Symbiota Sapiens

Chapter 4

After he finishes, Julian finally dozes off and I'm left stuck with my unresponsive body and wide-awake brain.

What to do? Am I going to be like this until morning? A man could go mad this way.

I extend my senses to my friend. I can hear his heartbeat and the whooshing of air in and out of his lungs. If I concentrate I can hear his blood running through his body.

Okay, this is getting old. What do I do with myself now?

Obvious.

The Symbiotic Web wraps around my mind as I reach for it.

Okay, I've been in two battles so far. The first I lost control of my powers and killed someone. The second I was hopelessly outclassed by immortals far beyond my powers.

Powers.

What had David said?

Applications of knowledge through the Esseren. Time to work on that.

First I'm going to need some help.

I reach for the computer function I encountered earlier for that brief terrifying second.

Gingerly.

I don't want to lose my sanity. There it is, I address it in my mind, forming my thoughts into commands.

:Search: Esseren version 1403.0, a User's Guide for New Guardians

The reply was instant.

::Object found, downloaded on Day 43, Quarter 2, Year 15038::

I decided to think about that odd date, especially the year, later on.

:Load manual:

The ugly green room appears again, as well as the three old men.

Before they can say anything I'm querying the computer telepathically.

:Indicate the functional purpose of three avatars in the manual:

::The purpose is to adhere to a style reminiscent of the traditional induction ceremony of new Guardians in the first Citadel Atlantis. When Esseren was integrated into Guardian equipment, the manual was constructed with a visual interface that would be both familiar and authoritative to maximize effectiveness.::

:Please note, in all future representations or avatars, if they are constructed to take advantage of cultural archetypes, that I am not a representative of ancient Atlantaean culture and will therefore gain maximum benefit if representations reflect archetypes specific to my personal experiences.:

::So noted. Indicate preference for adaptation of this scenario to your personal experiences?::

:Yes. And all future scenarios unless such adaptation would lessen the effectiveness.:

The green room disappeared and was replaced with a classroom.

Specifically, my original first-grade classroom, complete with my first grade teacher Miss Parkinson.

Interesting.

Miss Parkinson looked up from her desk, where she was applying star-stickers to papers, and smiled warmly at me.

"Jeremey, I'm glad you've already learned to use the computer functions of the Symbiotic Web! And making custom modifications to your manual, that's really quite extraordinary."