It's been a long time coming, she thinks.  Her goodbyes have been said, her family hugged close, before this moment comes.

To be honest, she can't be sure she's ready even now, armed and armored with the best equipment she could find, make, or buy, having studied the lore of a thousand worlds in as much detail as the Tribe had, having workshopped her wish with those who dared wish for the dreams of their hearts rather than something more circumscribed, more fit for the Tribe than themselves, no matter that her goal is as useful to the Tribe as it would be anyone, because there's nowhere that has nothing that's broken or breaking --

Eventually, though, the time comes when all that is left is to do.

She still takes a moment to just stand before the Fountain, and get used to it, as memories flash through her head.

Then, taking a sprinter's start, she dives in, her momentum pushing her through where her will might dare to falter; there's no use turning back now.

There's a voice in her head. As she floats in the depths of The Fountain, neither rising nor sinking.

Welcome Young One, have you chosen the wish of your heart?

"I suppose I have, though truly, the wish of my heart is poorly expressed when I must put it to words.

"Still, if words I must put it into...

"There's not a single world, neither here nor anywhere else, that doesn't have something that's broken or breaking, making people's lives worse to live for its absence.

"I want the knowledge and power to fix it, whatever that thing may be."

That is not a wish I can grant. Perhaps you have another?

Her lungs are protesting just a little, her training at holding her breath means she still has time but not for a long exchange.

She is calm.  This is a fact about herself, no matter how much she would like to be frustrated right now.  Calm helps her hold her breath.

"I want the ability to fix things - both the knowledge of why something isn't working, and the power to repair it, because neither knowledge nor power alone actually solve the problem by themselves."

If that is your wish, I shall grant it. Are you sure you are ready to begin your Sojourn?

"As sure as I can be."

Then it is done. You may depart whenever you are ready.

And with a full-body exertion, she breaches the surface with a gasp.

Then...she looks over her rucksack full of junk, because where everyone else saw something broken...she saw things that could be mended.

The soft glow of bioluminescent plants and moss around her light the area. Four waterfalls gently fall at the edges of the cave but the moss prevents the sound from being too loud. The fountain she just left has water spilling out of nowhere falling in strange, ever-changing patterns in defiance of gravity before falling back into the pool she just emerged from.

Broken things glow subtly, she can tell they're not actually glowing just... highlighting them for her to look closer. A water purifier, a tablet, a broken enchanted flashlight, a multitool.

And look closer she shall; she'll start with the flashlight.

She wasn't sure her power would work that way...but she's glad it seems to.

Her power whispers into her ear; the crystal at the center of the flashlight has cracked and its mana has been depleted. This is the sort of tooling she would need to disassemble the housing and replace the crystal properly...but with her power's help, she can cheat: Unscrew here, focus the heat of a fire to make the frame flexible enough to squeeze the crystal out. 

Fixing the crystal is harder; she needs a source of mana to draw from and some source of the right elements to replace the bits of the crystal which dispersed when it cracked. Her power allows her to purify those elements from mundane materials without much difficulty. With those purified she can dissolve them in solution and, with her power's help, catalyze them depositing on the right parts of the crystal to make it whole, then channel a bit of mana from some other source to jumpstart the enchantment again and patch the broken edges of the magic.

...say, is the Fountain (and its water) a source of mana, perchance?

That small whispering voice advises her that it isn't but it draws her attention to the enchanted staff she has with her. She would need to be careful not to pull too much mana and break it but with care she can take an amount it can recover from without needing repairs of its own.

Well, that would certainly work, and it's less risk than taking from her knife.  She will probably need the enchantments on that much more.

She'll see what else she can fix before she sets off.

Well, in addition to the bits she's already looked at there's a sleeping bag that's fraying a bit around the edges and has some small holes, a broken tent pole, a small foldable table that doesn't fold as smoothly as it should, two pieces of a longer rope they're usable individually but mending it would give her more flexibility, a chipped cup, a spare firestarter that's too rusted to work, a somewhat bent fork, and a small solar panel that doesn't work as efficiently as it did when it was new.

And of all these, what can she fix with what she has on hand?

(She asks, while taking a sample of the bioluminescent moss.)

Some of it she'll need to harvest things from the outer garden but otherwise yes. The moss, her power whispers needs this humidity level and these nutrients in the soil to safely take root. 

She nods, moving garden-wards, and wonders if she can make something to maintain that environment for her sample.  It would hardly function as a sample if it died, after all.

There's a sense of a muscle pulled taut, and the little voice of her power whispers not yet.

The outer garden is as bright and cheerful as she remembers but it's quiet in a way she's never really known. The emptiness is strange, usually you can always hear at least the sound of distant voices or spot some harvesters collecting one thing or another... now it's just her.

Well, she doesn't mind having privacy; honestly, she's a little looking forwards to having a personal space the whole Garden wide.  Regardless, she can get comfortable later - it's time to repair stuff.

Her power whispers to harvest a bit of fibervine here, a bit of fastwood there, some of that herb and a few of those berries.

Then it begins the process of getting her to make replacement parts, guiding her through various tasks to make what she needs for repairs: thread to repair the sleeping bag and the rope, a type of wood glue to fix the tent pole, a lubricant and making a replacement washer for the folding table, a clay mixture to repair the mug, and a collection of refined powders that no normal person could dream of using to repair the solar panel.

This is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Eventually, however, she is done, and ready.

"Well, then.  Bottoms up, as they say somewhere in the multiverse."

She eats a rainbow berry, after plucking a 'few' more and taking a cutting (just in case)...and activates its power.

There's a moment of discontinuity as the world is briefly replaced with a wash of sensation, the smell of cyan, the feel of something sweet, the taste of the number fourteen, and then the maelstorm disappears in turn.

It's replaced by a field. She sees a wooden wall off to the left and some trees further in the distance to the right. And then there's text superimposed on her vision.

Welcome new user. System activation in progress. 

Error unknown magic present... attempting reformat, reformatting failed, unknown magic left unchanged.

Activation complete: personal enhancement resources available, system ui available.

Yes, she would like to view the UI.  After she makes sure she's not going to be eaten alive or something.

"Well, this is surprising."

More text unfurls across her vision.

System input mode: verbal
System output mode: visual overlay

Available views:
Personal status and enhancements

System map

Help directory

System log

Oh, no, no no, she is not going to be caught alive using a verbal interface, because then that means she'll be caught dead.

Right.  She'll get something set up like that fancy simulator someone brought back.  And then she'll read the manual.

...What does her power make of this?

The system is remarkably chatty and after a bit of back and forth the line reads

System input mode: custom

There's a faint sense of worry coming from the place she's come to associate with her power.

Well, is it something she could eventually fix?

If so...well, she's glad she's here, and not some other poor schmuck.  She's any amount prepared for something like this.

...okay, from reading fiction, but that's more than anyone else would be!  (Also she might have something that'll stand up to even this, as far as powers go.  That's a potent confidence booster.)

Anyway, she'd like the tutorial-and-or-manual now, if the system would be so kind.

The worry feels like it's about something else. Her power really wasn't intended to be a vector for the Fountain to give advice and vague feelings are stretching the limit of what's possible.

The system on the other hand is eager to provide an extremely long list of help topics with the top few highlighted.

Using system enhancement resources

Explanation of system map

World information

She'll take 'system advancement resources' first, then - and then, knowing what she can do, look into 'world information' to figure out what she should do.

...She's going to unscrew the cap of her staff to reveal the spear beneath it, though.  If the Fountain is worried, she'll be worried too.

System resources come in three categories of advancement resources: mental, physical and magical. These points can be used both as entire points or as fractions of points to alter things about those three parts of herself. Universal points can be applied to any of the three basic categories. There's also a fourth type of enhancement called a skill import which converts a mundane skill that improves with corresponding slowness into a magical effect facilitated by the system which can then be refined without limit. All four types of resources can be earned by gaining enough experience. The most common way to gain experience is through combat with other system empowered entities.

This world was integrated into the system three years ago. All areas have reached initial difficulty level targets and further escalation in difficulty levels and the corresponding dangers will mirror the progress of the world's populace. Information about the difficulty of specific areas is available through the map function.

System statistics are not available to new users.

...Excuse her, but she has Some Questions about this 'danger levels' thing.  To wit, why in the actual fuck are there area-based danger minima?

System difficulty levels reflect the approximate danger of system empowered non-sapient life and other hazard within the area. They are neither minimums nor maximums they are averages. Targets are set to ensure all users have access to adequate challenges if they seek them out. Targets are lowest near large population centers to allow for some stability in areas where users are likely to raise children.

...What, does the System mediate crafting challenges, as well?  There surely aren't that many people who all have as their dearest wish to brave danger; she has statistics about that!

Regardless, speaking of statistics: What resources does she have, system-side?

There are ways for users to store experience granting items and provide them to other users, this can sustain the progression of users who refuse combat for some reason. Combat is heavily encouraged.

2 physical points, 2 mental points, 2 magical points, 2 universal points and 1 skill import.

...Why, exactly, is combat heavily encouraged?  ...You know what, get back to her on that later, when she's not having to look over her shoulder every five seconds.  The marginal benefit of potentially convincing you that death sucks slightly faster isn't worth degraded argument quality.

...Is there a respawn mechanic?  Surely, surely there must be, if you are maximizing something-about-users.

How does she use points, anyway?  What's the experience-to-points conversion?

Users are re-instantiated with some system granted advantages diminished and injuries repaired upon bodily death. Re-instantiated users are placed at random in zones of appropriate difficulty.

Points can be be applied with user commands. Graphical interfaces and suggested usages are available. Precise requests cost fewer points but may be less comprehensive than system defaults. Experience granting items convert into points upon being consumed or absorbed.

...Okay, she still has some thoughts along the lines of 'trauma makes users less likely to challenge themselves', but, you know what, that's at least somewhat fair, even if it's really bizarre.

She would in fact like to see examples.

Physical suggestions:
Stronger bones and muscles, enhanced regeneration, improved poison resistance, improved skin durability, improved shock absorbance, increased endurance...

Mental suggestions:
Faster thinking, quicker reflexes, improved memory, improved comprehension of others emotional states, enhanced ability at recognizing danger, greater resistance to pain, greater resistance to extreme sensory input...

Magical suggestions:
Shielding between user and incoming threats, creating fireballs, creating force blasts, conjuring small amounts of water, filtering water, invisibility, enhanced mana recovery...

How much difference does a single point make?

A single point could increase physical fitness from the level of someone who occasionally exercises to the level of someone who exercises for several hours a day.

A single point could increase your current thinking speed by approximately 50%

A single point could allow you to conjure a force sufficient to shatter an unenhanced human skull three times before needing to recover mana. Baseline mana recovery would require four hours. Less intense bursts of force would use less mana.

...She emotes a side-eye at the System about that last example.  PvP zones - and players - are handled specially in most MMOs for a reason, you know.

Let's see.

...What sort of build is she aiming for, anyway?

And how could she make something that allows her to pull out power synergies in a pinch, without inherently relying on it and thus allowing the System to factor it into its calculations?

She'd really rather not die, all things considered.

Oh, hm, there's one other question she has: What determines which sort of points users get from their experience, or from conversions?

Experience rewards are based on the source. Most non-sapient life is predominantly based on physical combat and thus yields physical points. Non-sapient life with enhanced mental or magical abilities would also yield those point types. Categorized points can be converted to universal points at a rate of four to one. Universal points can be converted to skill imports at a ratio of two to one. Universal points and skill imports are rarely available from consumable items.

...Alright, then, she'd best be pretty specific with her magic requests.  She bets those points are pretty thin on the ground.

Can she preview the results of specific requests?

What happens if you kill a sapient?

Affirmative, Details on the characteristics of system suggested defaults are also available at several levels of precision.

Dead Users yield experience equivalent to the diminishment of their abilities upon re-instantiation, diminishment is an exponential function a user with three total points spent would lose no points. A user with six would lose 1. A user with 600 total points spent would lose five hundred.

Only points spent?

That is correct. Users may retain up to two of each type of point as reserve. Points beyond that margin are lost at a rate of 1 per hour.

...Ah.  Is that gradual, or a countdown clock?

The first point of each type is lost at the one hour mark subsequent point loss is continuous.

Very well, then.

...Is there some sort of abeyance in the event of, for example, being in continuous combat for the hour's duration?

Anyway.  That's not immediately relevant.

What is immediately relevant is her build.

She'll save the universal points, for now, and...

Preview: P[Nerve conduction speed] P[Precision of motion] M[Deductive reasoning] M[Reaction delay reduction] A[Biokinesis] A[Magic Item Crafting]

One point in nerve conduction speed: Resulting speed of 500 meters per second, approximately 10x human baseline.
One point in precision of motion: Allows for fine motor control down to about 1 millimeter precision without focus, 10 micrometers with focus. Gross motor control down to one hundred millimeters without focus and 1 millimeter with focus.

One point in deductive reasoning: Improvements to associative memory (0.3 points) minor increases to ease of recalling relevant information and marginally reduces likelihood of recalling irrelevant information when focusing. Double working memory capacity (0.4 points) Improves ability to evaluate probabilities brain can naturally assign five confidence levels without focus (0.3 points)
One point in Reaction delay reduction: Reduces reaction time to .01 seconds.

Note: magical abilities will not be usable until spending to create a mana pool a mana regeneration rate above zero.
One point in biokinesis: Unlocks spellcrafting interface (0.1 points), adds biokinetic components to spellcrafting interface (0.5 points), creates example healing spell (0.1 point), adds a basic sense of biology to a precision of one cubic centimeter that consumes 1 mana point per minute (0.3 points)

Note: Permanent magic items may also be created by spending points
One point in Magic item crafting: Unlocks spellcrafting interface (0.1 points), adds imbue component into spellcrafting interface (0.3 points), allows charging magical items with mana (0.3 points), adds durability increase components into spellcrafting interface (0.1 points), adds light creation components into spellcrafting interface (0.1 points), adds force creation components into spellcrafting interface (0.1 points)

Hmmm.

Spellcrafting interface?

Spellcrafting interface allow combining unlocked components to create spells. Spells may be assigned custom triggers for easy access. Some on the fly modification of spells is possible without the full interface. 0.1 magic points required to unlock interface and basic control structure components

Mmhmm.  Sounds useful.

What's this about having to create a mana pool and mana regeneration, anyway?

Mana capacity can be purchased at 1000 capacity per point.

Mana regeneration can be purchased at 0.1 mana per second per point.

Would she be able to create spell components or otherwise add them to the interface without necessarily purchasing them with points, if she knew any?

How much mana would that example force spell cost her?

New components can be created out of available components. Note: Some system defaults are tied into general system processes and are therefore more efficient than manually crafted components of equivalent effect.

Described force spell imparts 1000 joules of kinetic energy to target. Mana to force conversion ratio is 1 mana to 8 joules. Standard projectile spell envelope is 10 mana. Total spell cost 135 mana.

...Is there a limited set of spell components like that?

Hm.  Okay.

There is a finite set of atomic spell components, in total there are roughly five hundred thousand. Most such components are unlikely to be relevant to any given user.

...The set of spell component tied to/benefitting from interacting with system functions, she means?

Affirmative

...Well, she'll cross that bridge when she gets to it.

...Returning to the earlier subject, if she was able to, for example, observe the workings of a magic item, would she be able to then put the components into her spellcrafting interface without expending points?

There is a component which allows for copying observed components and integrating them into the spell crafting interface assuming you have all relevant permissions to invoke them. It requires magical analysis capabilities as a prerequisite.

...She'll get to that later, then.

She turns her power's analytic side on 'herself', full-blast, and then...

She's going to buy both the physical and mental components she previewed; she'll leave the arcane components til later.

The feeling her power returns for her effort feels like a shrug. It doesn't seem like there's anything broken in her from her power's perspective.

The world seems to slow a touch, her body seems paradoxically slower to respond as well. She is also suddenly extremely aware of the position of her body, she can feel each finger each toe how her legs are oriented how straight she's standing.

A thought pops into her mind unprompted... walls usually exist for a reason... why is there a wall there?

Yes, nothing's wrong, but she does want to see the system at work and that's something that's broken-ish.

She's been meaning to get on the other side of that wall for a while now, but it's hard to think and walk, when you're really thinking.

Still, armed with the barest basics, she supposes now is a good enough time to -

augh this damnable slowness.

Well, that's her own darn fault.  She'll just have to hunt monsters about it --

Oh, wow, that's a scary incentive structure.

Still, she probably ought to do something about this situation's...Thisness.

So, as she takes a second per few seconds(subjective) to handle walking and environment awareness, she continues peppering the system with queries.

Is there an off button for enhancements?

Preview: U[Selective time dilation]

Preview: A[Selective time dilation]

System enhancements are typically alterations to underlying biology and therefore cannot be toggled. Some enhancements such as defensive auras or active magical effects can be toggled if desired.

Time manipulation is not a supported function.

...hmm.

Preview: U[Spatial manipulation]

Preview: A[Spatial manipulation]

Spatial manipulation: Unlocks spellcrafting interface (0.1 points) Adds spatial manipulation components to spellcrafting interface, approximate cost 100 mana per 1% change and per 100 cubic meters of altered space per second, actual cost varies with specifics (0.5 points) Spatial curvature awareness (0.4 points)

There's a sound coming from behind her, it could just be the wind.

Hey look, a loophole.  Also, power, this certainly seems broken-ish - not to mention the subtler consequences it might have.  This was so stupid.  Why did she do it.

(...Excitement and overconfidence in her own cleverness, combined with the feeling that she needed to act now, rather than later, or risk dying (and losing all her stuff).)

Well.  Lesson learned, hopefully.

That sound is not the fucking wind; she would feel the wind, and she doesn't.

She falls into a practiced stance, and prepares for introductions.

Sound, meet Mr. Pointy Stick.

She feels her power start to engage but then pull back when something more urgent takes her focus.

That looks like a squirrel, more precisely three squirrels each of which is... maybe 8 times bigger than a normal squirrel. They're running at her at a pace that is appreciable even with the way the world is now slowed for her.

Oh, bother.

Alright.  Three targets, at speed; at least they're not smart enough to properly flank her.  Pull knife into off-hand, spear one, forcefully deflect two, stab three (with her knife, reverse-gripped).

She still isn't quite used to moving like this but she manages to get into her stance and get her spear in the way of the first squirrel. It's impaled blood splashes out of the wound towards her, it almost jars her spear out of her hands but she manages to keep a hold of it, it's a lot of weight to be holding up at the end of her spear though. The second one she's also able to push to the side with the haft of her spear it lands hard behind her but there's no time to think about that because the third is already leaping and if she wants to stab it like she planned she probably isn't going to be able to hold the spear up with just one hand.

Well, that's what the ground is for!  And also pulling the spear out of the murderous squirrel-alike; that'd work too.

She lets the tip of the spear and the now limp squirrel at the end of it fall to the ground, and brings her knife around to meet the third's leap. She manages to get the knife up in its path and with the reverse grip she's well braced but she doesn't seem to hit something vital with this stab like she did on the first and the squirrel's limbs claw at her arm, they shred through the leather but are stopped by the reinforcing panels.

Sheesh.  She's glad she thought to do that.

Step on dead squirrel for counterforce, pull spear and pivot, use momentum to fling wounded squirrel away, prepare for incoming squirrel 2!

The third squirrel flings away. The second squirrel is already leaping at her but as it's in the air something blurs towards it from further away and the squirrel explodes, showering her with viscera.

...She sure hopes she's not going to have to kill whatever did that.

Hopefully she caught a glimpse of it?

A woman wearing sleek looking armor steps casually off the top of the four meter wall and lands on the ground in an easy crouch then starts striding towards her at what looks like a normal pace, if the world wasn't slowed for her it would probably look very fast.

"I do believe I had that under control," she says, carefully, "but thank you nonetheless."

She stabs third squirrel again.

It was indeed stunned enough by being stabbed and thrown that she's able to do that without too much difficulty.

"Perhaps, I fired off the blast before you had turned though, I wasn't sure if you would turn in time. I admit I'm confused though, teleportation is pretty expensive as abilities go and you don't move like a high-level user. Did you buy a teleport from someone else? And if so why come here?"

"The teleportation was not a System effect," she politely demurs.  "I could not confidently state why I'm here."

Notification-checking time.  ...If the System dinged her all the XP she rightfully earned because of a high-level intervention, she will riot.

She really does need the points, she thinks; that, or perhaps her power can somehow solve the 'muscles not keeping up with her brain' problem.

"What an intriguing thing to claim. Magic from something other than the system. And not a controlled teleport either... how fascinating. I'll let you drain the orbs and what's left of the meat is yours too. Squirrels aren't worth much anyway."

As per her word a green orb of light has appeared next to the corpse of each squirrel.

"Perhaps it was controlled, perhaps not; all I can state is that I did not choose this destination."

As for the orbs: "They are still more than nothing, and I was just a bit too...fancy...with my initial purchases, so I appreciate it."

How does one do that, anyway?

Experience orbs are absorbed by touching them. They can also be stored for later in sealed containers.

"That's a telling statement, I assumed you were low level but initial purchases implies you're new to the system. It sounds like you're saying you came from somewhere the system isn't... And I think you're saying you didn't know what to expect. I hope you don't come to regret whatever decision led you here."

"It's not like I wasn't prepared for an adventure," she allows herself a small smirk, "just that this was not the only thing I prepared for.  But yes, where I am from, the System does not hold sway - nor would I ever wish it upon them, as it stands.  The damn thing is obsessed with combat.  And it shouldn't be."

Anyway.  It's orbsorption time.  And time to collect the viable squirrel corpses.

"Perhaps we should get behind the walls, though?"

She now has an extra 0.75 physical points.

"Yes, the immortality is a blessing to a degree but for some it's become a curse. The gates are this way. I expect you can't jump or climb the wall if you're a new user."

Hmm.

She's going to see what her power can do to fix her self-inflicted problems before actually spending this.  And it can wait a bit, anyway.

"Anyway.  You mentioned levels?  And we should get inside, if we are to converse without interruption."

She eyes the wall.  Wooden palisade...

"I almost suspect I might manage to climb these, given a chance, but it'd be more effort than I think it's worth."

She does have a grapnel.

"High level is gamer-speak, the system doesn't do anything as discrete as levels. Just the resources I'm sure you're already aware of. The only thing in discreet quantities are skill imports and those are rarely very useful."

As they walk they pass by guard towers built into the top of the wall, the towers use metal and stone. It's an interesting contrast with the wood of the walls. The wall about thirty feet high. And it seems to stretch on for quite a ways with sections alternating onwards and outwards, if her education included a study of fortification she might recognize it's built in a star pattern.

Her education included everything she could get her hands on.

"So what's with only having stone enough for the watchtowers?"

"We could get more but wood is a bit easier to come by and it's just the outer layer of the wall. It's efficient for the outer layer to be cheap to replace. And the wood grows unnaturally quickly as the system tries to spread the forest into the area we keep clear."

"...Yeah, I can imagine."

She pokes at her gloves with her power; those need fixing.

Her power seems satisfied at being given something streightforward to focus on and whispers about how to harvest leather from the squirrels she's carrying and actually improve the durability of her gloves her power can let her seamlessly merge the new leather into the old and even treat it to be the same color.

"It's a hard life but we manage to stay safe, we might actually be the safest settlement in a hundred miles. We even have regular communication with other nearby settlements thank whatever gods exist for satellites."

"...That's how far things have been - brought down - by this?"

Something straightforward seems like it's something she needs, just to let herself process that.

"...If I could be sure it would be safe, I'd just start evacuating the universe after hearing that."

"If a settlement falls then the system increases the difficulty level because there's less population. Well, that and the monsters can get points from orbs and meat the same as we can. It becomes a feedback loop that concentrates people into fewer and fewer enclaves. In many ways it's still better here than in some cities though. We have enough food to feed everyone. And we've learned to keep up with the new challenges the system throws at us and keep ahead of the power curve."

"...If whoever designed this System still exists, I am going to have words with them."

"I think there's a great many people who feel similarly. Though honestly, given how rigid the system is, I don't have high hopes for its designer, assuming it even has one, being receptive to feedback."

"If they're not around, then I'll just have to usurp their position.  They're clearly unfit, regardless."

"That would be a big change if it's possible. Nobody has found a path yet. According to the statistics it provides to Users who pass certain milestones the System has over three quadrillion users. Our world is simply one of the latest that it's integrated."

"Well, I do have an out-of-context power, so I have a bit more hope it's possible than I might otherwise.  Though I hope you'll forgive my not getting into details.  What the System knows can't hurt it, and all that."

"And what is your out of context power? So far I just know it involves being teleported in a way not fully under your control which doesn't seem that useful."

"That wasn't the power, that was the price I paid for it.  And like I said - I'm keeping its precise nature quiet, for now.  Of course, if the System is in fact reading my mind, that's probably moot, but nonetheless."

"It certainly seems like it is, you've paused in the ways people tend to when they use a non-verbal system interface."

"...You were watching me for much longer than I knew.

"Yes, I did reconfigure the interface - but that's a separate question to whether it's actually putting in effort to decode my thoughts, the ones I don't make legible to it.  Or whether it's reading yours."

"We have people watching from our walls at all times and I'm one of the people called when something unusual happens. As for whether the system reads minds for planning purposes, I couldn't say. It hasn't really needed to that I've seen it holds all the cards. It doesn't give out telepathy powers though for whatever that's worth. Mind control yes, telepathy no."

"...Well.  That's scary as fuck.  Almost makes me want to do something kind of stupid."

"Honestly it's not as scary it sounds... mind control is pretty easy to protect yourself from if you have a few mental points to spare and even without defenses there's ways to snap someone out of it."

"Ah.  So I don't, for example, need to Skill self-hypnosis to absurd levels?  Well, that's good.

"...How hard is it to get a point P+1 if you have point P?"

Also, can you convert points backwards?

"Self-hypnosis is one of the approaches I've seen for protecting against mind control. It's effective. And there isn't any sort of experience discounting. I would have gotten the same amount of points from those squirrels as you."

Point conversions are not reversible

"I see."

...

Do skills boosted by the System retain their applicability outside their immediate domain?  e.g. a chef knife-fighting with their supernal food-preparation skills?

Subskills with cross-purposes applicability are not limited to specific contexts.

Oh, good~

How do supernal skills grow?

System augmented skills are enhanced by use of points

...Well, that will probably be annoying.

How is the System's preference for users' difficulty levels determined?

"...Well, that information gives me approximately half the start of a plan."

...Are supernal skill points considered amongst the points taxed by a death?

Zone difficulty targets are determined based on the number of nearby users and their average number of points invested.

All points invested are included when applying re-instantiation penalties.

"Seems like you're talking to the system again. There are people who consider that rude, not me personally but something to be aware of."

...Are they considered as per their converted weight in baseline points, or...?  And in what order are points actually removed?

Ugh, that's just not good.

"So noted; what gave me away, anyway?"

Universal points and skill imports are assessed at the same rate as the basic point types.

"Your eyes."

"What, you're sharp enough to track the saccades?  Damn.  That's pretty sharp."

"Thank you, I like to think I've made good choices in what I spend points on."

"Knowledge is power, when power's not power enough."

"That's an interesting caveat. Regardless, you said you had a plan, do you care to share it or are you still worried about being overheard?"

"Sometimes power overwhelming is the easiest solution," she quips wryly.  "And sometimes knowledge alone can't fix what broke.  Mmm - as far as a plan I might have...Well.  It's just powerleveling and refusing to let the System break me, in the end.  With more finality than you'd be capable of."

Allison stares at her for several long seconds before she says, "I see."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely going to be applying various and diverse skills to the System once I've done that, but...First I need to actually get to the point where I can smack it on the command prompt, by stealing as much of its power and knowledge as I can.  The rest?  It'll just be like fixing up my gloves, but moreso."

"I hope you find more success than the others I've met with that goal."

"Were any of them cheating?"

"If by cheating you mean using outside context magic then no."

"Then I think I have more of a chance.  Might be a long and hard road, but...I can see it, at the very least.  And that's the first step to doing."

At last the reach the gate, it blends into the surrounding wall until it's opened from the inside to reveal a stone lined tunnel that goes for maybe 15 meter before emerging again into the sunlight.

Allison turns to her before going through.

"I find I don't know what to say. I've had this conversation many times before but you're correct that you do have a special advantage." She takes a deep breath. "What I will say is that it may do you well to ask for help. And also, welcome to Breyersville."

"I agree, I don't plan on doing this alone.

"And...thank you.  I think, despite the bit where I'm trapped in a real live deathgame, that I'm honestly glad to be here.  I imagine you're still on watch duty, but I'd consider it a favor if you'd point me somewhere quiet-ish so I could work on repairing my armor?  Also to your library, or - "

Say, does her datapad have signal?

"Hmm, quiet is in somewhat short supply. We try to use space efficiently and that means there isn't much empty space. I can show you to the library but they won't want you working on your armor there. If you just want quiet-ish there's the public workshops there are usually people talking there but typically quietly they respect the shared space."

No her tablet isn't connecting to anything.

"A public workshop will do.  And I will definitely want to visit the library, too.  Preserving knowledge is very important."

"Indeed it is, the nearest workshop is this way." She walks to Student's side, gesturing whenever there's a turn. "You know I don't think I caught your name." The buildings they pass are somewhat eclectic, some of them are built from local materials like the tunnel, the guard towers and the wall, while others seem slightly worn but neatly painted and made from bricks, concrete, synesthetic materials and other bits. There are guardtowers interspersed with the other buildings and sometimes built on top of them and a occasionally fused stone structures with large gems at the top that come up to about waist height.

"Tian'kenata, Thoughtful Student in my native language.  And yours is?"

She's fascinated by the variety of architecture on display, especially the gem-topped pedestals.  "I recognize a lot of these materials and styles, but what's with these?"

"I'm Allison Cray. The pedestals are early warning systems, they alert us to attacks from below the ground or high altitudes. It's not perfect but it's usually enough that we can have people in place to mitigate any damage. Haven't lost anyone to ants in over two years now so they're working."

"Interesting.  I assume that there's countermeasures imposed regarding seismographs, echonography (or whatever it's called), radar, magnetometry, et cetera, by the System?  Or...oh, aerial attacks would have the problem that yes, that is a danger but also a bird, hmm...but I have some thoughts about improving those defenses, and unspent points..."

"The issue with seismographs is that people live here. It's hard to distinguish the signs of the ants tunneling from the sounds of people living their lives. As for the rest it tends to require a lot of electronics and that's in relatively short supply. We shoot down any birds flying over the village if we can. Preferably before they get past the wall but if they're flying fast enough or high enough that it's not possible. Wild animals are basically all the system's creatures now. There are some pets that haven't been transformed but over time more and more have either become anthromorphs or monsters. I'm certainly willing to listen but I would like to note that you're coming across as a bit arrogant. You just heard that our defenses exist not even any details. And we've invested hundreds of points into these detectors and the skills used to craft them."

"Unfortunately, I got the 'assuming people know nothing' genes from my mother - and as much as it is absurdly frustrating when she does it to me, I seem to have picked up the habit.  Wish I hadn't, but unfortunately here we are.  ...Say, has anyone tried investing in supernal taming?

"...Footfalls and burrowing don't sound alike, but yes, if the sensors are on the surface, that's too noisy.  Even with really good algorithms.  And - wait, how much actual digging are or aren't you doing, anyway?"

"I'll do my best to take it in the spirit which it is intended. As for taming animals some people do it. There are ways to do it safely even. The unsafe ways tend to have the animal reverting to hostility whenever it gets more points and becoming harder to tame again."

She pauses for a moment, "We don't do much serious digging, for obvious reasons digging projects have to be approved well in advance. But we do farm food and that involves some digging. We do occasionally launch efforts to wipe out the ants but after the first time that went badly we start those from outside the walls."

"...I wonder if you could do a three-dimensional moat..."

"Maybe even go full arcology."

"Or...oh, that would get the System deciding to ruin our day, wouldn't it, if you just took off.  And I'd bet it's tied its abilities, to being within its service area, or vice-versa."

"Oh it's much worse than that. The system has been kind enough to supply space monsters that attack any spacecraft with people on them. A few brave people managed to get to the moon only to find that it now has it's own ecology of monsters waiting for whoever visits. People generally stopped trying after they learned that."

"That was about what I was expecting, honestly.  But I wonder if you could go all floating island about it?"

"If there's a way to make it work I haven't heard of anyone doing it. Monsters tend to attack conventional aircraft engines and those aren't really enough to enable floating islands anyway. Levitating an island for long periods of time with magic would take a lot of points and mana to setup. And once you did who knows what the system would throw at you."

"I read a book that used interlocking vacuum-sealing force shields to make something like a blimp."

"That might be more mana efficient, I don't really know. I'm not a spellcrafter, I just use spells other people have designed. If it did you'd need to be sure it can't fail in a way that results in you dropping to the ground and again, deal with whatever the system throws at you. It seems to take ambition as a challenge. Also... we harvest things from the forest. It's where we get a substantial portion of our food and fuel despite the danger. Having a floating island would make that... complicated."

"Yeah, that's a thing the protagonist worked out.

"...wonder if you could make a tractor beam.  But that's probably not really worth the time..."

"Anyway, the thought I'm having is that you could go full mobile arcology, and take some of the ground with you when you leave, but tried-and-true here is a lot less volatile, and experimenting more volatile than it should be."

"It is a bitter irony that the system which claims to offer endless adventure significantly incentivizes extreme caution and not rocking the boat."

Yeah, uh, System, why is this like this?  It seems like it does not maximize adventuring?

The system exists to bring endless adventure and excitement to every corner of reality

But you're not actually encouraging people to do so.

The system doesn't respond to the implied question.

Given that you exist 'to bring endless adventure and excitement to every corner of reality', why do you incentivize turtling and the pattern of behavior I will gloss as "not inflicting you on other people because people think what you do sucks"?

The system does not attempt to influence user behavior.

Bullshit you don't.  Your incentive structure is an influence.  Adding monsters is an influence.  All of what you do incentivizes the users to do things!

The system again doesn't respond when not issued a question or request.

Given that, how, exactly, is your very existence not something that classes as 'influencing user behavior'?!

Clarification: The system does not alter functionality to influence the behavior of users based on the psychology of their species.

That is rather counterproductive to maximizing adventures had, though, isn't it?  Which is what you want?

The system achieves the ends it is meant to achieve.

But not at maximal efficiency, unless you have more ends than I'm allowed to know.

The system follows it's pattern.

"I take it you're having That conversation? The one where you try to talk the system out of being what it is?" She lets out a small breath. "I expect we all do the same at some point, well except those rare few who enjoy the way things are now. I've certainly tried having it a few times."

"Yeah."

...

So do you have more ends I'm not allowed to know about, and do you not care about efficiency?

The system has adequate resources to achieve its ends further efficiency is not required.

But further efficiency means that you might get to expand your coverage area with more cooperation.

The system is intended to be treated as an antagonist by users.

...Have you considered being a rival, as your type of antagonism-to-users?  This allows you to still maintain an antagonistic position, but still spread your service area with less user objections.

Objections are irrelevant.

Mine aren't.  I can permit or prevent you from expanding your service area towards my home, depending upon your ability to adjust your operations.  What say you to that?

Redundancy is unnecessary.

...what, you think it's inevitable?

Expansion to your point of origin is not inevitable.

...Then how is it redundant?

That information is not available.

...to you, or to me?

That information is not available.

To you, or to me?

...She'll try that a few more times, but eventually gives up on that line of attack if it yields nothing new.

...Though she will also try a Why? or two.

"Welp.  I got it to go all 'that information is not available' at me when I tried asking how the heck my homeworld was redundant."

No level of recursion is successful at retrieving additional information.

"That's new, it rarely talks about how it expands to other worlds. The information unavailable thing is pretty common when people try to push on that and in a few other cases. Usually it manages to keep people going in circles without needing to resort to that. I don't see why expanding to a particular world would be redundant... well unless it's already there somehow. Or maybe if it's expanding in certain ways and there's multiple worlds that achieve the same purpose. It's a pretty common theory that the system has additional goals beyond the adventure and excitement thing but we only have hints about as vague as that 'redundant' comment as evidence."

"Expansion to my point of origin is not inevitable, it said, as well.  Exciting new strides in systemology, I'm sure."

"It's a new clue. I'll post it to the relevant places unless you ask me not to, maybe someone else will be able to make sense of it."

"Oh, please do; can you point me their way, actually?"

"Certainly." They turn a corner and a concrete building with a large metal garage door on the front comes into view. It's labelled in big lettering as 'Public workshop' "As you might have gathered, we've arrived." Allison leads the way to a smaller person sized door a little to the side of the main one.

"Indeed we have!"

And she will set about fixing and reinforcing her gloves and other leathers, now that she has access to a workshop!

Allison waits in a corner of the workshop. She appears to be meditating.

...and then, she needs to see what her power thinks about fixing herself, given everything.

The whisper seems to say 'this is a mess' before metaphorically rolling up it's sleeves. The first easy recommendation explains what she would need to ask the system in order to bring her perception of time fully in sync. The whisper anticipates that she won't just be satisfied with that answer and so outlines a process for fixing it herself but the estimate suggests it would take over a month of work to do it safely and rushing things risks brain damage which might interfere with her ability to use her power and fix it.

She's willing to ask the system for some things, but she wants them to be broader tools rather than a direct balancing-out of attributes; this is why she was considering biomancy, earlier.

The steps in the month long process included power assisted biomancy. Her power doesn't know what exactly system biomancy can do without examples it might make things faster but her power doesn't know. Getting help from others could also be beneficial since some of the length of the steps is to be safe while doing brain modifications on herself.

Well, that seems like something she could ask the System about, if her power thinks it wise - perhaps she could ask it?  It seems chatty enough, if you don't count its opacity about its core priorities; no doubt it will readily expound.

After some back and forth with her acting as the intermediary her power decides that if she invests three points into biomancy that would cut things from a month down to a week and a half and potentially make other things faster going forward. It also offers other point investments that cost less but don't do as much to reduce the time. During the back and forth it determines that fixing things directly could be done for 0.7 mental points and 0.6 physical points. That way could be finished in barely any time at all.

Hmm.  A week and a half seems like a reasonable time estimate.  ...Would assistance similarly shorten the timeframe/required investment?  She's hesitant to spend universal points she doesn't have to; they're harder to replace and might well do -- System, do Universal points have any specific uses that cannot be achieved with equivalent values of points that are not universal, discounting 'converting into skill points'?

Universal points are able to be used as any other type point but have no special uses.

If she can find someone else with biomancy abilities equivalent or exceeding the three points biomancy she can instruct them through doing what's needed in 50 hours of work by the other individual plus whatever time is required for instructing them. Increased biomancy abilities may allow for faster completion. (For comparison doing it herself assumed 10 days averaging 12 hours a day.)

Well, then.

She'll go for those three points of biomancy plus one point in...

Well, she definitely wants to learn how to enchant things.

Specified purchases:

1 point: Cellular scale biomantic sensing and targeting.

0.4 points: biomantic components and spell crafting interface.

1 point: mana regeneration

0.6 points: mana capacity

0.6 points: core enchanting requirements

0.4 points: Adds force, light, durability and basic sensory components

Are you sure you want to complete this purchase?

...She could dither about what specifically to get in her enchantment repertoire for a while, and actually does preview a version where she gets ice magic (...or rather, doesn't, on account of the expense) instead of lasers.  But, eventually...  Yes.