The AI’s data log

Riley is standing in the centre of the control room of an alien spaceship, carrying with him the burdens of Ruri.

Representing the spaceship’s AI, a holographic projection of a lovely Frawnian girl looks towards the new princess with a sadistic smile. This stark contrast gesture plastered onto her young, innocent looking face, sent a chill down Riley’s back. Reminding him how powerless he is in the face of this titanic spaceship AI.

Greeting, Human~ Please forgive my rude behaviour when we first met… you were the intruder after all. Anyway, allow me to properly introduce myself: my previous owner named me Shelly, the AI of this ship, and probably the most powerful AI in existence!” Shelly boastfully said. “Who are you? Oh! Not your new persona, but you.” The sensors within the room recording all movements and data from Riley, ready to capture any signs of dishonesty

Riley showed no hesitation, answering every question sincerely. The AI, Shelly nods in approval, now that it knows Riley can be better trusted.

“As you have probably guessed by now, that pile of dust over there used to be my previous owner and creator.” Still smiling, the AI refers to the charred and deformed corpse Riley had tried to move earlier.

Riley dared not interrupt the AI and could only listen as it continues talking as if liking its own voice.

“He was such an outstanding young scientist that his own world no longer possessed any mysteries or challenges for him. He made me, this spaceship, and put together a dream crew with beings at the peak of their field from different worlds. They explored planets, galaxies and even the multiverse, searching for eternal life and the ultimate source of power. Then, they found it…”

Approximately 1 year, 4 months, and 19 days ago. The ship was attempting an enormous hyper jump across the multiverse, the largest ever recorded. Its scale was so large that the crystallization of energy sent ripples of space for lightyears into its surroundings, distorting spacetime and existence itself.

However, an anomaly, so out of the specs of their knowledge caused the jump to fail. Many members of the crew were injured with several dead.

From the analysis of my data, a fracture in space was formed directly under the ship due to the collision of tremendous energy waves from a different plane with the engine’s. The ship crashed through a deep wormhole and arrived on the other side, containing an enclosed pocket of space, perfectly hidden from the rest of the universe.

Once they finished treating the injured and mourned the dead, they traced the source of the interference to a planet that left their jaws hanging in awe.

Frawnia – an ancient uncharted world containing an unfathomable **** called mana. Only few superior beings (sorcerers) can control it in the form of magic. Mana can cause new particles to appear out of nothing, disobey the laws of physics, and even greatly extend one’s lifespan - truly an omnipotent power. Natural mana generated a forcefield around the world, isolating it and the surrounding solar system from the rest of the universe. This prevented any external lifeforms from entering it.

The crew, hungry for knowledge, worked ceaselessly together; sent probes and conducted experiments to better understand this wonderful and mind-blowing source of new energy. They concluded that the only way to fully analyse it, they would have to cross to the other side of the forcefield. Meaning they would have to be one of the planet’s original species.

They all worked on a machine that could turn any being into a suit that once worn, their body would become entirely like the original’s. But just before the machine’s completion, disaster struck.

At first, a few of the crew showed signs of fever, but that quickly escalated into the vomiting of blood that spread to the rest of the crew. The cause was identified to be the contamination of mana inside the spaceship, even through the once-thought impenetrable walls of the spaceship, the mana built up inside their bodies and cooked them from inside out. With no cure for this, their only hope was to finish the skinsuit machine as soon as possible.

Although they worked at an unprecedented pace, they were not fast enough.

“My creator, the last of his crew, extracted a species with the highest capacity for magic power and made it into a skinsuit. Regretfully, before he could finish the bonding process… You know how it ended.” Reports Shelly the AI, showing no sign of sadness.

“So, you are saying I’m the first person to ever fully wear the skinsuit?”

“Positive.” Replies Shelly.

Having mixed feelings about being the AI’s lab rat but the determination to complete Ruri’s will, Riley decides to let it slide.

“Beep! Scanning complete. Host's body functioning properly. Circulation of mana detected. Recording data. You are now immune to the mana sickness. These are your current stats~”

A hologram of a box appears in front of Riley. On the left shows the rotating body of Ruri in extraordinary detail, and on the right are text set out in organised rows.

[Ruri Francis Albertine of Frawna (Riley Whitlock), Rank 1 sorcerer. Frawnian. Strength: 1.5, Agility: 2, Vitality: 1.5, Intelligence: 3, Mana: 2.5, Magic Power: 2.4 (Magic Power is in sync with Mana)]

*** Author's note ***

Oops... I got carried away with the AI part. （＞人＜；）Gonna have to push the body modifications forward a chapter.