It took around ten minutes for the voice of the system to return.
During that time, Nickel pondered on the answers he'd received so far, as well as the many questions he now had.
Who placed the seal on him?
Who was Admin Dragon's Tooth?
Why did the system need admins, and how many were there?
Dragon's tooth kept saying she… was the system alive? Or had it been, at some point in time?
Despite all sorts of new issues these questions could bring, Nickel did learn one thing. He could get answers.
Well, assuming that Admin could be trusted. But the system didn't lie, so he was willing to trust them, for now.
Nickel had always tried to live up to the Silver name by growing stronger, in what little ways he could. Now he had even more of a reason to do so, as quickly as possible.
But before he could do that, he needed the unsealing process to finish. Speaking of…
[SYSTEM REBOOTED. BEGINNING DIAGNOSTIC… COMPLETE. IF USER NICHOLAS SILVER IS READY, THE UNSEALING PROCESS WILL CONTINUE]
"Go ahead."
[AFFIRMATIVE. AS THE CALCULATION TO DETERMINE CONVERSION RATE RESULTED IN TOTAL SYSTEM CRASH, AN ADMIN HAS DECIDED ON THE RATE OF CONVERSION]
"And what is the rate of conversion?"
[SKILL LEVELS WILL FIRST BE CONVERTED TO SKILL POINTS AT A RATE OF [3] TO [2]. SKILL LEVELS WHICH FALL OUTSIDE THIS RATE OF CONVERSION WILL BE CONVERTED TO STATS AT A RATE OF [1] TO [.2]. STAT POINTS WILL BE CONVERTED TO SKILL POINTS AT A RATE OF [.3] TO [1]. STAT POINTS WHICH FALL OUTSIDE THIS RATE OF CONVERSION WILL BE LOST.]
"...Well…alright, I guess. Begin conversion then."
[AFFIRMATIVE. COMMENCING CONVERSION OF USER ASSETS]
As the system announced the conversion's start, the unknown voice that announced Dragon's Tooth's arrival and departure spoke into Nickel's mind. Now that he could register it properly, he noticed how beautiful it was.
[NOTE: You may feel a little dizzy, Nicholas. It'll pass.]
Before he could even register the fact that the voice from earlier spoke again, Nickel swayed on his feet, a feeling of pervading weakness passing over him. He nearly toppled over, though he was able to stop himself, and the feeling passed.
"Uh, system? What was that?"
[NOTE: The weakness you just felt is the result of losing stat points. Among Pathfinders, it's typically referred to as 'Ascender's Weakness'.]
"...alright…and why am I hearing a different voice?"
[NOTE: The voice you're currently hearing is my voice, the true voice of the system. The robotic voice you usually hear is an automated response of the system, designed to speak only when certain conditions are met.]
[NOTE: In the internal world, at least in your case, Nicholas, the line between automated responses and my true voice is blurred. This is why I can speak to you like this, and why the automated response is receptive to you. It's also why the unsealing process can pause as long as we're speaking.]
Nickel nodded, a serious look on his face. Then he smiled, though he was unsure if the person behind the voice could see him, or was simply aware of his status.
"Well, as you know, I'm Nickel. What's your name?"
[NOTE: I can't answer that, as I'm unsure myself. The admins call me Sherash.]
Nickel blinked. "Sherash? Like the planet?"
[NOTE: …is there a planet named Sherash?]
"...It's the planet we live on," Nickel deadpanned.
[NOTE: OH! I didn't know that. That's interesting. Hehehe, there's a planet named after me.]
"Sure…" Nickel shook his head, hoping she couldn't see his exasperated expression. "Can you tell me anything about the admins?"
[USER NICHOLAS SILVER LACKS NECESSARY CREDENTIALS TO RECEIVE THAT KNOWLEDGE]
[NOTE: Sorry about that, Nicholas. The system gives that response anytime someone who knows just enough asks about the admins. And because I AM the system, I'm bound by the same rules. Until you reach a certain level of clearance within the system, the only thing I can tell you about the admins are the things you already know.]
Nickel thought for a moment, realizing something. "But you already confirmed that there are multiple admins, which I wasn't sure about. Why were you able to do that?"
[NOTE: My guess is that things which you could reasonably come to a conclusion about won't be as restricted. I mean, as far as the multiple admins thing, it's a big system. It makes sense that if there's one admin, then there's probably more, right? Stuff like that.]
"Hmm… alright," Nickel decided to shelve this for later. "Let's continue with the unsealing."
[AFFIRMATIVE. CONVERSION OF ASSETS HAS BEEN COMPLETED. ASSETS CONVERTED: [23] SKILL LEVELS HAVE BEEN CONVERTED TO [14] SKILL POINTS AND [.4] STAT POINTS. [2] STAT POINTS HAVE BEEN CONVERTED TO [6] SKILL POINTS. TOTAL ASSETS GAINED: [20] SKILL POINTS. USER NICHOLAS SILVER NOW POSSESSES [20] SKILL POINTS. USER MAY NOW BEGIN THE NEXT STOP OF THE UNSEALING PROCESS]
"Go ahead."
[AFFIRMATIVE. THIRD: THE USER WILL BE ALLOWED ACCESS TO THE SKILL MENU TO PURCHASE NEW SKILLS. DOES THE USER CONSENT TO THE USE OF THE SKILL MENU]
"I consent."
[AFFIRMATIVE. OPENING THE SKILL MENU. THE USER SHOULD BE AWARE THAT ANY UNUSED SKILL POINTS WILL BE LOST]
That put a damper on Nickel's mood, until the skill menu opened. There were several grayed out options, though they were largely out-numbered by all the others.
"Can I sort this?"
[AFFIRMATIVE. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SORT THEM. YOU MAY CHOOSE TWO OPTIONS: TYPE, COST, UNACQUIRED, RECOMMENDED]
"Type and cost, please."
[AFFIRMATIVE. SORTING SKILL MENU… SORTED]
The skills in the menu rapidly rearranged themselves, then suddenly stopped, now sorted by the options Nickel chose. Starting from the top, Nickel began to read down the list.
[SKILL PURCHASE MENU]
[MASTERY SKILLS]
[beginner dagger mastery] [beginner firearm mastery] [beginner martial arts mastery] [beginner staff mastery] [beginner sound magic mastery] [beginner prediction magic mastery] [beginner steam magic mastery] [beginner nature magic mastery]...
[CRAFTING SKILLS]
[novice weaver] [novice woodcarver] [novice jeweler]…
[EVERYDAY SKILLS]
[cooking] [writing]...
"Wow." An expression of surprise appeared on Nickel's face. "I didn't realize how many skills could be bought. Or that they could be bought at all…"
[NOTE: Overwhelmed?]
"A little bit…"
[NOTE: Why not let the system decide?]
"What?"
[SYSTEM HAS DETECTED USER'S DISTRESS, SUSPECTED TO BE BASED ON CHOICE PARALYSIS. WOULD THE USER PREFER TO ALLOW THE SYSTEM TO MAKE THE CHOICE FOR THEM]
Nickel's expression turned dubious. "What does that mean?"
[BY INPUTTING PARAMETERS, THE USER CAN ALLOW THE SYSTEM TO MAKE CHOICES FOR THEM BASED ON THOSE PARAMETERS, SO LONG AS ALL OPTIONS OF SAID CHOICE FALL WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE SYSTEM]
"...Okay. Now, Sherash, tell me what that means."
[NOTE: Basically, you can set guidelines for the system, and it'll calculate the best options based on those guidelines, using the information available to it. But it can only do that for things it actually has information on, which means it can really only help you make choices about skills and things in the system menu. Though I suppose that I'm actually the one doing the calculations, and giving you the answers you ask for.]
"Give it to me one more time, as simply as possible, please?"
[NOTE: haaah… if you give me a general idea of what you want, I'll pick new skills for you.]
"Oh." Why didn't she just say it that way in the first place? "Go ahead then, Sherash!"
[AFFIRMATIVE. THE SYSTEM WILL NOW PURCHASE SKILLS]
[NOTE: Fair warning Nicholas, it buys them all at once, so you may—]
"AAARRRGGGHHH!"
[NOTE: …yeah, I probably should've mentioned that first.]