[

  Status:

  Species: Human

  Acclimatization: Extremophile (Stellar)

  Trait: Augmented Cognition (Basic)

  Affinity: Theronic (Simple)

  Talent: FrameSlip

  Skills: [Slip]

  ]

  [ Moira: First try, nice. Try the hand gesture when you're back in the real world next time. It's the little rectangle one. Do me a favor and just mumble 'squishing your head' when you make it. For no reason in particular. Okay don't actually do that. You can also just think it — the trick is to think at where you feel the system communicating with you — not everybody can speak, after all. Or has hands. The system is built to understand when it is being used. Also, keep in mind that normally the interface can only be seen when your eyes are closed, as a safety feature, though technically it can also read the output to you or even somehow express it via tactile sense — don't ask me how on that one. ]

  [ Nat: Got it. I'll give it a try later. Okay so what's this about Extremophile? ]

  [ Moira: Extremophiles are species that live in hostile environments. Volcanic acclimatizations fall into that category, as do some deep ocean ones and suchlike. The asterisk means that's an approved exception. That's a bit of a strange one for you to have, but it's a good bet there's a reason for it — often affinity or talent related. I'll ask for details when I get a chance. ]

  [ Nat: Okay, and what about 'Stellar' after it? I'm guessing that's star, not telling me I'm great at it. ]

  [ Moira: Let's see what the internal tags on that are… okay that's… Thermal and Vacuum packages? This reads like a Ber'Duun selection. I'm going to have to plead ignorance on the specifics. But I'll add it to the ask list — Lyn might know as well. ]

  [ Nat: Who were you going to ask? The system? And why would Lyn know? ]

  [ Moira: Lyn might know because that's very similar to some acclimatizations that Ber'Duun have — specifically ones necessary for maintenance on satellites like the moons. As for asking the system — the system isn't intelligent like a sophont. It is capable of responding to some basic phrases and gestures — but there's no mind there to talk to. I'd be asking AMA. I could also check the logs and see if there's something there, but something is wrong with yours — I think that maybe the system ran out of room storing all those error messages. All I see is thousands of installation attempts failing, and that's just the last few years before it cuts off. This morning was apparently busy for you. ]

  [ Nat: Yeah, I woke up on the floor from an episode earlier — that's probably related. Also, you're referring to AMA, the Ber'Duun god? ]

  [ Moira: I was wondering why you seem to be taking this all in stride. No panic, no freaking out. Just questions. ]

  [ Nat: Well, waking up blind, deaf, with missing memory isn't some rare occurrence on this side of things. For me, it's Twosday. ]

  [ Moira: Well, that certainly contextualizes some things for me. ]

  [ Nat: Yeah, sorry. Anyway, you said you could ask AMA? ]

  [ Moira: Right — AMA. First off — not a god. They're sort of like my big brother. Sister. Sibling. They might find the comparison insulting but that just means it's even more accurate! Anyway, they, like me, are a standing wave etched upon the fabric of reality. In some paradigms of physics, we can barely be said to exist at all. And yet, here we are. ]

  [ Nat: Okay, so they, and you are incorporeal. And you can just… talk to it because of that? ]

  [ Moira: More accurate to say I can talk at them. AMA is usually willing to share information necessary for survival, but it's not like us talking, even here. It's basically just talking to yourself except sometimes the universe hand-delivers a massive branching info-dump directly into your mind that answers questions you didn't know you had, and brings up new ones besides. It's honestly a bit lonely around here waiting on meatspace friends to respond — when everyone's operating at a fraction of your speed it's a lot like sending a letter to a far off friend and waiting for a reply — so, I just sort of narrate my day to day to them out of habit at this point I suppose. Having someone able to operate at my speed has made this, without a doubt, the most engaging conversation I've had in quite a while, and that's even with half of your comments being questions and exclamations of confusion. Not that I mind! ]

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  [ Nat: Thanks, I guess? ]

  [ Moira: See? Look at that, you hit both of those in one go. That's talent, I tell you. Anyway, AMA is vastly knowledgeable, but their answers take time. They do not think on mortal timescales, nor respond on them. So, I might ask a bunch of questions, or just narrate at it a bunch and then a week or two later I'll get some random packet of data with a comparison of thirteen different Ber bone-structure augments and a packaged feeling that at some point this information is going to be vital to something I cannot understand at the moment — and that last part is also in that feeling, by the way, that's not my personal commentary. If my ego was capable of taking a hit, that would do it. Luckily for me, I'm amazing. ]

  [ Nat: And modest, too. Okay, got it, ask better questions. I'll try. Here's one: if AMA doesn't answer, who else could you, or I, ask? ]

  [ Moira: Well, that's a good question. In terms of why the exception was granted — there's nobody else to ask. AMA did it, nobody else is going to understand why. At best, you're going to get speculation. You could try asking one of the other assistants, but they're not going to know the why of it either. Normally your assigned assistant would have been involved in the choice and communicated it with you — even as a young child you can still understand basic concepts and be prepared for greater understanding later. But AMA itself is the only one that makes the final call on all bioengineering choices. We assistants, and I have been one a few times, I'm just not yours at the moment officially — can only make recommendations to AMA. We're only allowed system access because AMA cannot communicate with Humans directly — even Ber'Duun can't manage a coherent conversation, but they're also over a billion years old on average with direct communication pathways specifically engineered into their brain structure. ]

  [ Nat: Okay then. Moving on. Augmented Cognition is something I've known people with, so that's pretty normal — basically increased speed of thought? ]

  [ Moira: Yep. Just structural enhancements to the brain and central nervous system, usually to support sensory or communication enhancements, but some movement talents need it. As has been observed many times before, it won't make you smarter, but you can be stupid faster. In your case it looks like you've got the speed and communication package. We might be able to communicate directly without you having to speak. That's another one to ask about. ]

  [ Nat: Okay, next: Theronic affinity? That seems uncommon. I would have thought I had one of the heat related ones. Even before knowing about the stellar affinity. ]

  [ Moira: Yeah that's another strange one for a Human. Pretty common for Ber'Duun, a little less common than Aethonic, more common than the Aetheric combination, so, no real reason for concern there. Theronic only, so no playing with mass for you, but it's a simple affinity so it could evolve in a few directions. It's probably just there to power your talent. ]

  [ Nat: Okay, and then talent. FrameSlip. Never heard of it — also asterisked. ]

  [ Moira: Yeah, same, but I've got some guesses based on what I mentioned earlier — appearing dimly lit, whole-body rigor. Hmm. ]

  [ Moira: You're operating far beyond normal Human speeds right now — this entire conversation has taken less than three seconds. Normally I get to say fun things to people like, 'You cannot imagine how fast I can think compared to you'. If you could, I'd suggest bringing a book if you're going to make a habit of getting stuck in a time dilated… reference… frame. ]

  [ Moira: Okay — hold on, how have you not exploded yet? We're oscillating between a 30:1 and a 3000:1 dilation factor. You can't tell, but I'm adjusting my communication speed to compensate. It's like we're in a train car going over mountains — slow uphill and too fast going down. Pieces of you must be operating at speeds far too close to c — light speed — with that level of dilation. How are you not on fire? Better question — how are you not a rapidly expanding ball of plasma? The logs probably have something — Oh. Well, that's potentially a problem. ]

  [ Nat: What? ]

  [ Moira: Nothing. Nothing happening here. Oh look, what a coincidence that our time here is suddenly being cut short! ]

  [ Nat: Wait, what about [Slip] — what's that? ]

  [ Moira: Ask later, no time right now. I'm serious — playful kidding time is over — I'm checking the very recent logs and seeing a bunch of system warning messages. No more questions — what I need you to do right this second is focus on deactivating your talent. The easiest way is to think of the symbols that represent it and the concept of off. Do that now. Now! ]

  [ Nat: Okay, let me try… ]

  [Slip]