*Mercury POV*
*Date: July 22nd, 2000*
*Location: London, England*
[Doorway of Janus]
As I said that, a blue rectangle engulfed me, sending me halfway across the room, which was about the size of a typical gym, perhaps a bit smaller. This particular spell came from the spatial magecraft section I picked out; it essentially allowed for short bursts of movement. Not exactly like teleportation, but rather a series of rapid movements you both take and don't at the same time.
"This could have some interesting applications, but I wonder if it could be improved when used in tandem with the kaleidoscope."
"No, at that point I essentially would just be traveling via parallel world lines, most likely making it appear instant when in reality, it isn't." I stroked my chin while saying all this as I was surrounded by the now trashed training hall.
The whole place was damaged and needed some repairs if I said so myself, but it gave the place more character... that's a lie. The whole thing was essentially a mess, and I kind of went a bit too far in my magical training. Magecraft training is to be a bit more specific, as the few sigils were of similar results to runes, albeit with a bit more fluidity, if I were being honest.
This didn't mean I spent the last two days simply training, no, I got to work gathering information, and whilst there were no visible signs of Crimson Moon, I knew they were out here. The Dead Apostles, however, were already at work with a few being captured or killed by the capes of this world. It was impressive, however, these were probably on the lower tier, perhaps even newly turned or ghouls, their creator wanted to rampage about for some reason.
During my deep dive into the internet, I was able to identify three transmigrated individuals. The first one was a man, well, more like a robotic humanoid with the mind of another me, calling himself Vulcan, who had started his own company using a fusion of technology from Dead Space and Cyberpunk. Apparently, he had arrived one year prior to me, and had begun selling cybernetic parts to people alongside the various tools from Dead Space, like the power armor Isaac used.
There were even talks, or rather rumors of him building large-scale space vessels, but the odds of that being true were rather low. Not because I didn't think he could do it, but rather it would take years to do so, alongside the assembly of other types of technology first to get it started. Honestly, he might have added a few more things to his build, but the one I did was more long-term than anything else.
The next two were more possibilities rather than definitive ones, the first being a speedster in Japan or whatever remained of it. She went around calling herself The Flash, with her most noticeable feature being the streaks of yellow lightning that followed behind her, probably used a DC-based CYOA, or perhaps it was just a random individual gifted the powers of The Flash or another version of them anyway. Either way, both Vulcan and Flash are excellent possibilities when it comes to allies; the only problem came with the third individual.
This one was more of your classical transmigration, with them appearing in Brocktin Bay yesterday, I believe, but already making waves. This man no thing would be more applicable were a serial killer, a man who strung up the corpses of people with blonde hair, menaing he was no friend of the Empire. His abilities, though, were the most troubling thing about him as far as I could tell; he was more shard-based, more specifically, he was a classic case-53.
People were calling him Fenrir, mostly because he was a gigantic humanoid wolf with potential ratings in Brute, Mover, and some even saying Changer. The first two had more evidence to work on because he was able to move extremmly fast and rip apart a human being with ease, as seen on video. The only reason people were saying he had a Changer rating was because of his werewolf aesthetic. So, of course, they speculated with not one person agreeing on where they end up, numbers-wise.
Of the three individuals, this one was the most mentally unstable, as the obsession with blond hair could be something he had in his previous life, or perhaps a specific drawback added to them. Alongside this would be the way they act, the beastly aura I could feel from the other side of the screen, the wya it moved spoke of battling wills. One of the human who wished to regain control over their body, alongside the beast inside, screaming to let loose. The only problem, though, was that in some key moments did both united as one.
More specifically, when they are about to kill someone, no matter if they were a civilian, a cape, or whatever else, they take their time. They took their pleasure in it, in the act of killing itself, at least from the bits of information I could glean. Honestly, it was horrifying to think about as the PRT or any of the local capes were unable to catch him due to his speed, which was far more impressive than his strength.
"Vulcan, Flash, and Fenrir, these three are the most likely to be the other transmigrated people, with the first one being almost a guarantee." I said as I began to make my way out of the training room, done for the day, and wanting to relax a little.
"Now the only question that remains would be if they are the only ones, or are more on their way, simply arriving at a different point than the rest of us." Walking through the library, I had grown used to the place, while it wasn't yet my home, the place was starting to feel like my own.
"Although if the diverse set of abilities and expertise is anything to go off of, I may be in for a surprise in the future." I eventually reached my chair and sat down in it, grabbing the sigil book I had placed by it so that I could continue reading/studying it.
"Perhaps, though it would be time to go outside and instead study the environment better, get a feel for the local Cape scene, see what I'm working with." Did I feel bad looking at these people like they were pieces, yes, but I too was one as well.
I am not arrogant enough to believe that my choices from that CYOA led to this reality's birth, but rather it was simply one amongst thousands already. Perhaps I was simply chosen alongside others to give this reality its best chance at living. Taylor Herbet would be enough if this world followed its original storyline, but unfortunately, with the added elements, that's impossible, so whatever god or whatever thing ruled over who knows what probably simply wanted the mortals to solve this problem and have this world survive for some reason.
"Am I a simple pawn like everyone else? Doom to play a part in some greater being's great plan, or is it simply providing this world a chance, a chance to survive through us, and it would be our choice whether or not to do so?" I asked as I read through the sigil book, talking to myself as I had no one else to converse with.
"No matter though, this world is one I live in now and it would be cruel not to help fight to the fullest extent of my capabilities, even if I am a pawn."
"Yet I still find this whole thing fascinating. Is it possible that with the transmigration and implementation of knowledge came a personality shift?"
"Am I still me, or did I simply change in one fell swoop, but still retaining key parts of my personality?"
"Memory is one's foundation when it comes to their personality, it shapes who they are and who they will become like myself, I wander if the others will feel like this or if other reincarnated, transmigrated, or any of the other ocuntless indidvuals who find themselves far from home with new memories feel about this?"
"Do they question themselves or do they live their lives believing themselves to still be...them?" Sighing, I flipped ot the last page of the book, having fully studied the rest of it and wanting to move on to another book.
On the last page, it spoke about how sgils like language can be shifted and molded over time, their meanings can change, and the way the words are used can change depending on the person. It was an interesting bit, and it may be something else that was different from runes, whose language and meaning were more set in stone.
"An interesting topic to think about, if language can be molded to suit one's purpose, then I suppose the same is true for one's memories and mind, perhaps it is simply the same thing as one living and gaining new memoires, with personality being shfted over time as one lives, one epxeirences the world."
Clsoing the book I looked up at the ceiling.
"Perhaps it is time I start living."