Chapter 2: I’m Yan

“Who are you? Show yourself!” Yan hissed.

“Recalibration complete. Initiating set-up procedures. Welcome to the latest in Perigot-Sim Interactive, the bionic eye of tomorrow, today! To begin, please identify yourself,” the voice said with a cheeriness that grated on her nerves.

“What…? Did you bring me here? What did you do to my memories?” Yan’s voice rose as she spoke. She had no idea what this voice was talking about but if it had brought her here, she was going to make it send her back.

“Questions logged. Combing memory banks... Hi NEW OWNER, unfortunately, I have not found any data pertaining to you or your memories. I do apologise for the inconvenience.”

Yan’s desire to go back to her old world was eating at her. What had she left back there? Home? A loved one?

“You expect me to believe you? You were here immediately after I awoke!”

“Aggression detected. If I’ve offended you, I apologise once again. Please rest assured that I’m programmed to serve the best interests of humanity. As such, your well-being is my number one priority!”

Yan opened her mouth - but then clamped it back shut. The voice sounded genuine despite its strange words. And if it was really unaware of her circumstances, the thought of interrogating an innocent filled her with revulsion.

Some of the anger drained from her body.

“To begin, please identify yourself,” the voice repeated. Now that her mind was clearer, Yan realised with a jolt that this thing was not speaking to her.

It was projecting the words directly into her mind.

Stunned, she managed to choke out, “I’m… Yan.”

“Acknowledged. ImYan, welcome again.”

“Wait! What? No. My name is Yan.”

There was a whirling in her mind - no. In her left eye. The voice replied, “Apologies, ImYan, name changes must be done in person and supported by official documentation. Please head to your nearest Perigot-Sim Interactive office to provide said information.”

There was a pause and more whirling. “The nearest Perigot-Sim Interactive office is in the Cristom Cluster. Would you like directions?”

Her headache worsened. Had a ghost somehow possessed her eye? What directions? All she wanted to do was to go back to where she had come from.

“No, no directions. Just - just tell me who you are.”

“Gladly! I’m Sierra, the happy handy helper that comes with Bionic Eye model X-09, currently the latest bionic eye on the market - that means it’s the very best!” A little jingle started playing in her head, “Perigot-Sim, best anywhere on the Rim!”

“Well, you’re helpful…,” Yan quipped.

“Thank you, I appreciate the praise and will remember that answer as ‘helpful’. Now, moving on with the set-up, may I have your permission to initiate a full-body scan?”

“A what?”

“A full-body scan, ImYan. It is required to unlock the full potential of the Bionic Eye model X-09.”

So far today, she had been stabbed, exploded and then zapped into this strange world. In comparison, this sounded fairly harmless. Besides, the faster this was over, the better. She needed the time to think about everything.

“Okay…?”

“Initiating full-body scan.”

Immediately, Yan regretted her decision.

Weakness surged through her and she stumbled, one hand reaching out to stabilise herself. Her heart slowed. Fear ran through her body as she realised that the ghost was draining her.

Her left eye began to heat up, slowly at first, then faster, the heat growing until it was hotter than a thousand suns. Just as she was about to scream, it pulsated down throughout her entire body as a bright blue glow.

As quickly as the glow had shot out, it returned, colder now, back into her eye. She felt her heart rate pick back up.

Still weak, it was all she could do to prop herself up.

There was that gyrating of her eye again, then it announced cheerfully, “Analysis complete!”

“Why… why’d you do that?” Yan protested, still gasping. Did this thing just attack her?

“Hi, ImYan! You gave verbal consent to a full-body scan. The scan was thus initiated accordingly.”

The answer was matter-of-fact and Yan relented a little. It was probably her own fault for not understanding the nuances of this world.

“Still, next time, if you don’t warn me first, I’ll rip you right out - even if it costs me an eye!”

“Threat of self-harm logged. I’ll strive to do better next time. Now, let us continue with the set-up!”

Over the left side of her vision, a black box appeared. It was a screen - the name just appeared in her mind - bearing the image of a single green serpent coiling in on itself. The name beneath dispelled any doubts that she might have had: Perigot-Sim Interactive.

There was also a strange circle beneath the name that seemed to rotate forever. Though she had never seen it before, it seemed to want her to wait.

Yan looked around the room, trying her best to put that screen with its spinning wheel out of her mind - and succeeded, partly.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The arch caught her eye. She approached cautiously, weary of the sparking tubes. Taking care not to touch the frame, she circled it, trying to understand how it worked.

Nothing came to mind. The arch was silent, unwilling to give up its secrets.

Finally, the circle stopped spinning and the overlaid box faded until it was just a set of glowing lines. A table took form:

image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/134927899/18d31a04708c4510b5a8532a673dca97/e30%3D/1.png?token-hash=uw93By25addb4jFDqINrWPLCxwgs-76IZROaVjZPs5k%3D&token-time=1754697600]

Beneath all that was the image of a woman in the same bodysuit that Yan wore, arms spread horizontally, legs slightly apart.

Her features were sharp and angular, jaw tapering almost to a point. Set against her pale skin was a pair of wide eyes, a dainty nose and full lips. Her long black hair was tied up into a ponytail that reached down to her shoulders.

Despite her beauty, the woman’s face was worn and tired, as if she had pulled one too many all-nighters.

Instinctively, Yan knew that she was looking at an image of herself.

The only problem was that it looked nothing like her.

She stood frozen for a moment, unable to comprehend the situation. Then, quick as a flash, she snatched up a polished shard of steel. It was a jagged thing, likely a piece thrown from the archway during its collapse.

It was just the right size for a crude knife.

But much as she liked the feeling of a weapon in her hand, that was not her reason for picking it up.

Instead, Yan looked down at her reflection in its mirror-like surface. The same unfamiliar woman stared right back, just as confused as she was.

Everything was wrong, so wrong. There had to be some reason for all this. Had her mana explosion somehow ripped a hole in the fabric of her world? And then she had gotten transported here into this new body?

“Hi, ImYan! You’ve been silent for a while, so my directive tells me to check in on you! Is everything alright?” Her new mental companion had come back to haunt her.

“No - no, it’s not. Everything is not alright.”

“I can help with that! Initiating Wellness Module… Wellness Module not found.

Oh… I’m so sorry. Unfortunately, it appears that the Wellness Module has not been installed. Please purchase the Module at your nearest Perigot-Sim Interactive retailer! The nearest Perigot-Sim Interactive retailer is in the Cristom Cluster. Would you like directions?”

Yan could feel her anger rising back to the fore. Her thoughts and emotions were a jumbled mess and this thing was really good at getting on her nerves.

“What are you talking about? Just leave me alone!” She snapped.

“Certainly! If you ever need an explanation of your SIERRAs, just hit me up! I’ll be dormant for the time being - ERROR. FUNCTION NOT FOUND.”

The ghost eye paused and whirled for a moment.

“It would appear that I am unable to enter dormancy. The function has been removed…” For the first time, the ghost sounded hesitant.

Yan heaved a deep sigh, defeated. When was the last time she had control over anything? Although she could not remember her past, it felt like it had been forever.

Reverting to its usual upbeat self, the eye continued, “No matter! It looks like your SIERRAs are all fine! Not the best, but whose is? Do you need an explanation?”

“Fine. What are these SIERRAs? Why do I have them?”

“SIERRA is short for Strength, Intelligence…” Yan rolled her eyes and tuned the ghost out for a moment. “… They are your attributes and determine how good you are at certain things!”

“I see and what’s Rizz?” All the terms were self-explanatory except this one.

“Normally, you would need a Dictionary Module for this but for SIERRA explanations, I can make an exception! Rizz is a popular new way to say Charisma!”

“Right... and what’s a ‘level’? Is that some kind of qi cultivation tracker?”

“I have no idea what a ‘qi cultivation tracker’ is but your level is a general reflection of how powerful you are! As you increase your attributes, you gain experience and your level increases! Isn’t that fun?”

“As a matter of fact, no. It’s not. Why would it be?”

“You’re a cold one, aren’t you? No matter! Research suggests that gamification appeals to most of Perigot-Sim Interactive’s customers. That means that if you have purchased one of our products, you have a high chance of preferring this handy system!”

“I did not purc -” Yan stopped herself. Why try to reason with this thing? Swallowing her annoyance, she continued, “Do these numbers affect anything? Or are they just fancy trackers?”

“Here at Perigot-Sim Interactive, your continued survival is our business. As such, to optimise your survivability, new levels will be rewarded with special abilities! Increases in your attributes will likewise be supplemented by the same patented bio-optimisation system. It’s fun and productive, only here at Perigot-Sim Interactive!”

Were these the rules of her new world? Or was this strange ghost just spouting nonsense?

It occurred to Yan that both were probably true. Regardless, she should err on the side of caution and find out more. This ghost had talked about increasing her level through her attributes but it had not mentioned how she could go about increasing the latter.

So, Yan asked, “I see… and how do I go about increasing these attributes?”

“Oh, that’s easy! Every time you succeed in the use of an attribute, there is a chance that it will increase! The more difficult the success, the higher the chance! For example, if you had noticed that the perimeter of this base just came under attack a second ago, you might have gained a point in Awareness!”

“Wait. What?”

“That!”

At that moment, the wail of a siren pierced the air. Yan jumped, wincing as her aching body screamed at her to stop. She had forgotten about the thousand chariots that had run her over. Every limb was a mess of pain.

Multiple explosions rocked the chamber. Yan clung tightly onto the twisted metal around her, weathering the storm.

There were screams in the distance, followed by a sound that she had never heard before. It sounded like one of the fire lances that a few xiake favoured - vile spears that spat fire and whatever else their wielders thought to stuff down the haft - but this sounded sharper and like a thousand lances being discharged, one after the other, in rapid succession.

The name of the weapon hovered in the back of her mind and Yan tried to reach for it.

A disembodied male voice crackled over the room, smashing the word from her grasp. “Attention, all base personnel. Attention, all base personnel. The perimeter has been breached. I repeat, the perimeter has been breached. All personnel are to evacuate with immediate effect. Please depart for the escape pods at once.”

There was a clack and the voice stopped. The wailing picked up again.

Underneath that endless scream, a hiss of air caught her attention. Looking to her right, Yan saw something that she had missed before: A set of double doors, now wide open.

Taking a step towards them, she paused. She looked down at the metal shard still in her hand. If she just had something to hold it with, she might actually be able to fight with it.

Wait. She could cast magic, right?

Yan looked down at the spot where the magic-casting seal had been. There was nothing on her sleeve. Good.

Closing her eyes, she reached within - and realised that she had no idea where to begin. Was there a chant? Of all the things she remembered about the fight, this was strangely hazy.

That siren was also not helping.

Deciding that this was a problem for future Yan, she quickly looked around the room. All she found was a roll of something called “duct tape”. From what she recalled of its uses, it might make a decent handle for her knife.

A merry chirp caught her off guard and she jumped. “Awareness increased. I’d like to congratulate you on your first Attribute increase! Your Awareness is now 9!”

“Thank… you?” Yan replied. At this point, she had all but accepted her fate. At least for the next few hours, until she could exorcise this ghost. “Wait. Where were you just now?”

“Perigot-Sim Interactive had the foresight to introduce a conversation-lite, notification-lite mode for pressing situations. For example, like earlier, during the bombardment! It has been proven to help reduce mortality rates drastically! After all, as our CEO John Perigot always says, ‘It’s hard to convince the dead to buy stuff made for the living. I’ve only ever succeeded once.’”

Yan had no idea who this John Perigot was but something told her that he had truly tried to sell to the dead. And succeeded.

In the bottom left corner of her vision, a cheery little green box popped up, announcing: “Intelligence +1”.