"Hello, Elliot. I am Michael."
"Uhhhh…" I stared speechlessly at the bracelet on my wrist, the source of the deep yet inviting voice. "Hi… Michael."
The voice didn't respond immediately, giving me enough time to get my bearings. This recent development, one of many actually, was a welcome one, but things were moving way too fast.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," came the voice again.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This shit was actually happening, whether I liked it or not. There was no turning back now or skirting around the issue. Fuck.
Ignoring the urge to find out how long I'd been out, I sat up in the bed and responded, "....Nice to meet you too."
"You're put off by me," the voice said without hesitation.
"Well…"
"I'm a piece of code living in a tiny bracelet around your wrist. If I were in your shoes I think… I'd be unsettled too."
That wasn't the whole thing but sure.
"Heh…" I chuckled almost uncomfortably. "Sorry. It's just… this… you, it all came out of nowhere. I thought I was…"
Another bout of silence ensued, and I used that time to go over the descriptions that came with the strange message and perks I received—damn it, how long ago was it?
Giving the small entirety of my studio apartment a quick, sweeping glance, I stopped on the small couch pressed against the right wall and shimmied off the bed, throwing off the thick covers.
How I got under them I don't even remember. As soon as my feet touched the ground and I stood upright, the physical changes and the weird situation with the sheets made themselves known to me.
With an arm impressively toned and more muscled than before, I reached behind me and grabbed the blanket sticking to my back, all the while trailing my eyes down my chest, abdomen and other arm, drinking in the sight male strippers and fitness gurus would bite their fists at.
The clinginess of the cloth snapped me out of it quickly though, and I focused my full efforts on pulling it off, strengthening my grip but dialing it back down immediately when I recalled I could lift cars now.
Even then, this forceful attempt failed spectacularly as the blanket captured my offending hand as well, sticking to my palm like it had been welded to it.
"I've seen this before," I muttered to myself, recalling the various spider movies I'd watched. "All the spider guys go through it."
"Are you referring to your inability to get the blankets off of you?"
I jolted, heart stopping for a moment as I instantly zeroed in on my wrist. I forgot about this guy. Damn it.
"...Yes, Michael," I said and closed my eyes, picturing a candle flame while I briefly debated telling him everything. "I got powers… and I'm having some difficulty controlling them."
"Perhaps, focus and control of your emotions is the key."
"That's what I'm trying to do," I muttered with my eyes still closed.
Following the instructions that had been ingrained in me with the arrival of my abilities, I did the mental equivalent of tossing every distracting thought and emotion into the orange candle flame and waited.
Like a vacuum, the flame responded to my desire and sucked everything I "threw" into it and even more. At the exact moment nothing but pure focus and singular will remained, the soft, cloth sensations on my hand and back disappeared.
Not only was this first attempt at consciously using one of my newly gained powers a success, it was also an additional piece of evidence that I didn't hallucinate the message and the juicy descriptions that came with it.
"It worked," I said while looking around my apartment with my new eyes, or to be more precise, my new, sharpened brain, reminding myself that the brighter and clearer picture was my perception of things, not actual reality.
"I am pleased to be of assistance," Michael said, managing to sound like it too.
Everything looked and felt different. Not bad different though, just… distant. Even the way I bent down to pick the portion of the blanket on the ground. It felt so… smooth, so graceful, so free, like I couldn't make a mistake even if I tried.
It felt like I could fly, and not in a hyper excited, I'm on zoomies sort of way. It was more like floating on clouds, in an endless sky watching distant mountains with snow capped peaks.
Bringing my attention to the small portion of the blanket in my grip, I imagined my hand sticking to it and waited to feel something different.
Nothing jumped out to my senses apart from the soft feel of the cloth. It seemed there was no special sensation that accompanied the use of wallcrawling.
So as a simple test, I opened my hand, and lo and behold, the blanket or to be more accurate, my hand, stuck to it and kept it aloft. Nodding at the sight, I cancelled the effect in my imagination and the blanket fell with a soft shuffle that same instant.
I stared at my open hand, clenching and unclenching it for a few seconds before directing my attention to the reason I got off the bed. Quickly reaching the couch, I carefully grabbed my phone and used the barest amount of strength to turn on the screen.
5:04 AM.
"I've been asleep for 12 hours?"
"My internal chronometer concurs. Records show I came online 12 hours, 5 minutes, and 39 seconds ago."
I had chatted with A.I.s before, and that was probably the problem I had with this situation. According to the description that came along with Michael, he was an Artificial Intelligence alright, but one who was simultaneously his own person while also specifically tailored to me.
And if the little nuggets I'd been getting from him since I woke up were valid, he was supposed to be my confidant, a friend and a partner whom I could tell any and everything.
"Michael?"
"How may I be of assistance?"
"What are your functions?"
"If you are referring to my design parameters, then I am whatever you need and want me to be. If you mean my 'powers,' they are interfacing, data storage, and analysis. I can connect to computers to use them and also perceive the world through your senses, allowing me to assist in any endeavours you might engage in."
Basically what the description said. No matter. Spider Sense was part of the spider powers package. If it was dangerous to tell him something, it would prompt me. If it didn't, it was cool all the same.
Plopping my ass on the couch, I debated where to start from and decided that the very beginning was the best place. Worst comes to worst, he's still stuck in the bracelet. I can melt him down if something happens.
"Mike. Can I call you Mike?"
"I have no problem with that. But what do I call you?"
"I'm Elliot. Elliot Rath. I guess reintroductions are in order then. Nice to meet you Mike."
"The pleasure is mine, my friend."
I cocked my eyebrow at that bit but refrained from commenting, and instead proceeded to tell him about how I ended up here in DC, on the Young Justice earth of all places, instead of the MCU.
It came as a bit of a surprise to me when I couldn't stop spilling my guts after I started. Turns out I had a lot to get off my chest. Though the candle flame keeping me centered helped ease my anger a great deal.
"So the entity tricked you?"
"Yeah," I said, noting the distinct lack of heat in my voice.
"Do you know why?"
"Other than the fact that he thought it'd be funny? I can't think of anything else."
"You've been referring to the entity as a he. Do you perhaps know him, or did you recognize his face?"
I paused at the sudden tangent and thought about it, forehead creasing as I slowly leaned back into the couch.
It then dawned on me, "Uhhh, I don't think so. I didn't actually see them. Matter of fact, now that I think about it, I can't remember anything apart from the words we exchanged. Huh… weird."
Mike took a second to respond. "From your description of events, he, she, or it, is most likely a higher dimensional entity. Your human mind likely could not process what it was perceiving. Your exchange must've been facilitated by its abilities."
This guy. "Gee, thanks."
"You're welcome."
"I was being sarcastic." I rolled my eyes. 'You're welcome he says.'
"And I was being candid."
Letting out a quick, shocked laugh, I stared at my wrist for a few seconds and shook my head in disbelief. I opened my mouth but stopped halfway, the "you're real cheeky for an A.I." dying in my throat.
From the information that came along with Michael and the bracelet he inhabited, he was, in all respects, a person. A digital person made of letters, numbers, and symbols, but one nonetheless. Treating him any other way was a no go for me.
"Elliot?"
"Yeah?" I blinked a few items and looked at my wrist. "Sorry. My mind went elsewhere. What were we talking about?"
"I believe we just finished the portion of the story where you woke up in the motel."
"Right, yes. Let's continue. So, I woke up in a motel, with a driver's license, some other credentials, and a thousand dollars in a wallet. I don't even like wallets."
"Okay… where was this?"
"Washington DC. The room had been paid for a month. I stayed there for three weeks, and nothing happened in all that time."
"You must've been bored."
"Not really. The TV was on when I woke up, and it showed news of Superman saving some workers from a nuclear reactor meltdown. I've never felt so mad. I was supposed to join SHIELD. Not end up in the universe where the villains always win because of the writers."
"..."
"You don't like this world very much."
"I don't, but that's a conversation for another time. Besides, complaining never solves anything."
"... Let's move on then."
"After I calmed down from the fit, I just turned to sulking, basically. The occasional seething about the trickery and the bouts of dread about the horrors I now shared a universe with also had their moments. But this was mostly the first week, when even going outside was a challenge.
At the start of the second week though I calmed down and thought things through, you know, came to terms with my situation and made plans. I needed a place to stay, a job, and training. A whole lotta training."
"Training? For what?"
"For any and everything. My memories about this world are no longer just snippets of a show. They are now future events that can and will take place. And I can't rely on the heroes to do everything."
"So the training is to become a superhero?"
"No. I'm going to be an agent. I'm going to build SHIELD from the ground up."
"..."
"An ambitious goal."
"Is that a lack of confidence I hear?"
"...Elliot, your goal… is admirable. But from what you described about SHIELD, their scope, reach, and sheer infrastructure and logistics, it seems like an impossible undertaking for one man to shoulder. Besides, I don't understand why you won't share what you know with the heroes. Even if they are as bad as you say they are, you could work with them to prevent at least one of the unfortunate events from happening right?"
I frowned and raised both eyebrows. Where was this guy getting his info?
"Uhhh… who said I haven't shared it with them? How do you think I got these abilities? How do you think I got you?"
"..."
"I apologize," Mike said in a voice that managed to sound small. "I had no idea,"
"Naah, it's cool. Like you said, you didn't know. If anything, it's my fault for not telling you beforehand."
"..Thank you."
"We good?"
"We're good. I will doubt you less from now on."
"Alright funny guy, let's get back on topic."
"We were talking about your abilities."
I couldn't keep the excitement out of my tone. "Yeah. Got some pretty nifty ones along with a message, or a notification more like it. Like the confirmation of a completed quest."
"Inform the Justice League of future events?"
"Yeah," I slowed, my voice going a notch fainter as suspicion brewed in my chest. "Exactly like that."
Now, I was excited, but not too excited to not notice how Michael's wording matched the message I got word for word. So far, the perks had proven themselves genuine, as seen with my wallcrawling, mind technique, and the A.I. confidant himself.
But I couldn't shake the feeling that the entity chose those words specifically to screw with me. Or maybe, I could just be imagining things. Shaking my head to rid myself of these useless thoughts, I focused on the conversation with my friend.
"So I am one of these abilities you received."
"Actually, it's two items and six abilities. The other item is, get this: a freaking island."
"That's… amazing."
"Right? And it can grow."
"...Maybe the entity is not as bad as we thought."
"Hey. Don't go switching sides the moment things get better."
"Isn't that… exactly what you're supposed to do?"
Completely taken aback, I blinked a few times and looked at the bracelet. This A.I. had no spine. "You know what, file that for later. We'll come back to it."
"Filed. Now the abilities. Can you tell me what they are?"
"Sure," I said and looked up while craning my neck. "Lemme just go over them… aannnd got it. The first one allows me to learn how machines work by simply examining them. The more time I spend with a device, the more I learn. Pretty underwhelming if you ask me.
For number two, I had to reread it a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Simply put, without my consent, nothing in existence can affect anything about me. I am immune to mind reading and a host of other copying, changing, or controlling effects.
You were the third item, and the fourth was the island.
For number five, I have a meditation-style ability that lets me toss my emotions, worries, and any distracting thoughts and sensations into a conjured mental representation of a real life item.
This cleans out my mind and puts me in a hyperaware state where I'm fast and ultra precise. If I had a gun, I am certain I could empty the mag into a single hole. The best part of it though is that I can grant this ability to anyone."
"..."
"I can see why you're so confident."
"Abilities or not, I was still going to try and recreate SHIELD, so it doesn't count."
"They've boosted your confidence though."
"That they did," I grinned. "Buckle your seatbelt, cause this is where things get crazy..."
"...Okay?"
'So even an A.I. can sound worried.'
"Unlike these five which are free according to the message, these three cost 1000 points in total. For 300 points, I am now a savant when it comes to making ridiculously smaller and more efficient versions of technology I come across. I can also understand code, go figure.
For another 300, I now have a sword made of my soul, sort of," I paused and held out an arm, and a not a second later, a giant sword competing with me in height and width appeared in my grip.
"It can cut through magic and psychic energy."
Noting how the gigantic Soulsword seemingly had no weight to it, I took in the white brilliance of its large blade and the thick black lines extending from the equally black hilt in stickman-like patterns along its length.
Gently waving the sword around, I observed how it made no sound despite its impressive size. Pleased with this short test, I dismissed it with a quick thought and focused back on the conversation, moving on to the ability that made me the most giddy out of all of them.
"For the last and most definitely not least of the abilities, the remaining 400 points got me the powers of the most popular hero back in my world, Spiderman. I can lift 10 tonnes, run faster than a speeding car, jump 3 storeys, and probably dodge bullets point blank.
What makes it even better than all the others though is Spider Sense. Simply put, it's an early warning system that makes it impossible for me to be caught off guard."