The Golem Adventurer

Chapter 4 - Oracle

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My once grainy sight now showed a sharper image. On top of that, it now displayed a miniature HUD at the corner of my vision. Unit and Core Temperatures, Mana Levels and Reserves, the ambient temperature around me, the status of my body, It was like I was in a car seeing all these gauges. Not just that but my body feels... normal. Before it was like moving with weights on but now I could control my motions as easily as I did in as a human. But the biggest change was...

[Initial program boot confirmed. Greetings, I am an autonomous program installed into this unit designed to assist it's user.]

"Hold on, are you some kind of AI?"

[Correct. I am a built in digital database, capable of providing information on local flora and fauna. I also monitor and can modify this Unit's physical performance within varying degrees. This program can only make adjustments within safe parameters. Any adjustments made deemed unsafe must be approved by the Unit before proceeding.]

"Arlan! Are you alright? That burst of Mana you released! Who are you talk to!?" 

Tessa was going in a craze. Hina had left her place by the fire and squatted next to me, examining my person like I was a strange creature.

"H-hold on, Tessa! There's an AI going on talking in my head. I can barely think right now and your panicking is making it worse!"

I started waving her down, trying to get her to stop worrying about. She knelt down sharply on the grass and relaxed her body. The concern still didn't leave her face.

"What's an AI?"

I thought about the best way to explain it to  her.

"Like an... artificial spirit. Apparently this one is designed to assist me."

"You have a familial spirit then!? I've never heard of them attaching to someone who wasn't one of the races!"

She wasn't wrong with her assumption but I didn't want to spend time explaining computer programming to a person anymore than a scientist wants to explain quantum mechanics to a goldfish.

[Would you like a list of programs that are currently installed?]

Oh, why not? Go for it, I thought. At the very least, it responds to my thoughts so I don't talk to myself like a madman. A list of programs flash across my HUD. Threat Detection, Mana Manipulation, Computational Assistance. The list goes on. A few more programs catch my interest but the majority seem to just be background programs designed to monitor my body's performance. I feel like living bloatware. I wonder if I can get malware like this?

[It has been 7,346 Years, 9 months and 14 days since your last update. Would you like to check for updates to your current software?]

Jesus this thing is nagging me like a certain OS. Fine. Computer, check for an update.]

[Checking global database for latest software... failure. Retrying... failure.]

Did the Ancient Ones have a global network? Were they that advanced!? With their civilization down the crapper I wouldn't be surprised if any of their "servers" survived for this long.

[Warning: External connection attempt detected. Source unknown.]

Wait, what? Am I being hacked!?

[System Protection override command has been accepted. Confirmed: System Administrator acknowledged as a current user and given full administrative privileges. Connection to new database established. Files are now downloading... complete. Updating Unit database... complete.]