Loen’s breath caught in his throat, the words making no sense at first. But the impact of them reverberated in his skull. The hum was repeating louder in his ears, in a strange, mechanical tone.
The room felt colder now, and Loen’s body stiffened, as if some unseen force were trying to seize control. His heart raced, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. He was paralyzed—stuck in his own body as a foreign presence took root within him. A terrifying realization crept into his mind. He was no longer alone in his own head.
A sudden flash of light, blinding and disorienting, engulfed Loen. His body tensed, every muscle locked in confusion as the world around him flickered and distorted.
When his vision finally returned, he could move again and the pain was subsiding. But now, it wasn’t just the familiar, dimly lit walls of his small home that he saw. Instead, delicate, translucent words hovered in the air before him, etched in a fine, almost imperceptible blue script.
| Auxiliary Consciousness Interface
Name: Loen Redwood
Age: 13 years
Realm: Novice Physical Tempering (to confirm) |
Loen blinked rapidly, his heart hammering in his chest. The words hung in the air, like a riddle he couldn’t solve. He stared at them, trying to make sense of it all. What is this? His mind raced, a thousand questions crashing together in a whirlwind of panic.
“What the hell is this?” he muttered, his voice hoarse. His eyes darted across the strange, glowing text. “Am I dreaming?”
Before he could process what was happening, a response, cool and detached, echoed in his mind.
[ In response to the host: This is the Auxiliary Consciousness Interface, integrated directly into your mind. According to your neural readings, the host is fully awake and thus, this is not a dream ]
The words were clear, sharp, and strange—so unnatural and yet completely real. Loen’s stomach twisted. He felt something cold spreading through his chest, like an invisible weight pressing on him from the inside. He gasped for breath, trying to shake off the sense of dread that was creeping up on him.
The voice, or whatever it was, continued to echo through his thoughts, unaffected by his confusion, calm in its explanation.
[ System Analysis Complete. Integration in progress. ACS fully synchronized. Host analysis: pending ]
Loen’s mind reeled. ACS? Host? What is all this?
Suddenly, his body felt heavier, as though something inside him had shifted. The interface, the words—everything—felt like it was part of him now, like a foreign body that had invaded his own. It was as though the very essence of the world around him had changed, warped by some unseen force.
“I’m… awake?” Loen whispered to himself, his voice shaky with disbelief. He reached out instinctively, half expecting to touch the air and see the words dissipate like smoke. But when his hand passed through them, the words remained, solid and unyielding, as though they were part of the space itself.
“What are you?” asked the boy with apprehension.
[ In response to the host: The ACS is a contraption made by the Darkstone Kingdom to help a human develop an auxiliary consciousness. The person would then be able to better process data, analyse their body and surroundings. This contraption was grafted to a Mind-Bane Parasyte, which would find a human to invade and implant the system. The current host, you, is now fully integrated with the system, and has successfully developed an initial auxiliary consciousness. The words you now hear and see are the interface of this consciousness.]
“Darkstone Kingdom? Mind-Bane parasite?” he questioned with fright “Then, now I’m infected?”
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[ Darkstone Kingdom was a once supreme organization of a place far away from here. It had many strong participants and specialists in discovering and producing techniques, constructs and all other types of technologies. ]
[ The Mind-Bane parasite is an ancient organism that once terrorized the same region of Darkstone. It is originally a plague that would infect and take control of intelligent organisms, spreading quickly. This specimen, though, was changed by a person of the Darkstone Kingdom. Its purpose was just to invade, integrate the host with the system, and then decompose.]
“So, I’m not going to die?”, asked the boy.
[ Host’s body has no apparent illness or other affliction, so you are not likely to die in a short period of time. The integration with the system has had no negative impacts on your health. ]
With the explanations, Loen was starting to calm down. After his parents died, he had to grow to become more rational and cold. At least, it seemed that no tragedy would take place, as he initially believed. So, now, was the time to understand more of what happened.
“How was I infected with this creature? And what is this Darkstone Kingdom’s objective with all this?”, asked Loen
[ The information the system has in storage is little. Apparently, for a successful integration with the parasite, it must contain as little excess data as possible. But, with the scarce bits of details the maker put in the device, it is possible to infer the organization was on the brink of extinction, and this endeavor was a last minute try to save a part from the group.
The egg with the creature was sent into the boundlessness of space and just randomly came to end up in this region. It was mixed within the bag of rice the user just bought today. As the system doesn’t have more extensive information about the Mind-Bane parasite, the reasons why it chose you as the host are still unclear]
“Now, basically, do you work as if you’re a person inside my head, then?”, he questioned.
[ With the seamless synchronization between the Unit and your brain, the system is actually a part of your mind now. It doesn’t work like an external entity. If a scan was performed on your head now, no abnormalities would be detected. ]
This reassured the boy about his initial fear of the control of his body being taken. Now, calmer and analysing the state of affairs, he was already starting to think about the possible advantages this fortuitous encounter could bring.
“Alright, I’m starting to understand the situation,” said Loen, “so, can you show me what you can actually do?”
[ The system has analysed all your memories and suggests that, for an initial demonstration, you take out your True Essence Refinement manual. Then, just flip through it until the end ]
The boy quickly went to fetch the book. It was hidden underneath the ground in a corner of the room, due to his caution of others wanting to steal it – too many had seen him receive it, and although they wouldn’t dare to openly rob a Church’s gift, a covert theft was still possible.
After getting it, Loen lost no time and rapidly flipped through it until the end. When he was done, he heard:
[ Content recording… complete. Beginning content analysis… Estimated time: 1 hour ]
“What does it mean?” asked Loen.
[ The notifications mean that the system has already stored all the content. Now, it is analysing all aspects of it. ]
“Then, this book, that I could barely understand even the beginning, is already memorized?” questioned him, surprised.
[ Correct. If the user so desires, he can now destroy the manual, sell it, or use to any other purpose ]
“Although it’s a book of the Time Dragon Church, maybe uncle Rollo, the merchant, has some ideas on where I could trade it” thought the youngster. “Now, I have to wait 1 hour to see what this so-called system can do with the information”.
“How can you respond to me normally even though you’re also analysing the book?” questioned Loen.
[ The system can do multiple tasks at once. For example, at this moment, besides processing the data, it is constantly monitoring your body and your surroundings.]
“This is like nothing I've ever seen before. It feels so marvelous, but dangerous at the same time", thought the boy.
Now, Loen waited with expectation what would happen once the timer ran out.
…
[ 20 minutes remaining ]
…
[ 10 minutes remaining ]
…
[5 minutes remaining ]
…
[1 minute remaining ]
[ Analysis complete ]
