Now that's more like it," he said as he relaxed into the bed and grabbed his pillow.
Ding
"Oh, that's true; now let's see what you guys have for me," David said as he picked up his phone and began going through the comments.
After reading for some time, he began to notice a pattern. Many people, just like him, preferred the technological route. Though their methods differed later on, many of them still chose to edit their phones, computers, or whatever was available at the moment in the first month.
"It's pretty obvious what I have to do then, but these are some really great ideas." David noted as he picked up his notebook from last night to write down all the ideas he found interesting.
"Hmm, I don't think losing my humanity is the way to go about this. Well, at least for now, but that is an interesting method," David thought when he came across a comment.
The user commented that he will edit a small pack of drugs into some sort of elixir or serum that grants Kryptonian powers or will give him Kherubim-like abilities. David appreciated the method of editing, but the kryptonian or kherubim transformation part he didn't appreciate for now. He will eventually, when he knows exactly what sort of event he will be dealing with.
Under said comment was a comment chastising the user on the fact that they could just create a drug to cure COVID. It was an excellent idea, but exactly how does he bring it out? COVID was a bad thing, but there were definitely some people in high places who benefited from it. He didn't have the ability to go against such people yet, so that was out of the question.
"My phone it is then," David said as he picked up his phone and the book and began going through everything he had thought of the day before, and just the first line alone had given him ideas. Crazy and incredibly ridiculous ideas.
========
Editable Object: Vivo Y15s Description:
A device produced by the Vivo company. It possesses a 2.3 Hz Octa-core processor and 3 GB of RAM...
==========
Seeing the familiar window, David tapped on it and immediately began editing. The main goal here was to edit the phone into a device with unparalleled processing power and unlimited storage that is basically indestructible. A device that would allow him to do as he liked.
=======
Editable Object: Vivo Y15s?
Durability: ???
Description:
A device created by the Editor. A device capable of untold things, possessing an unquantifiable amount of processing power, unlimited storage, and other unknown capabilities Features:
Nous: An Artificial intelligence that has received the permission of the Akashic Record. It possesses all knowledge known to the record
Life bringer: grants eternal life to whoever equips the device.
Never Lost: It will always return to its owner if lost or misplaced.
As a creation of the editor, the device and all its components are fiercely loyal to the Editor. Any attempts at insubordination shall result in automatic deletion from reality.
Permanent form: Ring
Cost: 20 years.
=======
He knew he was biased towards his already selected path despite the hundreds of options online but as the one with the ability to change anything. No one ever said he had to limit himself.
With a single edit he could solve two problems that plagued him, Lack of information and the lifespan tax. Nous as the Artificial Intelligence was called was to be a being that had access to the omniscient knowledge within the Akashic Record.
He didn't know if the record existed or not but he was sure that if it didn't, it definitely will after his edit was made.
"20 years?" David stated this while looking at the cost of editing.
He wasn't one bit surprised that it would cost him that much; in fact, David had expected the cost to be higher considering that the features of the new device wouldn't just give him an Omniscient Slave. It will also grant him immortality.
Without any hesitation and with a wide smile on his face, David clicked the 'Accept' icon as he felt something leave his body. He felt as though someone had sucked away all the energy in his body, and he immediately fell on his bed.
Though all the energy or stamina in him was lost, he didn't lose consciousness; he simply lay there and watched as the phone floated into the air by some magical means and everything... Every single thing within view slowly came to a halt.
The ceiling fan froze, and the dust particles that were usually too fast for the naked eye to see even under direct sunlight now stood completely still. It was weird, but it was what it was; the only things moving were possibly him, the phone, which had been disassembled, and possibly photon particles since he could still see.
The disassembled phone slowly melted into some black liquid-like substance and began squirming around as it assumed form after form and continued changing until it finally settled on a ring shape. His phone had somehow turned into a ring.
"Well, that's not what I expected," David thought as he looked at the ring, which looked a bit too normal for his liking.
As soon as the ring was fully formed, the environment returned to normal, the blades of the ceiling fan began to move again, and the frozen dust particles in the ray of sunlight began to move again. Everything was back to normal.
The ring in question slowly flew into David's finger, and almost immediately he felt life return to his body again as he immediately sat up properly on his bed. The extreme fatigue he once felt was miraculously nowhere to be seen.
"Am I really allowed this sort of power?" David said it out loud as he looked at his body over and over again.
It had cost him twenty (20) years of his life, but he now had immortality and an A.I. that would probably make it seem as though he had some sort of easier start compared to the others. Turning to his mirror, David looked at himself to see if there were any changes, and surprisingly, there were none.
"Wait? Doesn't this make removing the ring my weakness?" David reasoned, as he admired the ring.
A thought made him want to test out what would happen if he removed the ring, would he return back to how he once was or he would just stop being immortal.
It was a worthy experiment to carry out but it was something that concerned his life, he didn't like such stupid gambles. The good thing though was that the ring looked ordinary so he doubted that anyone would have a reason to remove it from him.
"At least I know it will always return to me if misplaced," David thought as he began to examine the ring.
There was really nothing abnormal about the ring. It looked just like a normal ring, and it felt like one too, even on his finger, which also led to the problem he was facing now. How to activate the ring?
"Activate!" David shouted while striking a pose.
He immediately covered and hid his face from the mirror after such a shameful act, but was still happy he did it anyway. Who didn't want to become a power ranger?
[Welcome]
A massive screen suddenly appeared before him, with the words written in bold and spread across it. David, seeing the screen, jumped in surprise but calmed down almost as quickly.
He reached out to touch the screen, but he couldn't feel its presence in the space before him. His hand just passed right through the screen, blinking, and the screen disappeared. When he rubbed his eyes to see if he was seeing things or not, the screen reappeared.
"Wait? Is this augmented reality?" David asked, noticing how somewhat familiar the screen and situation were. With that thought in mind, David hoped to interact with the screen, and surprisingly, his finger didn't pass through this time; instead, he managed to tap on the 'next' icon on the screen.
[Would you like to proceed with calibration and tutorials?] The second screen read, and David clicked on 'Yes'
In doing so, David began going through a series of tests to calibrate his eye and hand movements with the ring's system. It took him through a regular set of screens that basically everyone with a phone or a VR headset had done before.
There was truly nothing special about it; however, David noticed something even before calibration. The ring was already way too good at tracking his movement; it had literally performed according to his intentions just now. In simple terms, the ring was incredibly easy to use.
"Well, the measure of any advanced technology is how easy it is to use," David thought as he gave a shrug and then focused back on the screens.
With the tutorial done, David was faced with a standard home screen. His wallpaper was still the same. It was underwhelming, but then again, he didn't edit the phone for this part. He edited it for something else.