Fourty Milleniums of Technology

Support my contracted main novel and winner of Writing Prompts #26 - The Legendary Mage!

Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!

https://www.webnovel.com/book/12013957905760805/Desolate-Mage%3A-A-Legend-Reborn!

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"Cutting short the inheritance process... Beep. Approved!"

"Assigning tier 1 inheritance rights... Beep. Approved!"

"Providing meal... Beep. Denied. Administrator rights insufficient; require completion of inheritance to order food. Beep. Sorry."

"Please step forward and enter the inheritance capsule, the full inheritance will be given to you in a short amount of time."

"Will there be food...?"

"Erm... Beep. Yes...? Beep."

"Okay!"

Sweating at the nonsensical exchange taking place before him, peppered with countless contradictions and incredulous statements, Albert held up a hand to ask just one question.

"How long is a short amount of time...? Can it be shortened further...?"

"A short amount of time is roughly 1.7 years. Beep. Yes, it can be shorted to an hour if we leave out the history of the past 40 thousand years. Shall I skip those portions? Please be warned that the process cannot be interrupted once begun. Beep."

"Please, shorten the time." He felt cold sweat gush down his body and dizziness wash over him. What a close shave! He had nearly been trapped here for a further year and a half! Unacceptable! Crazy!!!

"Shortening... Beep. Approved!"

"Beginning inheritance process."

The altar moved aside, releasing grinding sounds and a cloud of choking dust as it moved heavily. They could feel the rumbling of the ground under their feet as the process took place over 5 seconds.

In its place, a tubular, glass-walled capsule rose up from the hole in the ground. It was quite large, easily able to fit 5 Alberts or 11 Sam's - stacked up on each other, that is.

Sam merrily waltzed over and stood inside, shivering a little as the air within was cold and chilly.

Then she waited as the voice began a countdown.

"Tier 1 inheritance recipient, please standby for inheritance process to begin shortly in 3,600, 3,599, 3,598, 3,597, 3,596,..." Albert face-palmed himself, squatting and sighing as the cat beside him accompanied him in weeping at the borderline insane scenarios they had faced one after another.

[59 minutes, 56 seconds of countdown later]

Three dozing sounds were heard. One human, one cat and one robotic voice.

"Kringgggg!!!!!" An alarm clock sounded, ringing loudly over the sound system, waking Albert, Snowie and the female-voiced announcement person up. Sam was still standing blankly, unable to sleep due to hunger.

"Yawn....! 4... 3... 2... 1... Beep. Beginning the inheritance process."

The capsule door swung closed, and the insides began to fill up with an opaque, thick white mist. Slowly, a milky liquid inundated the interior of the capsule, giving off an icky, gross and warm feeling wherever it touched Sam's body.

"Smells really nasty!" Sam exclaimed. Albert tried not to let his mind wander to any other white coloured, gooey fluids that smelled very strong, then was dumbfounded when he heard her add.

"Yup! Tastes just as bad as it smells! Oh... Oh... Oh no!!! It's rising up to my glrllg-ffllgrgg--"

She was still trying to talk through the liquid...

Albert ignored her mumbling sounds. What he was worried about was whether the inheritance process was suitable for organisms that required oxygen to breathe, and didn't have the benefit of lungs. However, his worries were soon allayed by the voice.

"Fear not, if she dies during the inheritance process, she will be resurrected by our top-notch technology. Beep. Why, it is so good quality, it is -- Beep. Denied. Administrator rights insufficient; require completion of inheritance in order for resurrection process. Beep. Sorry..."

But the voice quickly continued, reassuring the slack-jawed Albert, Snowie and Sam.

"Beep. I was just joking. Beep."

"...." The man and cat, now good buddies, exchanged a glance of ridicule.

"Beep. The liquid contains extremely high content of oxygen, and will not block the lungs."

'Hmm. Okay then.'

"However, apologies as it also tastes quite bad due to the ingredients which make it very high in proteins."

"....." He choked a little and tasted stomach acids. It was a good thing he didn't have any food in his stomach to regurgitate. Nasty.

Once the milky white liquids filled the capsule to the brim, an incandescent white beam of light radiated onto the apparatus with a buzzing sound. They could feel the previously cool capsule begin to heat up under the rays of light, condensing water vapour on its surface which quickly turned to steam.

Albert hoped that Sam's heat resistance would be enough to withstand this... How long was the process going to take, anyway?

* * * * *

[Sam's Point of View]

Floating in white, milky darkness.

Surprisingly she could breathe easily - not obstructed at all.

The murky liquid turned out to be like air as it entered her mouth, nose and lungs!

She began to feel a crawling sensation all over, even as needle pricks assaulted her mind. But it was not unbearable - the pain and pressure when she had leveled up and unlocked the first "seed" within her body were far, far worse.

She quietly drifted in the capsule, feeling her body absorb some of the nutrients. Just a little, not much - as if she were already "full" and not able to take in any more.

Then she heard a voice in her mind.

'Beginning memory transfer...'

A flood of thoughts, scenes, pictures, words...

Tastes, tactile sensations, the skin of a green-skinned baby, the unbearable cold of a desolate planet ravaged by interstellar war...

A tempestuous explosion ripping to shreds the fabric of the universe itself. The detonation of countless suns at the centres of innumerable solar systems.

A civilisation ended, collapsing due to the other-universe invaders.

A barren galaxy, empty and devoid of life... Except for one ship.

A tiny, small ship only big enough for 20 people - but with only 2 people within, and a baby.

Traveling through the space and void... Then it was blank. Static.

A new flood of information gushed into her mind, numbers, terms, biology, statistics, history... All things which her shrimp brain could not retain.

Within a short moment, the memory transfer ended.

Then the prickling and itchy sensation all over her body ceased as well.

The voice in her mind returned.

'Error... Host's genetic patterns exceed the limits recorded in the available access level. Requesting highest database access... Granted.'

'Error... Host's genetic patterns exceed the limits recorded in all recorded databases. Unable to conduct enhancement process to gene structure of "Wyrm at the End of the Far". Aborting...'

"???"

Then the liquid began to drain away. Soon she was uncovered, oddly, her hair was not even wet, nor did any of the fluids remain on her - it evaporated away like dry ice, leaving wisps of smoke.

The moment she stepped out, her stomach growled.

"Can we go now...? It's long past meal time..." Her expression darkened, and even the female-voiced announcement's non-existent heart skipped a beat. A hungry Sam spelled only one thing.

Danger.