Milo was drifting in a space between reality and dream. An endless black void, illuminated by brilliant stars, each one tethered together by strings of silver light.
Milo looked down, he had his human body back… or at least most of it, he still had no right arm unfortunately. Well that much was expected, at least it would be relatively fixed in the Dream Realm.
[You have Received a Memory: Carmen's Hammer]
Milo then remembered the circumstances that had happened in the Nightmare. Reality set in, his accomplishments were nothing short of astonishing. He had never heard of an awakened tyrant showing up in a nightmare before. Well, maybe it was a sort of survivorship bias. Considering that anyone who was unfortunate enough to encounter an Awakened Tyrant would be dead.
'Yet here I am, still standing'
Milo had killed an Awakened Tyrant, of course it came at the cost of nearly dying. He still died anyway, by his own hand no less. Milo knew it was a desperate gamble, but considering the history he saw of the fortress it was the best outcome. The figure kneeling before a endless amount of corpses was him, or at least the body he had inhabited. That was supposed to be what happened.
However, Milo's interference resulted in the fortress hopefully not crumbling into a million pieces. At the very least, Milo had come out of the nightmare alive, and received two memories of the Awakened tier.
'I don't think I was paying attention to what the Spell said when I killed that weird looking fish'
The spell seemingly finished it's appraisal as it began to speak
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A ruthless machine was created to kill anything and everything in sight. Only meant to be a last resort for the people of Carmen's respite. Despite it's endless wrath, the machine ended its rampage, preserving the respite of Carmen]
[You have defeated a Dormant human, name unknown]
[You have defeated a Dormant Beast, Filde's Offspring]
[You have defeated…]
Milo became more and more sick as the Spell continued to list the amount of things he had killed. He was especially disturbed at the amount of dormant humans that were mentioned
[… You have defeated an Awakened Beast, Carmen's Shell]
[Final Appraisal: Excellent, your slaughter is as unyielding as your will]
Milo frowned at the Spell's mockery of his unwilling massacre.
[Dreamer Milo, receive your boon!]
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Full Metal]
'A True Name?… Holy Sh-'
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
'What? Evolve an Aspect… Hell yeah!'
[Awakened Aspect Obsidian Protocol is evolving…]
[New Aspect acquired]
[Aspect Rank: Supreme]
[Aspect Name: Machine Apostle]
Milo fell onto the floor… or rather whatever constituted the floor in this endless space. A Supreme Aspect? Most clans fought over those that were the rank of Ascended, and he had just earned himself a Supreme Aspect.
'Mom and Dad are going to be ecstatic. Screw the middle class, were becoming the crème de la crème of society'
Wasting no time, he hastily pulled up the runes that had read his aspect.
Aspect: [Machine Apostle]
Aspect Rank: Supreme
Aspect Description: [Your soul recognizes technology as an extension of itself. Circuits respond to your will, systems adapt to your intent, and machines reach performance levels impossible for ordinary users]
Innate Ability: [Assimilation]
Ability Description: [You can permanently integrate technological devices into your soul]
Milo let out a desperate and excited squeak. It was practically a blessing made directly to negate the loss of his arm. In an unfortunate accident... well, calling it an accident was underplaying it. A gate had opened haphazardly over his school's ceiling, and the ensuing collateral damage caused some heavy debris to crash into his arm. It was either leave it be and be consumed by Nightmare Creatures, or rip it off and get away. His choice was obvious.
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers..]
Milo felt a warmth burn in his chest, if that was somehow possible. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It felt so good, and right. A boost of everything, ranging from strength to speed didn't go unnoticed. This was the best he had ever felt. It even beat when he first held a girls hand.
After the warmth, came a soothing cold. Like pouring water on a piping hot sidewalk. It spread throughout his body, and then it finally entered his head and eyes.
A mechanical buzz suddenly entered his ears. Looking up, he saw a structure with multiple large wires leading out of it, surrounding a bright sun. His Soul of Sea was... strange. From what he understood, it was supposed to be a bright and lively place. However his was so...
'Futuristic, also is that oil instead of water'
Upon closer inspection, the sea of calm water that was supposed to be present in his Sea of Soul was instead oil. An iridescent reflection across the calm waves. Surprisingly enough, Milo could not smell the oil.
'That's totally not concerning'
Then the Spell's voice brought him back into reality
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
Milo put his hands together and began to pray to whatever gods existed, most of them were supposedly dead, but that didn't matter. He needed an aspect that would allow him to survive the Dream Realm, he only had three months until the Winter Solstice. It wasn't the worst situation, however he was younger then most. He was only fifteen years old.
[Aspect Ability acquired]
[Aspect Ability Name: Soul Network]
Before Milo checked its description, he decided to check on the two memories he had received.
Memories: [Pearl of the Deep] [Carmen's Hammer]
'Pearl of the Deep, could it be a charm memory?'
Now for the deciding factor
Attributes: [Prosthesis] [Iron Logic] [Apostle]
Aspect: [Machine Apostle]
Aspect Rank: Supreme
Aspect Abilities: [Soul Network]
Aspect Ability Description: [Your soul is the foundation for your technology]
Milo pondered what it could mean, his best guess was that his soul essence powered the technology he had on him. This still didn't negate the fact that most if not all technology completely fails in the Dream Realm and in the presence of Nightmare Gates.
'Wait... now that I think about'
Milo went back to the runes describing his Attributes, and checked the [Prosthesis] Attribute.
Sure enough, it was the same as the one he had in the First Nightmare
[Prosthesis] Attribute Description: "You wield a fluid prosthesis that changes according to your will"
If the Prosthesis was an Attribute, and thus part of his soul, combined with the Aspect Ability. Could that mean that in the presence of the Dream Realm it was entirely possible to use technology? Only time would tell it seemed.
'Still, I should probably prepare just in case it ends up being otherwise'
The Spell suddenly reminded him of his current situation
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: Cold Interface]
Flaw Description: [Emotions aren't necessary in the equations of a machine]
Milo slightly grimaced, on one hand, it could be a boon in countless life or death situations. However, sometimes the most logical outcome was not the best outcome, and frankly Milo had no plans of becoming an emotionless prick.
[Wake up, Full Metal!]
Milo found himself staring at the vault room of the police station. Struggling against his restraints to look up, he saw a very striking man, he seemed to be in his early twenties. With deep green hair and a noticeable scar on his mouth. He was sitting in a plastic chair, a silver polished battle axe laid across his lap.
Looking up, he saw Milo stir. Milo's nightmare by all accounts was very short. He had heard tales of some lasting upwards of several days, his must have been a couple hours at most.
"Ah, you're up. Welcome back to the Waking World Sleeper Milo. I'm Awakened Soran"
"Hello... can I get some water please"
"Of course, let's get you out of those restraints first"
---
Milo went through the confusing yet necessary process of debriefing within the police station, and having lots of paperwork signed by his parents. As they sat in the stations lobby, Awakened Soran gave Milo one piece of advice.
"I highly recommend going to the Awakened Academy. If you want to prepare for the Dream Realm, there is no better place"
His mom looked slightly more opposed to the idea, however his father simply nodded.
"I agree, but it's up to you, Milo. What do you want to do?"
Milo had no intentions of dying, in fact, he had to live. If only so he could get the sweetest Dreamscape pod that the world had ever seen.
"I'll go to the Awakened Academy"
"Perfect, just head to the nearest Sleeper assistant building whenever you have packed up your stuff"
---
Milo was standing at the gate without about nineteen other Sleepers. A vast array of appearances, some he could tell were from legacy clans, others seemed to be from families just like his. There was particularly striking young lady, with blonde hair, and mesmerizing blue eyes. However, upon closer inspection, her eyes seemed lifeless. It did not take long for Milo to realize what her Flaw was
'She's blind, that's downright cruel'
With a slightly heavy heart, Milo stepped forward into the Awakened Academy. Unsure of what to expect from his time there. One thing was made perfectly clear though
'I forgot how scary people my age are'