章 1: Setting up the Board
Note: This is a more realistic AU, so expect OOC in accordance with that AU.
Note 2.0: I have now started updating things like grammar so that it doesn't hurt the eye to read. This means that if you see a sudden drop in quality, know that I'm working on it!
As per usual with edits, you will find that all previous comments have been deleted because of course they have.
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Science, the rules by which humanity functions.
Technology, the application of science.
In history, those who ignore the progress of science and technology are doomed to fail.
Before the proliferation of gunpowder, tribes in Africa were actually winning against their European colonizers.
However, the advent of gunpowder and industrialization brought such a large gap that the warriors belonging to those natives were completely slaughtered before they could even reach the enemy.
The story is the same in the East, where the belief in cycles was high, and so, they viewed the changes coming from the West as nothing more than a faze, a temporary spike before the return to the natural order. In fact, there was this one time when the British actually tried to give China technology like guns and such, only for the Emperor to refuse.
The Century of Humiliation was the result of China being unwilling to industrialize, making the nation unable to compete against the European superpowers.
Science is the master key.
Science is the answer that'll solve all our problems.
Science-
My internal ramblings were cut off when I felt a stab behind me as I entered the office.
"Ahhh...." The sound died in my throat.
Today was supposed to be a good day when I finally got that promotion and climbed the corporate ladder to the position of Vice-President.
How could I just die!?
I fell face down on the floor, unable to move as the coldness spread. Unable to even look at my attacker. The feeling of injustice bloomed inside my mind.
I'd read somewhere that it takes a long time for a person to actually bleed out unless the wound nicked a major blood vessel, like an artery on the thighs.
I tried to move my hand to no avail.
God damn it, I had to die like this!? I didn't even manage to fund any scientific progress!
<<[Business Intuition] gained.>>
And the wonders of science...Oh, I bet had this been 30 years from now I would easily survive a stab wound no problem!
<<Unique Skill [Eternal Youth] gained>>
<<[Scientific Intuition] gained.>>
<<[Stab Resistance] gained.>>
I cried out silently at the injustice done to me, at how basic the science of today is, at how people are so engrossed with their daily lives as to not even bother planning for the future. To be content with their monotone life, to be content with Modernity.
<<[Silenced emotion] gained.>>
<<Unique Skill [Guide to Victory] gained.>>
My biggest regret is not being able to see humanity go to the stars, to become a technological utopia.
<<[Scientific Intuition], upgraded to Unique Skill [Inspired Inventor].>>
I...refuse...to...go out like...this!
Not like this!
Never...like this!
Please...any...thing...but this...
<<[Eternal Youth], transformed into [Homunculus Physiology].>>
<<[Homunculus Physiology] transformed into [Superior- Error, [Perfect Homunculus Physiology] gained.>>
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I woke up, like waking from a deep slumber.
Immediately, I took in a heavy gasp of air as I hurriedly touched where I had just been stabbed mere moments ago. Instead of depression or linear hole reminiscences of a knife wound, I found smooth skin, unnaturally smooth skin. It's like touching polished marble, or even the surface of a frozen lake, it's so smooth that it feels like someone could skate on it.
What happened?
I looked around at my surroundings, a...cave? Interesting, yet that raises the question of how did I get here?
And more importantly, why am I here?
My hands looked like that of a doll's, I noted, and I was naked. I distinctly remember wearing a three-piece suit for the day of my promotion.
Taking in a breath of air, it felt very damp, so there was likely a source of water nearby.
I really hope it's not still water.
I got up with the intent to explore the area, only to immediately step on what felt like soft jelly.
A shout of surprise and stumbling backward later, my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness of the cave, thankfully.
I saw a blue...blob-like creature.
I was instantly reminded of the horror movie trope where the characters bring in a seemingly harmless object (like a doll) only for it to bite them in the back.
Wetting my lips, dry with nervousness, I quietly crept out of the area, not wanting to doom myself to another unwanted surprise. The Afterlife is already enough for one day.
Placing a hand over my naked form, I pondered the key question, what am I? I have no form of identification through just looking at external organs- My chest is flat, the extremities that should've been there aren't, and I feel no obvious muscle nor any genitals to distinguish between male or female. Moreover, no humans should be able to see so well in the dark as to-
I felt five sparks within me, like a constellation of five stars guiding me toward home. My gut feeling is telling me I should extinguish the five stars— charges. This gut feeling felt extremely similar to a deja vu feeling. It's a guide telling me a way to victory.
So I acted according to that feeling and reached for a single spark. As I extinguished it, I couldn't help but think of cavemen, and in response, the charge went into [Primitive Weapons]. Instantly my mind, for lack of a better word, expanded. It...the feeling was like when as a child you found a new hobby or game and you just had to play with it. I looked at the rocks and found myself drawn to them like a moth to a flicker of flame.
I picked up one about the size of my palm and looked at it.
Nothing special yet, I knew I could make a weapon out of it, a rather primitive one but a weapon to defend me in this cave nonetheless.
I let my intuition guide me, and performed a miracle. It is a miracle because quite frankly: no ordinary beings can create an extremely sharp knife with only their hands.
I looked at my hands in wonder and amazement, perhaps even a hint of pride. I had been able to create a knife in mere minutes that would've taken master craftsman weeks to properly prepare from a single random stone I found off the ground. I can't exactly see the knife's color, most likely due to the cave's darkness. The knife's length is a little bit smaller than my forearm, made out of interlocking pieces with the cutting edge formed from two of the lengthiest pieces.
The knife, when thrown, will proceed to come apart and slash the target like a shotgun shell.
Now armed, I placed three charges into [Martial Arts].
"—!"
Which made my mind explode from the sheer amount of styles I made up right there on the spot, each more dangerous than the last.
Rubbing my forehead, my smooth skin ensuring that there wouldn't be too much redness, I now knew over 300 ways to kill a man in under 20 seconds, hell, 48 ways under 5.
My lack of an emotional response to the dangerous knowledge was...concerning? Refreshing? Liberating?
I really don't know, perhaps a mixture of the three?
"How...quaint..." my voice is unnaturally smooth, like silk in audible form. It sounds neither feminine nor masculine, it's...somewhat unnatural. It is uncanny, creepy even, like an alien entity trying to emulate the voice of a human without knowing the concept of gender…
Well, that was going to bite me in the future.
Placing the remaining charge into [Cave Exploration], I went off to explore, to see where I could leave.
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AN: I really hate the new tag system, it's so restrictive it's not even funny.
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