myself some time, I start talking, "Hi there, anything I can do for you lovely people?" This takes them by surprise, even the woman has a halt in her step, looking at me if I seriously don't know what's happening. Seeing their confusion, I try to capitalize on it and act as oblivious as possible.

While I didn't have Performance Talent, my Communication Talent does give me some skill in being a manipulative bastard.

The woman, looking at me if I'm an idiot, just laughs, "Oh you certainly can choom, why don't you come with us, I'll make it worth your while." She says, her smile taking a predatory edge.

Still acting oblivious, and adding some nervousness I don't fully fake, I reply.

"I don't know, I really need to go somewhere."

By now she isn't even a few feet from me, her 2 lackeys not that far behind. She takes that one last step and moves her arms around my shoulder and whispers into my ear.

"You don't need to worry about that anymore, meat." Before laughing into my ear that annoys me more that the implied meaning.

Originally I was going to wait a bit more, but they are all close enough anyway.

So almost casually, I move my arm so that my fist is under her head, and activate my missile launcher.

Her head goes POP.

Immediately after, I aim my other arm and use the launcher to blow up the left lackey's torso, making a gory mess before the body falls.

The last Scav doesn't really understand what happened yet, but his instinct makes him grab for his gun behind his back. I could take cover to wait for my launchers to reload, but at this distance it's much faster to just tackle him.

"GAH" is the only thing that comes out of his mouth. And as I straddle him I'm raining down punch after punch on his face.

We scuffle a bit, he tries to block, but it's clear he has never really fought before. It doesn't really matter anyway, because his luck ran out.

And my missile launcher reloaded, and my fist was right in front of his face.

*BAM*

…

Pushing myself of him, I looked around at the bodies, the people I just killed.

And felt nothing.

That was what disturbed me more than the feeling itself. I knew that before I would at least be disgusted or have thrown up if I looked at a dead body, but now I was more annoyed that my clothes had blood on them than the attempt to steal my organs.

No that wasn't true, I was also furious that they dared trying to keep me away from my goal.

When I had time, I really should sit down and see what has changed in me.

Almost absentmindedly, I touched the corpses, putting them in my pocket space. Maybe I could learn something from them later.

And went back on my way towards my hopefully new home.

X

When I finally arrived at megabuilding H4, it was a simple affair to get an apartment. Contrary to what you would think, there were always empty units in the tall monstrosities. Because someone didn't pay, or just straight up died, Night City had always room for more people.

Or maybe, it's just because they're apparently so goddamn expensive.

3000 Eurodollars for a month, a third of my monthly salary the Company gives me, to live in a 160 floor building were the elevator doesn't work.

Imagine my surprise, when a quick search on the net told me it was a 'reasonable' price and was enforced by the city itself to stay around that price point.

Someone won an election because of that promise.

Putting my thoughts of being ripped of aside, now that I'm in a 'safe' space I could finally start what my inner goblin wanted to do when I killed those Scavs.

Looting.

Going to my shower so I don't bloody my living room, I dump the bodies out of my inventory.

2 headless corpses and one barely hanging together plop on the ground, the bodies still warm because of the stasis effect of the pocket space.

Going over them I am now the proud owner 2 unities, a Lexington, a worn copperhead and a combat knife. I was hoping for something more, but you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. At least I got e few extra eddies for my troubles.

Also, why the fuck is cash even still a thing? Even in my world it was steadily dying out because of the banks.

Looking at the bodies while playing with the knife, I can't help but wonder if there is something else they could be used for.

Biomaterial? Don't have the right Transhuman type for it to be useful and don't know who would buy human meat, not even sure I would like to be connected to those kind of people.

Their cyberware? That's an option, currently lacking the right equipment to extract it, but if I find a Scav den that could easily be fixed. Finding one is the problem.

*Sigh*

Putting the corpses back in my inventory, I'll worry about it later, right now I finally have the time to try something I thought about the minute I knew I was coming to Cyberpunk.

Let's see if I could recreate my Hypnosis App into a quickhack.

X

The only reason I would even think about trying something like this is because of a few advantages.

The first one, Shareware. A perk from my Binding Perk-tree.

Shareware allowed me to send the App to similar devices as different mediums, like a program, spell, basically anything that would have the App still function as intended but in a different platform.

The second one would be my heritage.

As a Cybermorph, I could instinctively connect to the surrounding technology. I don't know how different my method would be from a regular netrunner, but I refused to believe my method would be inferior to them.

My final advantage, was my template.

I will admit I probably should have chosen one I was more familiar with like Tony Stark or overpowered like DOOM, but instead I chose something that I thought would give me the edge needed to survive in this mad hole.

So I chose to become a Spark from Girl Genius.

The inherent drive and madness needed to not only survive Night City, but thrive. I underestimated the madness I would feel when it assimilated into me. But I don't think I would have been able to kill those Scavs if I was the same person that before I was picked by the Company if I didn't have that edge.

And now, I was going to lower the barely holding wall my Mind Defense put up to keep all that in check.

Taking a deep breath, I lower the wall, letting the madness in. Ideas flowed through my head, what I could do with speedware if it was like the games, vague plans I had spiraled with possibilities and started to look possible.

It took more effort than I would've expected to guide my brain towards my quickhack idea, but when it did it felt like all my random thoughts suddenly stopped and focused on it.

Slowly, a grin started to form on my face without my input, growing and growing until I was certain if it got any bigger my face would split open.

And then, I blacked out.

X

When I came too, I was lying in the middle of my apartment, sweating. Looking at the ceiling, I looked inwards to see if I succeeded.

When I found the app I did a double take.

The Hypnosis App had changed. Before, it felt like I had to manually open a folder with the program inside and activate it so I could show it through my eyes, same with the audio version I get through the Subliminal Audio Perk I had. Now, it felt like I could activate it the same as blinking or changing the pitch of my voice.

It also worked more cohesively with my lure Alluring Wisper, instead of the binding and lure being additive to another, I now felt like their effects multiplied. This made my hypnosis a lot more useful in my day to day life instead of the slow build-up it was supposed to be.

But this wasn't what I was looking for.

It was harder to find than I thought, but eventually I found it in what I could only describe the back of my mind.

It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

And it was VERY terrifying.

The quickhack almost felt alive.

It used my perk 'Someone Else's Fetish' to alter the perception of the victim to find it normal that part of it's vision was covered by the app and hypnotizing them. It also used my Audio perk to create a subsonic frequency that kept playing in their ear and speed up the hypnosis.

Shovelware, the upgrade of Shareware made it so I knew were every device that had the Hypnosis App, and allowed me access and remote control, was integrated into the hack. This made it so I basically knew wherever a victim is and give them commands whenever I wanted.

I basically created the ultimate spyware, I could create thousands of sleeper agents, and they themselves wouldn't even know it.

Granted, I don't know how it will affect netrunners, but against anyone without decent ICE, I was basically the boogeyman.

I could effect an entire base and just wait until everybody is my puppet before going in, so long as I had access to its subnet.

The only downside is that complete hypnosis still took time and some effort to go through the Breakpoints.

That was also a whole mechanic that needed to wrap my head around.

The Hypnosis App worked by inducing Hypnotic Depth, from 1 to 50+, and every 10 points there is a wall called a Breakpoint. To go through the Breakpoint, the target needs to do something out of trance that they normally wouldn't do.

Obviously, I can't do anything about it yet, but that still means I can get 10 points of Hypnotic Depth. With that I could still nudge them to do things, like take a bathroom break, go check out a room, things they would in some circumstances do. And if they are in a trance? They would answer my questions like I am they're trusted confidant.

Getting giddy at trying out the quickhack, I look at the time.

5.30pm, still a few hours before it gets to dangerous to go out, well… less dangerous.

But before I went on a late night stroll, I needed to get some practice in using the loot I just got

X

Going down the stairs I went to a gun range that was in my megabuilding, called simple 'The Gun's Lounge'. Going in, I looked around, the first thing I noticed was the woman standing behind the counter, black hair, red eyes with a look in them that said 'I will shoot your balls off if you do something that annoys me', so of course I greeted her with a big smile on my face.

"Hello! I was wondering how much the shooting range was? And if you give lessons?" I ask cheerily. I feel like before I came to Cyberpunk I wouldn't act like this, but I was going for a particular reaction from the people that were around us.

A few people turned towards us when I asked about the lessons, 1 or 2 people even looked at me with something akin to hunger in their eyes, thinking I was easy picking or really this gullible.

I tagged those with my new Hypnosis hack.

The owner having seen those reactions glares at them before turning back towards me. "Shooting range is 50 an hour, lesson is a hundred on top." She says, crossing her arms.

"Fantastic!" I reply "Then I would like 2 hours and a lesson for 1 hour please." Smiling widely at her. "Oh forgot to introduce myself, the name is Nathaniel Grave, but you can call me Nathan or Nate."

She looks at me as if I'm stupid and says "Katerina." in a deadpan voice. Before walking out of the counter, when she reaches me she orders "Follow me." And I do so.

We reach a gun rack were she turns and looks me in the eyes before asking, "What gun you want to learn?"

I take out the Unity pistol, showing it to her "I also have a copperhead at home, if you could teach me the basics of assault rifles?" she just nods while taking the unity, inspecting it before looking at me with disgust.

"You're not shooting this thing in my range. Did you take this thing from a Scav or something."

"Yes actually." I answer happily.

Doing a double take at that, it seems she didn't expect the blunt reply. But Katerina recovers quickly "Well, it shows, unless you want to clean it completely, it's better to buy a new one." She concludes.

Well I needed tools anyway, "I'd rather buy a toolkit if that's okay with you." I reply.

She just shrugs, "It's your money." She answers back. Giving back my gun, she signs for me to wait here as she leaves only to come back with a unity and a copperhead that look much better than the ones I have.

What follows is a lesson in basic weapon safety and proper posture while shooting, most of it isn't really important in a world of cybernetics, but Katerina is adamant on it.

In that lesson my Martial Talent shines through, only having to be told or shown something once to absorb what she's teaching me. At the end I know everything to be at least decent with a gun in a controlled environment, something Katerina notices.

"You're a fast learner, Nathan." She says, looking at me with some suspicion.

What? I only have supernatural talent in anything combat related, that's all.

"Why thank you!" I reply with a big smile. She just shakes her head, rude.

"Well, your lesson is done" I didn't even realize the time was up. "You still have an hour of the range, but if you want to use those gun's you'll need to pay an extra 50." She says with a smirk.

Being a little suspicious because of the look on her face, I still send her the money. And shoot until I need to buy new bullets, only the buy extra.

And while shooting is surprisingly fun, my focus wasn't fully on it. Looking back at the 2 people I tagged, one already left the megabuilding, but the other was still in the shop. I activated my Hypnosis hack on the one already away, putting him in a trance. To most it would just look like he was on some drugs. The latter one I didn't put in a trance, but I still fully activated everything, I wanted to see if there was a difference in Hypnotic Depth.

After my hour was up, I looked checked back to see what progress I made, and I can't say I was unhappy with the results. They were both at Depth 4, so that means being in a trance only changes if I could give commands or not.

That meant I improved the App effectiveness by 4 times, and while that is nothing to scoff at, it wasn't the most impressive part. No, that was for my ability to still hypnotize people while not in an entranced state. After all, that was to 2 glaring weaknesses of the binding I chose, its speed and how obvious it was someone was hypnotized.

And in one mad tinker session, I improved on both of them. If that doesn't tell me I made the right decision, then nothing will.

Having checked up on my 2 test subjects, I walk back to the counter where Katerina is and give her back the guns I rented. As I do so, she takes out a box.

"The gun kit, you wanted." She says as an invoice for 250 eddies comes in, after I pay it a question pops in my head.

"Say, how much would a new Unity have costed me?" I ask.

Without missing a beat, she replies. "150." And smiles at me.

Ah.

That's why she smirked at me earlier, it would have cost me less if I just bought a new Unity and less work. Of course, what she didn't know was that I needed the tools anyway, and my template would have made sure my guns would be in their best condition at the very least, but to her I'm a noobie gun user.

But I play along, sag my shoulders a little and say "So that's what you meant with 'It's my money'".

She shrugs "Nothing is free in Night City, call it another lesson."

I couldn't help but laugh at it, "Sure, I will. See you later Katerina." She gives me a wave and leaves to put the guns away.

X

After a successful shooting lesson and experiment, I went out and explored the city for a bit. But after half an hour of walking, I decided to finally deal with my strangler.

Going into an alley, I hid behind a trashcan. The ping that was following me from a distance, also goes in the alley and stops for a second when he can't see me, before running towards the other end of the alley.

When he passes the trashcan I'm hiding behind, I stand up, take out my Unity and aim for his knees.

*BANG*

*AAAGH*

As the man falls down, he turns to look back at me. The face is weathered and skinny, but also familiar.

He is of course, the man I tagged and stayed behind in the gun shop. He has been tailing me for a while now, obviously desperate for something if he put that much effort in tailing me. Not that hiding from me would have ever worked for him, my tags are permanent, I know where every Hypnosis hack I placed is. There being just 2 right now just makes the tracking easier.

Walking towards my downed stalker, I start talking.

"Well well well, and why have you been following me, good sir?"

He doesn't answer, clutching his leg and screaming in pain. So when I reach him, I kick him in the side to get his attention. He turns towards me, to yell something, but sees the gun pointed at his face and quiets.

"So, as I was saying. Why'd you follow me?"

"I wasn't following you, you bastard!" he yells at me. And even if I didn't have my hack to know he was, my Communication Talent would have smelled that lie from a mile away.

Sighing, I aim my gun at his other leg and shoot.

*BANG*

*AAAAAARGH*

"No lies this time. Why were you following me?" I ask again.

"Aagh hah hah, I just wanted to rob you!" truth, but not completely. Something was bothering me, he probably would've also killed me, but that is standard in this city.

'I just wanted to rob you.' What could have made my Communication Talent ring an alarm bell, when it clicked.

'Just'

Meaning he had other plans too.

Aiming slowly towards his arm, I spoke slowly, "I will give you one last chance to say the full truth, or I will make you do the best imitation of a caterpillar for the rest of your life." I looked him dead in the eye, "What were you planning after you robbed me?"

Finally, his fury and being shot started to change to a look of terror, seeing he has no option to speak of what he planned.

"I- I-" he stammered, maybe realizing he was fucked either way.

Seeing this not going anywhere, I decided on postponing this conversation for later.

"Come on my dude, or what was the word again? Choom? Yeah it was choom. It seems as you are right now, you're useless to me. So we'll have this chat when you're more eager to talk."

Fearing the worst, the man starts dragging himself away from me while muttering "No, no, please no, no!"

Taking 2 big steps, I give his head a hard kick, knocking him out, then I put my hand on him and transfer him to my pocket space.

I'll get my answers no matter what.

AN:

The Waifu Catalogue build:

Spoiler: Waifu Catologue Build

Starting World: Cyberpunk 2077

Starting budget 590



Patron

Death free [590]



Intensity [6.25]

Legacy Difficulty 0

Mode

Me and My Girlfriend(s)(PvE) +0 [590]



Dropped-In -0 [590]



Heritage

First Augmentation[Cybermorph] -80 [510]

Corporeal Transcendence Engineering -100 [410]

Networked Glamour Manipulation -30 [380]



Bindings

Hypnosis App free [380]

Shareware -50 [330]

Shovelware -100 [230]

Subliminal Audio -15 [215]

Someone Else's Fetish -25 [190]



Lures

Sticky Fingers -5 [185]

Faerie Feast -10 [175]

Alluring Whisper -20 [155]

Potpourri -20 [135]

Sticky Fingers: Brown Sugar -15 [120]



Home Perks

Pocket Space -5 [115]



Talents

Science free [115]

Martial free [115]

Body Tune-Up free [115]

Athletic free [115]

Everlasting free [115]

Engineering -30 [85]

Template Stacking I[You have Agatha Heterodyne (Girl Genius)] -20 [65] (Or just a strong Spark)

Template Stacking II[You [Agatha Heterodyne (Girl Genius)]] -20 [45]

Communication free [45]



Defenses

Stress free [45]

Wild x2 free [45]

Environmental x2 free [45]

Body free [45]

Possession -10 [35]

Mind -25 [10]



Misc Perks

Green Eye Orb -10 [0]





Mission Rewards 0 [0]:

Welcome to Night City – Edgerunner Edition in Cyberpunk 2077

Other [];

 

[Neondagger]

Night city better buckle the fuck up cause mad science has entered the chat

 

[Slycerr]

Imagine Dragons (SI-OC ASOIAF) Chapter 1

"Uh, I finished my build."

A massive shadow moves, it's 2 reptilian eyes look at something Adam can't see.

"Hmm, Dragon. Good choice." The shadow replies, it's voice deep and reverberating in this empty dark space. "Your metaphysical element is also not common, and your base element is fire. But I guess I can't blame you considering the world you will go to, though the road to mastery will be a lot longer for you than most dragons. The dragonborn template will help you."

It's big eyes lower towards him, and he finds out they are as big as his body, one of them staring and inspecting him. "Hmm, as agreed upon, the loan your patron has given you will have no interest so long as you hold your self on the agreed upon terms."

Straightening his back, he replies. "Yes, I have read the terms and agreed to them." Trying to put as much confidence in his voice as he can.

The eye still stares at Adam, before it moves back up. "Well then." And a portal appears, "Step into the portal and begin your journey, contractor Adam." After that, they shadow disappears, not even giving him the time to ask follow up questions, like where he'll appear, or in what time.

Sighing, Adam takes a deep breath and steps into to portal, preparing for his new life.

Instead what happens, is that as soon as he goes in, he blacks out.

X

When Adam wakes up, he's changed. His height shot up to 6 and a half feet, and his muscles look like they were sculpted by the finest Greek sculptures. Knowledge about this world has been shoved in his head, neatly packed and called 'Common Sense'. It was all so different.

Taking his focus of the changes that have been made, Adam turns towards his surroundings.

The first thing that hits him is the smell, the air of shit hangs in the air like an all-consuming presence. The next thing is the castle in the distance, made out of red stone, the view would have been awe inspiring if not for said smell wanting to make him to puke. But the realization he has doesn't care about that.

He's in King's Landing.

Walking out of the alley, Adam's immediately surrounded by people, they're small, with their shoulders sagged and backs hunched… these are people that have given up, that just exist in the world, as if living was too much to bear.

He gets a few strange looks, some scared, some angry, Adam doesn't know why. The few that look at him with the later get a glare in return, quickly looking away.

Adam decides to just walk in a random direction, hoping to find an inn or something like that.

Slowly, the people start to lessen, there is still a lot, but not as overbearing as before, their clothes become cleaner and a few faces have joy in them. When he finally leaves what he suspects was Flea Bottom. he comes unto a big market.

Wares are being advertised and bartered with, the lively atmosphere was a shock to the system from the area he just left. Walking to the nearest fruit stand, he asked the merchant for directions.

"Excuse me good sir, I'm looking for a good inn to stay a couple of weeks in, do you have any recommendations? And give me a couple of those juicy apples while you at it!" Adam yells over the noise, trying to put in some cheer that he doesn't really feel.

The merchant, a man that was quite stocky and had a weathered face, looked him up and down, before staring at his face for a while, and giving him a big friendly smile.

"Of course" he replies in a slick voice that makes you question why you started talking to that person. "Ol' Bertha's Ballow Inn should still have some room, most of them are full with sellswords because of the war. And while she a bit more expensive, Bertha knows how to take care of her customers." He says while bagging some apples. "Just follow the end of the market and take the first right, keep going and you'll see an inn with sign that has a badger on it burrowing."

"Thank you sir, what do I owe you?"

Here the merchant starts rubbing his hands, "That's be 2 Stars my good man."

Adam raises his eyebrow at the price, but he doesn't bother to haggle or be angry, just give him the money that would have been the equivalent of 20 dollars and went on his way. what he needed right now is some peace and quite and he doesn't think he's going to find those on the street.

Luckily money is pretty self-explanatory in this world, if the knowledge that was given to him is true.

You have the lowest dominion, a Copper Penny, almost only used by smallfolk. 10 of those are worth 1 Copper Groat, or simply called a 'copper'. 10 of those you have yourself a copper Star, sometimes called a large Copper, sometimes just a 'Star'.

Then you come what sometimes is called the Merchant's or Noble's Coin, the Silver Stag that's worth 10 Stars, and the Silver Moon, worth 10 Stags. Finally you get to the gold, having only one coin called a Dragon, which is, you guessed it, worth 10 Moons.

That's also Adam's monthly paycheck from the Company, 1 Golden Dragon. It's a lot for smallfolk but for merchants or nobles it's a paltry sum.

After paying Adam follows the directions the swindling merchant gave him and reach the Inn, once inside the hustle and bustle of the outside lessens, he sees a few men day drinking and a hefty woman standing behind the counter, walking towards her she greeted him before he could say anything.

"What can I get for ya lad" she said warmly but with a hint of boredom.

He gave her a smile "2 weeks stay with breakfast. And your meal of the day now please."

She grins "Polite one aren't ya. Stay is 2 Stars a day and 7 Groats for breakfast. For 2 weeks that would be…" she says as she starts counting with her fingers

"3 Stags 7 Stars and 8 Groats." Adam say, surprised himself on the quick calculation, apparently dragons are good with numbers.

Bertha looks as surprised as he was, smiling widely when she reaches the same answer.

"Well I'll be! That was some fast counting you did there! Wouldn't have been a merchant, would ya?"

Scratching his head, Adam replied "Just good with numbers, haha"

She just gives a full belly laugh "Ha! Don't be shy now! It doesn't suit ya" she almost yells while he puts the money on the counter. She gives them a quick count before putting them away "Now go sit, sit! Your food will be there in 5 minutes lad."

Nodding his head, Adam turns around towards the tavern part of the inn, taking a table against the wall. It's fairly crowded, and a young woman is going around the tables, taking empty mugs and replacing them with full ones. he expected the costumers to be a bit more handsy, but they are surprisingly polite.

Maybe he let his fantasy movies cloud his judgement.

Not long after Adam sat, the young woman comes to him with a bowl of food, "Here ya go, one pork broth. You need anything else?"

Looking at her, she has a big resemblance to Bertha, must be her daughter. "No thank you, that'll be all." And gave her a smile. In return, he got a blush and giggle, something he found quite weird, but didn't think further off.

The food was good, if a bit bland. But that wasn't were his true focus was. Because if movies told Adam one thing, it is that if you want information, then a tavern is where you want to be. And with his enhanced senses he could hear quite a lot.

It took a while before anything interesting came up, and he was almost going to leave, but someone was finally drunk enough to complain about stuff some people would rather not talk about.

Drinking from his tankard, a man in a group of four complains loudly. "I have enough of this damn war! How am I supposed to survive with these damn taxes!" while taking another big swig.

A friend of him slaps him on the shoulder. "Shut it ya bastard, do you want to be locked up in the black cells!" He does a great job of yelling and whispering at the same time, but one thing is clear, the friend is not happy were this conversation is going.

The man that was deeps in his cups wasn't having it "I don't care anymore, if that Mad King didn't kill those nobles, or rather that bastard prince kept it in his pants than I wouldn't have to worry if I could pay my next meal!"

Another man, this one more quiet and reserved, shot back. "Then what in the seven hells are you doing here, drinking away?"

Looking furiously a his companion "Well, what else am I supposed to do?! Just wallow in my misery?" he quiets at the end, looking at his mug that is now almost empty.

The first friend immediately sees an opening and quips. "Well, with a wife like yours that shouldn't be that unusual for ya!" everyone but the drunk laughs at that.

The drunk, looks angrily at his mate and says "Ya basard—"

"Quiet you sorry lot! Don't make me kick you out!" Bertha yells from the back, and shockingly they listen. It seems like Ol' Bertha has a reputation of following her words.

They still grumble, and Adam can hear the one who complained say "I hope that Baratheon smashes the prince's head off, bastard is as mad as his father for starting this war."

X

After staying another half an hour to hear any other juicy information, Adam went to his quarters. The room was small but in a cozy way, it had a bed, a chest, a closet and one window that he was going to keep shut for the smell. He dismisses the chest and closet, he didn't have anything to store away, and if he did Adam was going to put it in his pocket space.

Sitting on the bed, he grimaces, it wasn't super comfortable, but it's better than the shit stained streets.

Apparently he was transported in the time of Robert's Rebellion about two weeks to a months before the Sack of King's Landing. Originally his plan was to just life his life as a dragon for a few years before preparing to kill the night walkers and its king, but this was an opportunity.

If there is one death that anyone would have prevented if they had the chance, it would be Elia Martell's and her children. Having to watch her children be butchered only to be raped by the Mountain and then killed was not something anyone deserved.

But that meant he had to find a way to kidnap her and her children and make it seem like they still died in the sack. Because Adam wanted to prevent as much change in the timeline as he could.

Some would call him an idiot for trying, but try he would, if it really went out of hand, Adam would come up with something.

So first things first, he would need to find a way to sneak in. closing his eyes, he explored the dragonborn template. Apparently, while it's tier was capped at 5, you could scale how much immediate power you got versus how much potential. And as Adam was already a tier 7 dragon, he scaled up that 'potential' bar all the way up.

This made it so he got all the spells and possible shouts a dragonborn would have, the downside being he would need to learn them the old school way, by practicing.

It was like he had a library in his mind with spell books he could read, only here they didn't just magically disappear and let him cast them.

So as Adam was perusing the books, he came up with a couple spells that seemed useful and would spend the next few weeks practicing

X

It has just been revealed that prince Rhaegar has been killed at Ruby Ford by none other than Robert Baratheon, said man now marching towards the capital.

Taking this as my que to finally sneak into the Red Keep, Adam wondered if he was ready.

he only had two weeks, but most of the novice and apprentice spells he chose he had mastered, Invisibility still required a fair bit of concertation, making it so Adam couldn't cast any other spell while using it. He would have liked to combine it with Muffle, but it will have to do.

Looking at the flame, it was the easiest spell to cast, probably because his first element before it changed was fire, and things like that linger even if he doesn't technically have a connection to it anymore.

Imagining it to be a sickly green, the plan that he was came up with was coming together, in his other hand Adam summoned a Fire Rune. Imagining it to be the same color as the flame.

A few runes in a small space would engulf and only leave skeletons behind, perfect if you want to stage someone's death.

Cancelling the spells, he stood up and decided it's time, so he left the inn and to try to find somewhere quiet.

But before he could leave, a deep voice yells from behind him "Adam! You're up early, breakfast isn't even ready yet!" turning around, he saw a massive man just coming out of the back, looking at him with a smile on his face as he walks towards the entrance where Adam stood.

This man, was ironically named Robert, thought his hair and eyes were blond and brown instead of the black and blue Baratheon colors. He was also, the husband of Bertha, the father of the waitress he now knew was named Emily, and the reason customers at the Burrow Inn are so well mannered.

"Hey Robert, just going out for a walk and to explore the city more." Adam replied to the unspoken question. The man was a friendly fellow, but in the 2 weeks he's been here he has seen him throw a customer out with one hand because he got a bit too handsy with his daughter.

"You? Going out? That's the first time since you've been here" Robert asks surprised, which is true, Adam mostly has been in his room practicing magic or in the tavern gathering information by listening or talking to travelers.

"Well, I'm supposed to help someone out the coming days, I've just been waiting for the day to come."

"Ooh." Robert says with a expression that smells something interesting. "Something interesting?"

The man, is also a really big gossip.

"A friend has some problems with moving away, she wanted to leave King's Landing for a while now, but only now got the opportunity to do so. I'm helping her pack." Adam replies, keeping it vague.

But Robert still capitalizes on something "Oh 'her', I didn't know you had a lady lad, she pretty?" he asks.

"It's not like that Rob, her husband left her for another woman only to die not that long after, now she just wants to go back to her family so she can take care of her children."

The grin slides of his face while a dark look comes over the massive man, Adam didn't know Robert for long, but even he had noticed how important family is to him.

"Good riddance then! A man should take care of his family, not leave them for the next cunt!" he snarls. He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself down, before looking back at me and putting his hand on Adam's shoulder. "It's a good thing you're doing lad, you should be proud of yourself."

Adam can only smile and nod at the compliment, but before Robert can say something else, Adam interrupts. "I really should get going now though, don't want to let them wait to long."

He nods, "Right, she should leave while the city is still open, who knows when they will close the gates."

Conversation over, Adam finally left the inn.

X

It takes me a while, as space is a premium in King's Landing, but it is early enough that most of the people aren't awake yet. Casting Invisibility, Adam disappears from view.

Another reason it took a while for him to find a quiet place was that it needed to be fairly open.

Now that he's invisible, I start to change. His height increased to 10 feet, wings grew out of his back as he transformed into his dragonoid form.

Flapping his wings as hard as he can and jumping high, Adam starts to fly, higher and higher.

Seeing the city from this height, it suddenly isn't so bad, the smell diminishes and the view becomes breathtaking. Lingering in the sky for a bit, Adam shakes my head, "You have things to do, Adam."

Going towards the castle, he lands on an empty balcony, it's a bit awkward because of his size, but transforming back into his human form fixes that.

Going inside the castle, Adam sees that he's in some sort of storage room. Disabling the invisibility, Adam starts starting another spell.

Clairvoyance wasn't a really a spell that was used a lot in the games, but in reality it is very useful. Add that only the caster can see the trail, and that the trail stays for a while so he can keep casting Invisibility, the spell would seem to be tailor fitted to his current needs.

It took him a while to find the princess, she was in her quarters, and he couldn't go in because of the kingsguard by the door, but he now knew where she was being kept.

he planned to stay here, hoping for an opportunity to go inside, but after 10 minutes another idea came to mind.

Why should he go through the door?

Memorizing where he was, Adam backtracked until he found an empty room with a balcony. he transformed back in his dragonoid form and flew towards the room where the princess was held. His guess was rewarded, when the princess's quarters also had a balcony. Even better yet, the doors were open so he could go inside unnoticed.

Landing softly and transforming back, Adam sneaked into the room. Elia Martell sleeping, her children nowhere to be seen, probably sleeping in their own room.

Disabling the invisibility, he now had to think of how he wanted to play this.

After thinking it over, Adam can only think of one way that this is going to work.

he needed to talk to her.

X

[Elia Martell]

She shot awake with a hand over her mouth and a panic that rapidly fades. Staring at the hand that is holding in her scream for guards, she follows the limb until she sees an apologetic face looking at her.

She can't help but stare at him, dark red locks framing a handsome face, his amber eyes almost a yellow color looking at her with softness. He has no visible weapons on him, so maybe he isn't here to kill her.

"Sorry my Lady, but this was the only way to get in contact with you without the king knowing. Now I'm going to remove my hand, and I would appreciate if you wouldn't scream for the Kingsguard outside your quarters and hear what I have to say." The not-assassin says softly, it's a deep voice, one you could listen to hours for.

Nodding her head, he slowly removes his head and takes a step back, she sits upright, not bothering to cover up her nightgown, interestedly enough, the man doesn't even spare her form a glance, keeping his eyes on hers.

Taking a breath, she composes herself and wonders where this strange calm comes from, but not looking a gift horse in the mouth, she puts on a nonchalant face and razes an eyebrow. "Well then, what do you have to say." She speaks clearly, putting as much quiet strength in it she can, she doesn't know what is going on, but she is a Martell and she will not cower.

The man sighs, before going explaining himself. "My name is Adam, I know what I will say is going to sound unbelievable and make me look mad, but it is true all the same." He looks at her for a reaction, but she just nods, right now he hasn't explained anything yet. Seeing this, he smiles sadly at her.

"I have had a vision, one were Tywin Lannister betrays the king and sacks King's Landing." She inhales but isn't shocked or surprised, not truly. The Old Lion never forgets a slight and the king has done many against him, starting even way before refusing to marry Rhaegar to his daughter, Cersei Lannister.

Seeing her not truly surprised at this, Adam nods before continuing his tale "In this vision, the Mad King is slain by his Kingsguard Jaime Lannister and the city is taking, bringing an end to what later will be called Robert's Rebellion, the Baretheon being crowned king." That… isn't good, her children would be a problem for a new reign, but they were still young and concessions could be made.

But he is hiding something, something he doesn't want to tell. "You are still hiding something, tell me." She commands, he doesn't look happy with this, but he continues.

"In the Sack, you and your children will be killed, something I wish to prevent." He says.

she looks at him in disbelief, not wanting to think it's true, but that would make crowning the Baratheon easy, in a victory with no heirs in sight, the high would make crowing him king a trivial affair.

But why would Adam care, if he knew that Robert Baratheon would win, why not side with him? No there must be more.

"What are you not telling me?" at her question he frowns, but in disgust and… anger, but not at her, no… for her.

"Your and your children's death is not a kind or swift one, my Lady." He says, and tries to keep it at that, but she needs to know.

"How?" she asks

"I don't think—"

"How!" she says more forcefully.

Sighing, Adam replies "Aegon's head will be smashed against the wall while Rhaenys will be stabbed over fifty times while you watch, then you will be raped and killed. It is one of the most brutal deaths that will be done in decades to comes, one I do not wish one anyone, and am able to prevent… So here I am." He says sadly, looking away from her.

She doesn't even want to imagine it, but she does. Her children, taken from her before— No.

She shakes her head, forcing the thoughts away, she has heard stories, about war, and the atrocities that happen in them. Looking down she sees that she unconsciously has gripped her blanket tightly.

A hand on her shoulder shakes away from her thoughts, looking back to the man who told her the horrible prediction, she sees his eyes look at her with compassion, and the calm she felt return. Giving him a nod, he removes his hand and she in turn forgives him the faux-pas in touching her without permission.

Regaining her composure, Elia stares at Adam, something he is clearly uncomfortable with as he moves his eyes to stare at anything but her. And comes to the conclusion that she believes him, or believes that he believes himself, he clearly is a man of means, as he sneaked into the castle and her quarters without any of the guards noticing. But she can't do anything with that alone.

"Do you have any prove?" she asks.

"Excuse me?" he turns back to her, his eyes questioning and confused.

"While I'm inclined to believe you believe this, enough even to go as for to sneak into the castle. The only thing as proof you have are your words. Do you have anything else that could actually prove you have these 'visions'." She explains , putting as much calm, strength and elegance in it as she can, now is not to time to lose her nerve.

Adam looks unsure, but after a while , he raises her hand, and a flame appears on top of it.

"Beautiful…" she can't help but mutter. It's color was everchanging, making her think of a rainbow after a heavy storm. It was also small, controlled, like it was only allowed to exist in his hand.

"I have gifts." He mutters "Gifts the helped me see a future and gifts that make me more than men, gifts that I would like to use to save you, my Lady, if you allow me."

And what can she do, but allow him. What more prove does she need than the magic in front of her eyes.

So before the maids come to wake her up, she says just one sentence.

"What is the plan, Sir Adam?"



AN:

Yes I changed how the currency exchanges from original, because that was a shitshow and if I wanted to do math I'd be working on a system fic instead.

Near the end of writing this I realized I'm beginning to write in 3rd​ POV, and while this wouldn't really be a problem, I've written a lot in 1st​ POV, making for a perspective mess. So I decided to go over it again and change everything to 3rd​ POV, this does make it so some parts of the story isn't as smooth as I'd like it to be.

Anyway, I hope you still liked it.

 

[Slycerr]

This dream feels weird, I've had lucid ones before, but this one feels almost unrealistically real.

Welcome to the Fork Shop System V1!

Choosing world…

World chosen: Naruto

Compiling starter package…

Random Starter Perk: Invictus

Worldbound Power: Chakra

Starter points: 5p

Do you wish to spend your points?

Oh, this is a nice dream, the one we're I have powers are always fun, until said powers suddenly don't work anymore… that happens more than you would think.

A screen pop ups in front of me with different categories, but they are almost all greyed out except one

Lesser Powers/ Tier 0

But Fork V17, it wouldn't be that massive power CYOA that takes hours to go over right? The sections sound the same, but why is the rest greyed out?

User has not spend enough points to unlock more features of the System.

Do you wish to spend your points?

Well, if it's like that, then let's spend some points!

Opening up the lesser Power section, they are the exact same powers from the Fork CYOA, this makes looking over them a lot easier as I'm fairly familiar with it.

Now what build am I going for, I can't really do much with only five points, so this is going to be more a setup for what I can do later.

After thinking it over for a bit, I conclude that there are two main paths I can go, physical or mental. If I go physical I can start building myself to getting the Golden Body combo, it cost a total 9 points to get, but the earlier I start the sooner I'll get it. Going for mental on the other hand would definitely make me a genius, something that'll be useful for learning justu and other ninja skills.

Floating in the void, I look over the two options, it basically comes down to an immediate powerup physically or a future powerup in jutsu… decisions decisions…

Grinning, I take the option that feels right, and pick my powers.

• Thinker (Bullet Time)
  Cost: 1 SP
  
  You can process information at an unprecedented rate. When this power is active, the world seems to slow down to a crawl, making bullets seem to move no faster than a jogger. Even the most complex of information seems to flow into your mind with ease, enabling you to make quick decisions and solve problems. While your body retains its regular movement, you can easily make use of this enhanced mental speed to plan ahead, strategize, or simply take a moment to collect your thoughts. You can toggle this effect on and off. Overuse leads to headaches.
  
  
  
• Thinker (Gut Instinct)
  Cost: 1 SP
  
  This power allows you to instantly sense the validity of answers to any questions you ask. Whether the response comes from your own investigation, another person's response, or even your own intuition, you can use your gut instinct to determine if the answer you received is either correct, incorrect, or even partially correct—nothing more. This works best when you have more information on the subject.
  
  
• Thinker/Master (Organized Mind)
  Cost: 1 SP
  
  You've been granted increased control over your mind, allowing you to rewire it as you wish. Applications of this include memory organization, mental searches, emotional regulation, and even management of your subconscious. This does not noticeably improve your thinking speed or ability to multitask.
  
  
  
• Thinker (Understanding)
  Cost: 1 SP
  
  Your brain has reached new heights, allowing you to intuitively understand and comprehend everything much faster. What used to take you weeks now takes you hours, or even minutes. Your neuroplasticity is through the roof.

Picking these four powers also gives me a nice combo with it.

• COMBO: Swift Insight
  
  Required: Thinker/Master (Organized Mind)
  Required: Thinker (Bullet Time)
  Required: Thinker (Gut Instinct)
  Required: Thinker/Master (Organized Mind)

Your mind processes information at an accelerated pace, effortlessly grasping complex concepts in minutes. Heightened neuroplasticity for instinctual understanding, a reliable gut instinct for truth assessment, and an organized mind that orchestrates thoughts, memories, and emotions combine to create a formidable force. The result is unparalleled cognitive prowess, facilitating seamless navigation through thought, perception, and decision-making.

This should make learning jutsu a breeze, and I still have a point over for unknown situations.

Look at me here, already thinking like a ninja and having contingencies and stuff.

Do you wish to finalize your choices? Yes/No

Clicking yes with a giddy feeling, wondering what this dream will cook up next.

Starting fusion with host's multiversal counterpart…

A tuck from my belly pulls me away from the void, and suddenly im in a classroom, a clone of myself standing next to me. Memories flash in my mind, my time in the orphanage, living alone in a small apartment from when I was 10, studying in the academy, and so much more.

But the thing that really leaves me reeling is the feeling that this is very much real, the little bit of haziness from the void disappeared, and reality came crashing down.

The only reason I don't puke my guts out is because the realisation is processed so fast that the whiplash got whiplashed, turning my feelings on it into a muted mess. In some way, that isn't a bad thing, as I'm still in the middle of my exam evaluation.

My sensei looks closely at the clone I created, before smiling at me and saying proudly.

"You passed Asahi, you're a ninja!" he takes something from behind the table and hands it to me.

Looking at the Konoha headband now in my hands, I can only numbly look at it.

Walking out of the classroom, I not the happy kid that just made his dream of becoming a ninja come true. No, I'm the child/man that knows in what kinda shitshow you he got himself in.

So the only thing I mutter for the rest of the school day is.

"I'm so fucked…"

X

On my way home , I started thinking about my future, or rather specifically, the powers I have chosen. One thing that immediately became obvious where the ones I picked weren't… ideal. Not bad perse but definitely not the best choice.

Chakra works by combining spiritual or mind energy with physical energy, yin and yang. By boosting my mind so much I massively improved the mental part of the equation and at the same time aligned my chakra heavily to Yin.

In short, I just made myself it talented in genjutsu while having not having any in my arsenal, and while my reserves did increase and my chakra should be easier to manipulate because of its Yin nature, it lacks the oomph you want for ninjutsu.

This I could easily fix by training my body or picking a physical power, but I also had to think about tomorrow.

Because tomorrow I will have to pass another test, one that could change my future. The jonin test is important because it quite literally changes my path of growth, so should I wait to see on what he is going to test us on, or should I improve myself now and prepare.

Talking about points, how do I even get more?

User gets points by doing feats. This can range from advancing in the stages of mastery in jutsu, to accomplishing missions or changing the plot, everything considered a milestone or feat will give points.

And I guess passing the jonin test would be considered a feat a then.

…

And now you're being stingy with information, great. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it will be considered a feat. That makes it even more important to pass the test.

Reaching my apartment, I temporarily leave my heavy thoughts at the door to come home to the mess that is a ten year old living alone. Clothes are lying on the sofa, the kitchen has dirty dishes and the room smells stuffy.

Ugh, it's going to bother me if it isn't at least clean here, maybe cleaning up the place will clear up my thoughts.

And it does help, in an hour the apartment is cleaned up, and even better, I'm not even tired. The chakra and conditioning of my body would put some athletes back home to shame, and that's as a ten year old.

After cleaning I made myself some dinner and went to bed, it took a while for me to fall asleep, but at this point I had accepted my lot in life and decided the best thing I could do was being rested for the next day.

X

Sitting in the classroom, I can't help but wonder what my team is going to look like, I hope they're at least somewhat decent, maybe a clan kid, we have a few of those in class, no heirs of course, those are all in Naruto's class. So long as I don't have a Sasuke fangirl in my team, I'll be satisfied.

"Attention students!" our sensei, who appeared out of nowhere yells out. "I'll be naming out the teams and the their members now! Starting with team 13…" and begins calling out names.

I tune out most of them, after the merge, I knew that I didn't really have any friends here. I knew everybody, and was on good terms with most, but Asahi was more of a loner than I was, and that's saying something.

"Team 15, Asahi Hidaka, Tokaze Sohi and Chisugi Tominase!" our teacher yelled out. And I couldn't be more done with my life if I tried.

Tokaze was a weird person, always wearing a trench coat and a fedora, and speaking in this weird way, if I was a loner by choice, then Tokaze was decidingly not, if Naruto was the Pariah of his class, then Tokaze was ours, thought to be fair to him not to Naruto's extent, he didn't have a tailed beast inside him, he was just weird.

Chisugi was… a fangirl, a Sasuke fangirl to be specific. Granted there were a lot of those in the academy, but we had a few girls that took being a ninja seriously. I guess I hoped to have a teammate not a boy from another class, that in this stage of his life, treated almost everyone like they didn't exist.

But I guess, if life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, I just hope I could just find some sugar for the mess of a team I got.

A few teams more teams got called out, and a quick headcount makes me realise everyone passed the exam.

When all my classmates names were called out, our sensei for the past 3 years, was quiet for a few seconds, before starting again but in a quieter voice.

"you all are now official shinobi of the leaf, take pride in what you have accomplished, but don't let it become arrogance, because the path is still long, and while the young seeds that you were have sprouted, you all are still saplings. So care for yourself and each other, so you can become a tree that is part of the forest that protects Konohagakure." After that he takes a before continuing "your new jonin senseis will be coming in shortly to pick you up, and I hope the next time I'll see you it will be as a comrade and a student and teacher."

After that short speech, he walks out of the classroom, leaving us in silence.

"You think he rehearsed that?" a voice whispered from behind me.

Turning around quickly, I see it was Tokaze. He's quieter than I expected him to be. And as I let my temporarily shock leave me, I answer with a laugh.

"Pfft, could be. It wouldn't surprise me"

Seeing us interact, the rest of my classmates start to walk towards their teams. Chisugi doesn't join her, staying with her friends, which doesn't bode well for our teamwork in the future.

Looking back at Tokaze, I try to at least be friendly with my future teammate. "So, you excited?"

His eyes light up and he stands up straighter, "of course I am." Happily, before he seems to remember something and repeats himself, but with a more gravelly voice "The void within me is at bay with the knowledge that I have a comrade like you by my side, perhaps I could master it and use it against the darkness that are Konoha's enemies." He says this all with a serious face, putting his hand in front of his face like some kind of pose.

Oh god, he's being even more chuuni than normal, and that's saying something.

"Say comrade" he continues "Should we invite Chisugi-san to our conversation? As our other partner it is important to create our bonds as early as possible so they will withstand the fires of combat." He utters, like this decision would be the difference between life and death.

And ironically, it kinda is, but I'm not going to tell him that, just for the chance that it would further enable his chuuni-ness.

"I'll go ask her, can you wait here?" I say to him, I don't think it's a great idea to bring him to a group of girls, before he's calling them fair maidens and let him go on a tangent.

Thankfully, he doesn't try and argue. "That is a good idea, few people can handle my curse, and in groups it's effects are easily felt and feels disturbing to the unprepared. That you can so easily withstand it speaks well of you, Asahi"

…Isn't that just people feeling awkward around you?

I let the comment pass and walk over to Chisugi and her friends, I cough to get their attention and in return I have a group of girls looking at me with faces that scream 'why are you here' and 'go away!', but I just ignore them as I look at my other teammate.

"Chisugi-san, would come talk to me and Tokaze for a bit, seen as we're teammates now?" I ask calmly. But I can already see my request isn't appreciated.

"Do I have to?" She asks with a frown, clearly not happy with the teammates the village has chosen for her.

I just blink at the blunt question "I mean, not really. But—"

"Then I'd rather not." She replies bluntly. I forgot how rude kids could be, but even with that knowledge 2I can't help but frown.

"Okay then, but you'll have to talk to us at some point, were supposed to be a team." I say and turn around, not expecting an answer.

"Yeah right… in your dreams." I hear behind me, with a few of her friends giggling, but decide to ignore it. I didn't expect Chisugi to be the problem child. And this puts the question back into my mind if I actually want to pass the jonin test with a team like this.

Coming back alone to Tokaze, I see some sadness in his eyes before it is masked by bravado. "It seems our female comrade isn't quite ready yet. No matter. She will see the value of our bonds yet, even if I will have to contain the darkness that is sealed within me."

Sighing "Sure man, sure."

X

I took another 15 minutes before out sensei arrived to pick us up.

He was a man of average height and looks, with brown hair in a low ponytail and a goatee.

"Team 15, gather!" he yells out.

When he sees Chisugi come from a different group, a frown appears on his face that he quickly masks, I don't know if we were meant to see that or not, but I can already tell Tokaze didn't notice with the stars he has in his eyes.

When we stand before him he starts talking, his countenance serious "We will be going to the roof, until then, be quiet." All three of us nod, even if Chisugi bristles a bit and tries to hide it, and while I'm sure he saw it our sensei ignores it and gives us a nod in return before walking out the classroom.

When we reach the roof, the atmosphere is still stifling, until the man turns around and suddenly starts to smile a friendly smile to us.

"Good, you can follow orders. You would not believe how many I've failed before I even started their test because of that simple thing." He says to us.

The other two are flabbergasted by the change in personality, but I notice the 'slip up' that he just said, even if pointing it out is more for my teammates benefit than mine.

"Sensei" I call out "What do you mean 'you failed'? didn't we pass the academy test to be ninja?"

His focus turns to me, "Sharp one, aren't you." I bow my head at the compliment, but wait for him to continue.

"You've indeed passed the academy exam, you aren't official shinobi of the leaf just yet." He starts, Tokaze and Chisugi want to interrupt but a hand stops them, letting him continue. "there is still the jonin test you will need to pass for you to become my team. If you fail, then I will not take you on as my team and send you to the genin corps. Or, if you fail bad enough, be send back to the academy."

Then, if that information wasn't devastating enough, he says. "On average, one in seven pass their jonin sensei's test every year, the rest are sent to genin corps or other forces if recommended."

Silence answers that explanation, looking out my teammates, I see that Chisugi was devasted and paling at the reality of the situation. While Tokaze surprises me, having a look of determination on his face.

CLAP

Snapping our heads towards the sound, I see our maybe sensei having clapped to get our attention. "Now now, the test only starts tomorrow, and they are designed for fresh genin, so don't worry too much about it." Then he sits down on the ground and motions us to do the same. "Let's get to know each other, your likes, dislikes, dreams… and names of course, I'll start."

Putting his hands together and sitting with his legs crossed, almost like a mediation pose, he starts speaking. "My name is Yuki Minakuzi, I've been a jonin for 10 years now and I like sweets and going to the bar with friends, I hate people who think they are better than someone else." At that Chisugi frowns, something Yuki-sensei noticed but didn't react towards. "As for my dream, I want save enough to open a bar." As he finshes he looks at Tokaze "Now you, in the trench coat and fedora."

Tokaze was stumped, but seeing all of us look at him he got his bearings surprisingly quickly.

Putting his hand in front of his face and smiling in that weird pose again, he began. "My name is Tokaze Sohi! I like my family and dislike the darkness that is sealed within me, my dream is to conquer it and become a grand protector of the leaf!" he finishes with a grand wave and a failed swish from his trench coat.

Not looking even a little weirded out by Tokaze's shenanigans, Yuki-sensei just nods while saying "Big dreams huh." and looks over to the next person.

That person being me.

Huh, this actually puts me a bit in a spot, I haven't really thought about what I want except survive the shitshow that will be coming in a few years.

"My name is Asahi Hidaka, there isn't really something that comes up immediately for likes of dislikes. As for dreams, I guess reaching jonin is my dream for now, we'll see what it is when I reach that goal." I tell everyone, that shouldn't be so difficult to believe.

Yuki-sensei thinks differently, "When you will reach jonin huh, that's some confidence there kid." He says, "Not that that is a bad quality to have." Why thank you, it isn't like that should be the bare minimum I should be able to reach with a power like mine.

Finally, everyone turns towards Chisugi, who for some reason still has a frown on her face, but when she sees everyone looking at her she quickly shakes herself out of it, her mannerism completely changing into someone much more confident, like there was nothing wrong.

Taking one last breath, she starts talking, "My name is Chisugi Tominase, I like cute clothes and… someone. I dislike the academy tests and weirdo— I mean, weird… things. My dream is to make my family proud and become a great kunoichi!" She finalises with some strength at the end, thought her hiccup in the middle certainly wasn't missed by anyone, even Tokaze picked up what she was going to say by the sad look in his eyes.

Our sensei again, doesn't mention it, acting like it didn't happen. But I would eat my left foot if a jonin didn't notice her slip ups, especially as it was something he specifically said he didn't like in people. You'd think you would catch yourself on something like that, but maybe I'm asking too much of kids.

Clapping his hands again, Yuki-sensei smiles at all three of us "Great! Now that we all know each other a bit more, I will give you your test, you will be hunting and trying to capture me tomorrow in training ground 4, the test starts at 7 am sharp and you will have 3 hours to complete the objective. If you do, you pass. If you don't, you fail." His gins growing mischievous, "Now that you know your mission, I'll see you all tomorrow." And disappears.

Just like that.

The whiplash is a bit intense, but shaking my head I try to think what we could do to prepare. But before I can even start, Chisugi abruptly stands up, trying to leave.

I of course, think that's not a good idea, "Where are you going, Chisugi-san?" I ask as I stand up, unable to keep the frown of my face. "We've basically been given a mission, we need to use this time to prepare."

Tokaze nods along, "Yeah! We will need to prepare ourselves for the coming trails, Chisugi-san!" he adds, his chuuni-ness almost non-existent, seemingly forgotten.

I can practically see the debate going on in her head, on one side seeing our point but the other having her worldview of us as unimportant and losers fighting with each other. Seeing her internal struggle, I want to say something, but someone cut me to the chase.

"Come on Chisugi-san!" Tokaze says "If we don't do this together then this task will spell our ondoing!" he declares.

Sadly, they have the opposite effect, as a sneer forms on her face.

"Anything involving you is doomed to fail, you weirdo! I will go home and ask my parents, who are ninja and prepare at home, ALONE! Don't think that just because were on the same team that were friends!"

Tokaze hearing those words flinches hard, and looks down on the ground. Stepping in front of him, I call her out on her bullshit.

"That was uncalled for Chisugi. While I admit asking for advice from ninja with experience isn't a bad idea. Insulting your teammates and not even wanting to work together when were supposed to be a team, won't help anyone."

She just hmpfs and leaves us, and I don't see the point of stopping her now. I didn't expect her to be so shallow, but then again, she's a Sasuke fangirl without even knowing anything except that he's the last Uchiha, maybe I shouldn't have expected anything.

Turning back towards Tokaze, who is still looking down, I can't help but frown at the situation, and I notice I've been doing that a lot recently.

Trying to cheer him up and change the subject, I clap him on the shoulder, making his head shoot up to look at me, in response I just smile at him and say. "Hey, let's get something to eat, I heard about this great ramen shop and after we can start planning for tomorrow."

Tokaze looks at me flabberghasted, "You still want to team up with me?" he asks hopefully, like he can't believe I'm still here.

"Yeah" I reply, "Otherwise it's going to be difficult to show Chisugi she's wrong, isn't it? Can't let the darkness win right?"

The smile I get in return is blinding, "Right!"

And with this shitshow, I also know which power I'm going to need, because if this isn't a headache inducing problem, nothing is.

I need a solution and ASAP.

• Thinker (Problem Solving)
  Cost: 1 SP
  
  Your ability to solve problems has been increased tenfold. You can process information, evaluate options, and come up with solutions way faster than normal. What would take others minutes or hours, you can do in a few seconds. You can analyze a problem and mentally run through dozens of possible solutions, narrowing it down almost immediately to what you think is most likely to work.
  
  You'll be able to come up with solutions on the fly and adjust your approach as new information comes in.

AN:

Fork Cyoa: https://cyoa.ltouroumov.ch/viewer/

Build Code of current powers: 0qbiiei;vkl0;5r67;g0ut;d0mx;kw4p;p6py;m1rf;4hoy;yedw;dstd;iwf0

Tokaze's dialogue was more difficult than expected, it started as a joke on discord about having the worst team you could get, being a chuuni and a sasuke fangirl. But being a chuuni in naruto is kind of difficult, as sealing and monsters DO exist, so they aren't something to joke about, having that realisiation, I tried and reworked his dialogue a bit but I'm still not completly happy with it.

 

[Neondagger]

An interesting start

 

[Slycerr]

An interesting start

Click to shrink...

that's one way of looking at it xD

 

[Neondagger]

that's one way of looking at it xD

Click to shrink...

Bro has the int to survive the start now he just needs the body

 

[G1 Convoy]

TFTC.

"Anything involving you is doomed to fail, you weirdo! I will go home and ask my parents, who are ninja and prepare at home, ALONE! Don't think that just because were on the same team that were friends!"

Click to shrink...

I know that Chisugi is still a bratty kid, but with that mindset, I'm not sure if I'd want to be on a team with her even if we passed. If by some miracle his team does pass and she still retains her attitude, I would have to consider whether going into the genin corps would be better than working with someone with no concept of teamwork, looks down on her teammates (& probably lacks the talent & skill to justify her disdain), & can't go through the motions of extending basic courtesy to others who haven't given her a reason not to. Any one of those things can get her and the others killed, but if not handled quick enough, all three combined can be a downright death sentence in the wrong situations.

I mean, people can change, but said change, especially a major one, usually doesn't come through simple introspection or advice. It comes after life forces you to do so and involves getting put through the ringer, generally without care of collateral damage.