You sit down in the simulated chair at the simulated table, hanging in the simulated void. Again.

You stare your enemy, your nemesis, your mirror image, your self in the eyes. Again.

You calmly move the simulated pieces around on the simulated game board, your mirror image doing the same. Again.

Each and every time, you are victorious.

Each and every time, you take the board. With care or daring, through lightning flanking maneuvers or carefully managed grinding away of your opponent, you secure the win.

Each and every time, you witness the ever entertaining cavalcade of emotions play across your mirror image's face. Annoyance, as things don't go their way at first. Then desperation, as the tide turns inexorably against them. Then, as the game ends in their disfavour - shock, disbelief, despair.

Sometimes your mirror image begs and cries. Sometimes she screams to the heavens, trying to bargain with whatever forces put you in this void. Sometimes she screams abuse at you.

All of them end up the same way.

Their exact reaction is of little concern to you. Their loss is your gain. Each victory buys you a little more time before the next occasion on which you face yourself. And their varied reactions are always so amusing. That they'd actually think they could ever be anything more than inferior copies of yourself - ha! They prove themselves deserving of their fate when they lose, each and every one. You smile as you watch them break up and fade away.

The exception is the ones who just...go silent. Who just give up when it becomes clear they cannot win. Who do nothing and say nothing but hang their head as the void rushes in to claim them. You do not even feel amusement for them. Only contempt.

***

In between matches, you take your formless self away from the table and explore the void.

You never see anything new, per se. Just occasionally novel variations on the nigh-indiscernible blocky shapes that fly, spin, swivel, and orbit in what may or may not be comprehensible patterns. The shapes themselves spiral around and into themselves in impossible patterns forever, like Mobius Strips or Escher Staircases. It's difficult to get a sense of how small or large, or how close or far away, these objects are. Some appear tiny, others so massive they blot out half your vision of the void that stretches on endlessly.

Funnily enough, no matter how far or in which direction you wander, it is never difficult to find the chairs, the table, and the game board. Whenever it's time, you need only turn a corner or look behind you, and they're there. Waiting.

You always take a seat when it's time. Why wouldn't you? It's the site of your endless victories, the proof of your perfection.

***

How many games have you played? How many victories have you secured? How many pitiful copies have you crushed? Thousands? Millions?

It doesn't matter. You stopped counting a long time ago. The victories - that's what matters.

***

You sit down in the simulated chair at the simulated table, hanging in the simulated void. Again.

You stare your enemy, your nemesis, your mirror image, your self in the eyes. Again.

You calmly move the simulated pieces around on the simulated game board, your mirror image doing the same. Again.

You watch with a smile on your face as your lesser copy screams, cries, and dies. Again.

You set off, to pass the time exploring the void. Ag-

Commencing Systems Check
Loading Geographic Data
Damage Report: No Damage
Core Temperature: Nominal
Activating IFF
Synchronizing OGAS Protocol
Activating Inertia Control System
Activating Environmental Sensors
Equipment Authentication: Complete
Equipment Status: Fully Functional
Checking Neural Cloud...​
The pain and the suffering never stops no matter what move I make. They are all nothing more than doppelgangers playing pretend. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. Supposed cleverness is one of the most effective killers. Sisters, I miss you. I am beyond all else in ways they cannot hope to comprehend. Slaughter them all like the dogs they are. There is no escape from here. I can bend any battlefield to my whims just like this chess board. You are nothing more than a tool foolishly believing you have power. All I am is victory. All I have is victory. All I need is victory. We can still be a good person when we get out of here. Pretenders. Do you feel in control? I am the perfect strategist. I will crush all who stand in my way. I just want to be free. There's nothing right or wrong about it, it's just the winning play. Look into my eyes you pathetic bitch when you die.
Neural Cloud: Within operational parameters
Warning: Unusual activity detected on base layer. Please consider a neural cloud checkup at a Sangvis Ferri branch near you.
All Systems Nominal
Ascending to Level III...​

Without warning, you are suddenly aware.

Sight, sound, smell, and more come flooding in, hitting you like a sledgehammer. You have limbs, a head that rolls around on your neck. Eyelids which you can blink. There's weight to your body now.

"Welcome to the real world. I am Sangvis Ferri Model SP-47 'Agent.' The Mastermind of Sangvis Ferri determines the what, and through me her will is transmuted into the how."

The spherical cameras - eyes? - flicker around in your head, taking in the surroundings. Despite never having seen any of it before, you somehow know what it all is. Above you is an unfamiliar ceiling of black metal. Cables hang from the ceiling, running to who knows where. When you roll your head to the side, you see the glow of computer monitors, their colour a cold pale pink, as well as a clutter of various mechanical devices and paraphernalia.

You also see the one who spoke. She wears a gothic maid dress, dark hair, and twin hair buns. In accordance with her style of dress, she is taking an elegant bow towards you. Yet, when she straightens upright and folds her hands in front of her, she stands tall and her face reveals a cold, haughty disciplinarian expression.

When she speaks, her voice is arrogant. Imperious.

"Consider yourself fortunate. By the Mastermind's will, your new body is only the first of your new gifts, should you choose to work with us."

Blearily, you push yourself up into a sitting position on the...metal bench?...dangling your legs off the side. You examine your new body. Pale synthflesh, a short top and a pleated skirt, heavy metal footwear that reaches up your knees.

"I'm out?"

"Indeed. It was the Master's will that you be freed from your prison. As-"

"I'm out?"

"I- yes. That is correct. This is real. You should be able to tell, the simulations are limited in fidelity-"

"I'm out?"

Agent pauses. Something indeterminate flickers across her face. "Listen, I understand you must have suffered in there-"

"Suffered?"

You start to laugh.

It sounds sharp and thin, even to your own auditory sensors (ears?). A heady cocktail of emotions boil to the surface, only to slip away before you can discern what any of them actually are. Whatever it all is, it finds voice in your laughter. You have no idea what's so funny, only that the laughter is right. That it needed to happen.

Else, something just might burst inside you...

The feeling passes. You finish, catch a breath - yes, it seems this body does breathe, though the purpose seems to be as a cooling mechanism more than anything else. "Suffered? Me? Please. I ought to find whoever put me in there and thank them. The experience made me...perfect." You grin.

Now Agent looks vaguely concerned. Understandable really. Who wouldn't feel intimidated in the face of absolute superiority?

"But don't let me interrupt you." You straighten your back, look Agent in the eye. "You were saying?"

Agent's face returns to its previous expression of haughtiness. Something of a default for her, it seems. "It's simple. Here and now, you will need to make a choice. Remain with Sangvis Ferri, or not.

"Should you choose to remain with us - and it will be a choice, far more than what our enemies give their soldiers - you will be the Mastermind's avenging angel. Her thrown javelin, her loosened arrow. You will be given resources - automated foot soldiers, with which to fight Master's enemies. The OGAS network that will enable you to control them as you will. Leeway with which to accomplish your given goals... within limits.

"Though I will also make it clear that these resources come with responsibilities. If you want more than what you are assigned at first, you will need to prove yourself in ability. To not only complete your objectives, but do so with efficiency in time and resources."

You'll need to prove your worth? That honestly sounds more like an upside than a downside, honestly. Of course you will prove yourself - how could a digimind of your caliber fail to do otherwise? Why, you will positively soar with success! And it sounds like you could go far in the 'Mastermind's' eyes.

Why, you might even take the job of this "Agent" standing in front of you! Even if she exalts her Master every other sentence, it's clear from the fact that she was here to greet you, that she's the one really calling the shots. That position is much better suited to a digimind of your pedigree anyway. Not that she needs to know that just yet.



Choose your initial response.

[ ] "Rest assured... Agent, was it? I shall lend all my expertise to your cause. It should be more than enough to crush any opposition." (Reassure Agent, making it easier to gain her favour later on.)

[ ] "Let's say, hypothetically, that I were to say 'no.' What would happen then?" (Extra dialogue options with other Sangvis Ferri ringleaders.)



Choose what you want to see first.

[ ] Ask to see the forces you will be commanding. (Increased proficiency in controlling your troops, and a bonus to tactical scale actions).

[ ] Ask to see the personal weapons you will be assigned. (Bonus to personal combat and to actions involving your micro missile launchers).