Maniac's Mayhem

Chapter Six: Defining Yourself

I open my eyes. It is still dark inside the room, which is not that surprising. We are still very much underground. I release a happy sigh as I hug my blanket. Talking to Maniac had been so much more fun than I could have imagined. She is great and makes me feel like I am not alone anymore. Wait, I should not think like this. What if she hears this and thinks I am weird? Can she even see me as weird? We are both the same-ish person, right?Ugh, good job, Evelin. Way to ruin the moment. I slowly sneak out of bed and back into the living room. I have some shopping to do and would prefer some privacy as I do so. I look around the living room, spotting more doors leading to different parts of the apartment. I open the one with a lock and find myself inside the bathroom. I smile: this will do nicely.

‘Lyssa, are you awake?’ I subvocalize.

‘Right, AI. Stupid question. You are just so real sometimes that it is easy to forget. Sorry.’

I swear, she somehow sounded proud while saying that.

‘Right, I wanted to do some shopping and I prefer to do that with some peace and quiet.’

I take a deep breath. ‘First of all, we will need a way to store our memories. Maniac and I have an idea to use the Digi-brain as some kind of storage solution. Making sure that there are no gaps in our memories.’

‘Cool, so we take that first.’

New Purchase: Psychological Separation Inhibiting Localized Occipital Consciousness Yanked Back Into Neurologic-balance

Points reduced to... 74,231!

‘Yanked?’

‘Right, my mistake. How could I forget such a simple fact.’ I pause for a few seconds. ‘I don’t feel any different.’

‘Well, that is cool. Now that the important stuff is out of the way, I want a new eye.’ I say.

‘It should look exactly like my old one.’

‘Sure, that might be okay for anything else, but not my eyes. I won’t compromise. It is the only part of me that is still me.’

‘Would it look the same as my old eye?’

‘Then it is fine.’

New Purchase: Biological Limit Integrated Neuron Discernment

Points reduced to... 73,231!

A box covered in graffiti appears in front of me, and I smile. Inside I find a long ciliary contraption and a piece of cloth.

‘How does this work?’

I nod. Sounds easy enough. I grab the wand-like thing, put the opening over the eye socket, and activate the device. The device hums softly as I feel something come out and open my eyelids wide. The next few minutes are not what I would call torturous, just rather unpleasant, and besides what I assume is disinfectant, is rather painless. Once the process is finished and the machine turns off, I grab the eyepatch and put it over my eye.

‘Wow, that was something.’

Lyssa sounds happy, it is almost like she has been waiting for this for a long time. I smile at Lyssa's antics, I guess she is just really excited to spend some points. ‘I won’t be buying anything else. The rest is up to Maniac.’

I try my best to switch to give Maniac control of our body but for some reason nothing happens. Okay, how do we normally switch? Well normally we would use the mask but i don’t really have that option anymore. I look around spotting my own panicked expression in the mirror.

“Maniac, Maniac, Maniac.” I whisper to the mirror.

Nothing happens, so i guess we can rule out scary ghost stuff. I do have one other idea. I lean close to it so I can fog it up. Then, I draw a little mask on it with a little smile. I focus on it, trying to imagine myself as Maniac or something, as I stare at my covered face. Slowly I feel myself slip away, as if I am about to fall asleep.

My body turns cold as i catch myself, that is new. I guess it is hard for me to come out if there is no actual danger. Let's get back to buying some more toys then.

‘Lyssa, good. We have a lot of gear to get through. Are you ready?’

‘Okay, great, let's start with a new mask. Any fun ideas?’

‘Well, I would like it to have similar capabilities, storing equipment, projecting different outfits, and such, but stronger, something that protects me from taking too much damage.’

I frown. ‘Where did we get the extra token?’

I think for a second, but there is really nothing else we could use a token for at the moment, and protection is important.

‘Sure, let's use the token.’

‘Hmm, more outfits would be cool. Maybe give it the ability to fold or something so it is easier to carry. Hmm, what else? Ooh, can you give me a different face while I have the mask on me?’

‘So that I don’t leak my identity by accident, of course. If I take off my mask and what is underneath is not my face, I’ll be a lot harder to identify.’

‘It is to protect ourselves, so it should be fine. What kind of protections are you thinking of? Stronger shields?’

‘Spatial manipulation? How does that work?’

‘I see, so they need longer weapons to pierce deep enough to actually hurt me. That does sound interesting.’

‘Sounds awesome, but that does sound expensive. How much is it?”

I let out a small whistle. ‘Well, that is expensive, but it should be worth it. Let's do it.’

Class 2 Combat Garments Unlocked!

Points reduced to... 72,981

New Purchase: Mask of The Queen

Points reduced to... 32,661!

A box appears, and I quickly open it, inspecting its contents. Inside is a white mask that looks exactly like my old one. I pick it up, noticing that it is a lot heavier than my old one. I turn it around, and the inside of the mask looks a lot more compact.

‘Mask of the queen, huh? Not some fancy insult this time or calling me a fool for wanting a mask?’ I ask, a bit surprised by the wording.

The way she says that makes it sound like the most logical thing and that I am stupid for asking. I shrug, who cares, and I put it on. I hear a small click as I feel the mask seal itself tighter to my face. I let out a content sigh as I feel my clothes form around me. I quickly wipe the mirror clean to look at myself properly. It still looks the same. No, wait, there is something on my back.

‘Lyssa, what is on my back?’

‘I see, that is actually a good idea. Are there any other options for clothing?’

she says as my outfit shifts, becoming red with black patterns and bells. . The outfit shifts again, now becoming a long dress with a single slit in it, revealing my leg.

‘You have something that makes me fit in more in the undercity?’ I ask while looking at the way the dress moves.

My outfit changes again, this time to a green hoody with bear ears on the hood.

‘When I said to fit in, I just meant something more normal, not a lost kid in search of their teddy bear army.’ I say as I look at the child in the mirror.

‘No, thank you. If I want to become kid-friendly, I’ll let you know.’

My clothes change again, my pants turning into some kind of booty shorts and my top turning into something that is only merely better than a bikini top.

“Hey, what gives?” I ask in surprise, quickly covering my mouth.

‘Okay, can we go back to my normal outfit? How did you even do that? I am sure that I was wearing a full-length shirt and pants underneath.’ I say, still feeling mortified.

‘Right, a different face.’ I say as I pull my mask to the side, noticing something interesting. There are little needles. I guess that is one way to keep it stuck to my face.

‘Lyssa, is there an option to retract the needles?’

‘Siphoning needles?’

‘That is cool!’ I say as I put the mask to the side, resting it on the side of my face. ‘So, character customisation, how many options do I have?’

I shiver. ‘I am keeping my eye colour.’ I say instantly. ‘As for the rest, I think I have some ideas.’

It took me several hours, but I think I finally got it. Short green hair with shaved sides. A brow and a lip piercing, a small scar running across my cheek and some dark green lip-gloss. I also elongated my ears slightly.

‘This is perfect,’ I say with a smile

‘No, this is a disguise. As for me, I prefer, I don’t really know. I liked the pink hair, I guess. Wait, now that I think about it, why don’t I have pink hair anymore.’

‘Okay, I see. Then, how do I still have hair?’

‘I see. That is good, I guess. Anyway, it is almost morning, and I still need one more important item.’ Then I look at my hand, noticing the missing fingers. ‘Two things.’

‘A weapon, preferably something long and, I don’t know, something that destroys corpses. I prefer to leave as little biomass behind as possible, now that I don’t have Bubbles backing me up.’

‘Sounds perfect, I’ll take it.’

New Purchase: Halberd Yield Penetrating Edge Reinforced Artifically Combined Tech-nanites Integrated Violent Extermination

Points reduced to... 30,161 !

A new box appears, this one several times bigger than any that came before it. I open it, revealing a slick-looking halberd covered in wires and circuits. In the middle of the blade, there is a round disk pulsing with power. On the staff, there is some kind of indicator telling me how much power the halberd still has.

‘Ooh, this thing looks dangerous. I love it.’

‘Right, makes sense,’ I say, storing the halberd in my mask. ‘Last thing I need is to fix my fingers.’

I think for a bit. The fingers are not that big. ‘What about a needle? I have a bunch of drugs in my system. A needle that allows me to inject someone else sounds useful.’

‘That is fine, it does not look like we are leaving this place anytime soon.’

New Purchase: Aseptic Narcotic Xenobiological Injector Overall Universal Sample

Points reduced to... 29,961 !

A small box appears. Inside I find two fingers. As I put them against my stump, they activate, making a spike of pain shoot through my hand as they connect. Well, that fucking sucks. I guess a room for surgery does make sense.

Suddenly I hear a knock on the door, and I freeze.