Second Genesis

[Congratulations. You have been accepted under the tutelage of Globb the Technician]

—

Grey blinked when he saw the notification. "Didn’t you say there’s a test? Where’s the test?"

"You passed it already," Globb said.

"I did? What did I do?"

"Being a technician requires a special sixth sense. Not a lot of people can get a feel for it, and you’ve already surpassed the minimum threshold."

"Sixth sense?"

"Mm. Um, wait, hold on..." Globb fell into his thoughts, stroking his mechanical jaw. "... Right, right. We were given a briefing on your world, Earth, right? Stupid name, by the way."

Grey did his best not to roll his eyes. He couldn’t read a single fantasy book where the main character got isekai’d that didn’t make fun of Earth’s name. Could we get over it, please?

"Anyway, it’s like soul, or quantum entanglement, something, something, genetics. You get it, right?"

Grey’s lip twitched. "What the hell is any of that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever. You don’t need to know. It’s called Cyber State."

"Now that’s a stupid fucking name," Grey grumbled.

Globb laughed uproariously and more than a little bit abruptly.

"Alright, come in, come in. I’ve only got a certain number of credits for how long I can teach you. What use you make of it will depend on yourself."

Grey didn’t even know what to say. Had he picked right? What kind of teaching was he going to get from this guy?

...

Minutes later, Grey was sitting in front of what looked like grid paper cut out from similar material to what one would see a keyboard mat made from, though thicker. It looked like the sort of thing a watchmaker would piece together small parts on, but far more substantial and sturdy.

Grey’s finger tapped on it continuously as he waited for Globb to come back. It felt like he was wasting time here.

Finally, Globb peeked out from behind a second set of curtains, walking forward and then letting a bunch of parts tumble out of his arms.

Honestly, it looked like he had just gutted the engine of a car. Let alone the oils that were coating everything, there were various pipes and fixtures, and something Grey could have sworn was an exhaust.

"The first thing you need to learn is how to collaborate with the Cyber State to quickly identify parts, what they do, and what is currently wrong with them. Once you succeed in this, the Genesis System will automatically grant you the Technician Profession, and you’ll be able to interface with it directly.

"This will be like having a handy assistant no matter where you go—."

"But that would require a Nexis Suit, wouldn’t it?"

"No. That is what this Cyber Mat is for. The Nexis Suits use the same material, but they’re more so designed to allow for direct upgrades to the body. Its use for communicating with the Cyber State is more secondary.

"A Cyber Mat is different. It can even project the Cyber State out into the real world, allowing you to draw maps, diagrams, and blueprints with your mind that can be seen by others or used as references to complete your parts."

Grey’s foot began to tap at the ground. He found himself getting impatient. He couldn’t find an easy way to tie all of this into building a vessel for Prometheus.

He felt like he was missing something. Would the first quest with a reward of just an introduction really be so complicated? Wasn’t there a limit to how badly he could be screwed over?

"Timeout." Grey formed a ’T’ with his hands. "I don’t have the time for this. You yourself said I only have a limited few credits, right? Can I decide what you teach me?"

"Yes, but I wouldn’t advise it."

"I want to decide," Grey said firmly. "What do you know about Frames? I want to build one."

Globb blinked. "Frames? As in Mech Frames? It’s impossible for me to teach you something like that. That’s beyond the scope of a Technician. Only Mech Engineers can build Frames, and if you were one, then you’d be able to build your own method of interfacing with the Genesis System and wouldn’t need a Nexis Suit in the first place."

Grey’s heart sank to rock bottom. He had bet everything on this. There was no way it could end this way.

"Wait, wait. I don’t need a full Mech Frame, I just need a vessel?"

Grey ended what should have been a statement with a question mark. He didn’t even know what he was saying or if there was any difference at all.

Globb didn’t reply, and for a long while, Grey thought he was really fucked this time.

It felt like he was constantly spinning his wheels. He hadn’t even gone as far as his first life yet, and every step he tried to take felt like it came with three back. It was like he was better off not reincarnating in the first place.

’Hm?’

Grey was trying to rein in his desire to crash out when he noticed something odd about Globb. He was just standing there, frozen. It felt like that invisible person was playing god again.

’Wait!’

Grey hurriedly stood and pulled on May’s suit again. He shifted it and tightened it until he could get nice coverage over his forearm.

In his rush, he stumbled a bit and touched the Cyber Mat. To his surprise, a jolt ran through his body, and his ability to see and feel the connections of his neural network to the suit was amplified several times over.

He took advantage and locked May’s Nexis Suit into place.

As expected, the moment he did, he got a notification.

—

[You have triggered a Rare Instance]

—

Operation: Second Wind of the Mechanical Jaw Lineage

Quest Rank: Rare

Mission Type: Retrieval

Objective: Reclaim the Ancestral Tome of the Mechanical Jaw

Description: Globb the Gnome is one of the last of his lineage, living out his days in the safety of the city and away from the Fog of Chaos. However, deep within him, a fire burns for the days his father, and his grandfather before him, once told of.

Outside the city limits, the Ancestral Tome of the Mechanical Jaw resides in the hands of the Wicked Forest Witch. Defeat the Wicked Forest Witch and retrieve the Ancestral Tome.

Reward: Path of the Mechanical Jaw

—

"FUCK ME," Grey roared, finally losing his cool again.