“The successive rebirth cycle happens when the consciousness soul finds its way from the collective consciousness hyperspace (CCH) back into a new physical body.” V:A

-Prof. A.E. Wells with his promising student, Isaac Tolkraft
Of Science and Magic, Volume IX, 3rd Edition
-later modified by Dr. Isaac Tolkraft in:
Dimension Shift: 5th Theory, Postulate A

"When one's sense of self is exceptionally resilient even in the collective hyperspace, the soul may retain fragments of its characteristics and memories upon physical renewal." V:B

“Okay, deep breaths”. Allen slowed down inhaling through his nose and holding his breath for a few seconds. He then exhaled twice as long with pursed lips as if he was blowing a birthday cake.

Let's assess at what we have here.

I woke up dumbfounded, flabbergasted... gobsmacked. I definitely remember some particularly intense memories of my previous life (?) However, I still remember my current self as 'Allen Ashcraft' right now: the eight-year-old son of middle-class nobles in a place called Ravenhome.

It took some time convincing the maid that I was just fine after they heard me falling off the bed from outside. Guess they were even more surprised that I wished to prepare and change my clothes by myself. Had to get some privacy as quickly as possible and write down everything I could remember. Those 'memories' or thoughts felt like suddenly waking up from a dream, and they would soon be forgotten if I didn't record them.

At first, I couldn't believe this was happening… but then, would an eight-year-old think existentially like this? Maybe I'm still dreaming. Allen… Allen… I can't even remember my past surname. Odd that my old and current self is named 'Allen', coincidence? Ruminating as I jot it down in my notebook.

First contact with the Legion, humanity running away in the Spacefarer Arks, and the last stand of the Evernorth crew... can't seem to remember much before those events. Then of course there was Lunia. What vexes me the most is that I can't remember her face that clearly, except for her ethereal silver hair and piercing deep red eyes. She certainly had the most memorable and fervent memories lingering... should I? No, there are some things kids shouldn't write about. Better to keep those to myself just in case someone manages to read this notebook. At least the other stuff sound like an overactive imagination of a child. At first, I wanted to write my notes in the script of my previous life, but am not sure if it existed as just another common language here. 

Which reminds me of this point: Is my age my mental or actual age? Since I have original Allen's blurry memories, and clear Ashcraft memories… does that mean:

a) Allen Ashcraft is the reincarnation of Chief Warrant Officer Allen of the 2nd Spacewarper Team?
b) CWO Allen's soul merged with Allen Ashcraft?
c) CWO Allen displaced Allen Ashcraft's soul back into the collective consciousness hyperspace and these are merely lingering memories?

“Damn, I wished I paid more attention back at that Dimensional Theoretics elective”

Now onto 'Allen Ashcraft'. Glancing at the large mirror at the edge of the room, can finally take an objective look at 'myself'. Dark auburn hair, clear sky blue eyes, pretty average build and face... hey I might be quite the looker in a few year's time. Am a bit worried that I look a bit mischievous though. Then again from what I remember, that might not be an inaccurate assessment.

Born as the eldest and heir to the Ashcraft family, a small rural clan with little influence. Haven't seen much of my parents as they're busy with their duties back at the capital. Been spending more time with the teachers here and my little sister Alisha.

I paused writing, unsure on where to add that dream about the White Room. On my second night here, had a dream again about my previous life as Allen, but it felt separate and unreal. At this point, unsure of which are fantasies or memories anymore.

I find myself inside a white room. There were no doors nor windows; yet it had soft, natural lighting inside. It was very tidy and organized, tables and drawers were arranged in a very efficient manner. Books were neatly stacked and tools were properly hanging by the wall. Several complicated formulas and rune circles were neatly drawn on the boards by the side. Judging by the handwriting, they were meticulous and diligent. There were even fresh plants inside that seemed well taken care of. In the center of the room was a very tall column-like machine. It was filled with screens, keypads, knobs, and switches. Looks active and well maintained. A clear, pristine signage of Genesys Type A can be seen in the upper part.

A desk with a golden nameplate nearby caught my eye. Consciousness Assessment, Renewal & Migration Authority 88. C.A.R.M.A. 88, huh? I wonder if they were the one stationed here. A note was placed right beside it, In the same neat and tidy handwriting on the boards.


“Hello, Allen.

Go to the Genesys machine in the center of the room. Look for the brightest screen. Using the red keypad beside it, choose and select Dimensionality, just like you did before. As for the subset, pick natural over magical.

Don't have time to explain, can only keep F.A.T.E. away for so long. You'll have to choose it and leave 10 minutes after reading this note.”


Brightest screen… I guess this is it. There were plenty of other options aside from Dimensionality in the selection menu. Aura Sword Sainthood. Pinnacle of Elemental Wizardry. Psionic Mastery. Didn't even bother to scroll down for more choices. Are these abilities or specialties?

Even though I'm positive that I haven't seen this machine before, I operated the keypad and selected Dimensionality as if it was a familiar action. Upon pressing enter, I felt being slowly consumed by light. Everything was turning fuzzy until I woke up from the dream.

What I remember most from that though is the last part of the note:

“Whatever you do, make sure you can defend yourself by the time you reach the academy in seven years time. Calamity will strike once again. Get back to this world as soon as you can, DO NOT DELAY. Good luck.”

Something about that handwriting and tone seemed familiar and made me trust the message. It felt like a reliable and ominous warning. I was going to do it anyway, so I guess some training is in order...

Managed to sneak out early today and do some tests in the nearby forest just east of the mansion. Found a small clearing where I could conduct some tests. From what I remember, Dimensionality encapsulated the travel between dimensional planes, such as time and space. Warp gates to far away places and pocket dimensions for storage are just some of its fields of study. Dr. Tolkraft even hypothesized that It could unlock the secrets on how to become a higher dimensional being. Think of us as three-dimensional creatures, while Gods are 5th / 7th dimensional beings unconstrained by time, space and reasoning. That was the theory anyway.

“Status! Menu! Status menu!” Allen felt a little embarrassed as he was trying to bring out his interface from his favorite games and novels. Just a little, ok? Well, it was worth a shot. Guess things aren't that easy.

Small steps then.

From what I remember back in my previous life, I could start with small warp discs… That is, if I still have that ability. You can't just assume that the mechanics and rules are the same for this world. That's why I have to be patient in thorough with the testing.

Vnggg. A very faint hum accompanied the warp disc. It was a small flat circle suspended midair, about 6 inches in diameter. With another flick of the wrist, Allen manifested its twin disc. He cautiously threw a small pebble in the first then watch it go through the other.

Interesting…

Allen clipped the pencil back into his small notebook. He went back a few pages to read the results of today's experiments.

Dimensionality Testing:

Warp Disc Size: max 6 inches, min 1/2 inch.

Range: 10 meters in a sphere around me.

Activation Timing: Instantaneous upon activation and deactivation. Lasts for 2 minutes when left alone.

Cast Delay: None to minimal. Can activate them in different spots as fast as I can think about them. Placed a pair of them side by side, then opened and closed them as fast as I could. They looked like flickering small screens.

Simultaneous instances: 5 non-activated warp discs, 2 pairs of twin discs.

Hands help with aiming: Maybe, It does seem a bit more accurate when I stretch out my hands towards the direction I wish it to materialize in.

Can move the discs around after activation: No.

Sight limitations: No. Tested with falling leaves behind me and behind a tree blocking my vision.

Creation from memory: Yes. Can activate on certain points I think about or 'save' to my memory. Still have the current range limitation.

Momentum conservation: Yes. Don't have an accurate way to test yet, but items' speed seem to be the same upon exiting the paired warp disc.

Time Delay: None. Tried using a pair of pocket watches I 'borrowed' from my father's study. At least there doesn't seem to be any changes when I kept passing one through the warp discs and comparing the seconds with the control watch.

Warp inside solids: No, could only create the discs until edges of solids, even in semi-permeable ones like dandelion seeds.

Warp inside liquids: Yes, tried on a nearby stream. Water flows as if they're connected with a pipe.

Warp with air: Yes, tried with smoke from a small lit match.

Can change warp disc size after activation: Yes. Tried it with water to propel it further, like squeezing the end of a hose.

'Cutting' by suddenly turning off the discs when an item is midway between the two: Yes for liquids and gas, no for solids.

When solids are midway between twin discs and is suddenly deactivated: Repelled or deactivation. If most of the item has yet to pass the disc, it is repelled back out the entry disc. When most has already passed, it's repelled out the exit disc. Repelling force is weak. If the item cannot be pushed back (if it's against solid rock or a wall) the warp discs are deactivated. If it cannot be pushed back, and the entry disc is right in front of a solid object, the item would be fused to that solid. –Hmmm, this could be dangerous. Let's put a pin on this for now.

Non-activated disc: Just a single disc without a 'paired' entry/exit disc. Almost invisible, but I could feel their presence. Helpful in 'feeling' my way through a solid that blocks my vision. I can just keep trying to create non-activated warp discs ahead and ahead of a boulder until it works... will then know its thickness.

Simultaneous Entry - Exit: Yes. Items can go through each other from the opposite warp disc at the same time.

Live beings: Yes. Tested on a grasshopper I caught and my longish hair.

Change paired disc midway: No

Asymmetric Entry - Exit: No. Single entry with multiple exits. One of Lunia's warp techniques to create temporal clones that lasts for a few minutes. Wishful thinking.

Personal pocket dimension: I wish. Haven't been able to reach that level in my previous life, tried it anyway.

Now for the fun part.

Chain warping and infinite looping: Yes, hoped as much after it conserved momentum. Threw a small rock in the middle of discs A and B, facing each other and arranged vertically. It would fall down into B, where it would exit above on A, falling again into B. It would keep looping until it had terminal velocity, then would suddenly change A into a horizontal disc; shooting out the rock for quite a distance. 

Assuming the same laws of my previous world for the time needed to reach terminal velocity:
Acceleration due to gravity: 9.8 m/s^2
Air density: 1.225 kg/m^3)
'Guesstimates' of the rock's mass, cross-sectional area and drag coefficient.

Scribbles formulas on the notebook…
“That would bring me 5–7ish seconds for terminal velocity, it should shoot around 55+ ish kph”. Too much math hurts my brain… probably messed up somewhere, but the initial results were close enough for now.

At least I won't need to do sniping calculations at this range. I miss my sniper rifle though. Before I was Chief Warrant Officer as a warping specialist, I was a member of a marksmanship/ reconnaissance unit.

While the earlier experiments were done in a flash, this was taking quite some time. Aiming was tricky, especially at how I placed the exit warp disc at different angles to improve the distance. Reckon I have 30–40 yards of effective range on torso-sized targets with this technique right now. Definitely need more practice. Will do some optimizations with tapered rocks or added weights to heavy crossbow bolts next time. Can probably shoot better with a bow or crossbow, but that will be tiring for this young body.

Had a lot of the same primary limitations as well during my earlier years. Hopefully, more abilities are unlocked the same way: through constant training and use, and just keep trying abilities until they work. 

“It would have been nice if I didn't need to write this down and had a USER INTERFACE”. Allen thinks aloud and looks around the forest expectantly. He sighs. Every parallel world transferee should have a magical status menu, right?

If there's one thing I'm very grateful for though is that I'm not tired because my Dimensionality isn't magic, it's an ability. Back in my previous world, those with special gifts either had magical potential, or a singular special ability as a Natural. Magicals are able to cast a multitude of spells and phenomena, but use up mana. Naturals like me are limited to just one specialization, yet can do it indefinitely as if we're breathing or walking. While it's true that a 5th circle and above wizard can replicate most of my Dimensionality tricks, they could only do so for a limited time.

Well I should get going back for lunch, I may have wandered a bit too far when searching for a stream. I left a note, but the guards may already be looki...

Grrrrgrrrrr

A sound stopped me in my tracks, as I slowly glanced towards the snarl. I knew we were out in the sticks, but I didn't actually expect to run into a Snowcap Wolf. My mind raced, as I avoided any sudden movements that might set it off. Do I have enough time to speed up a rock and hurl it at the wolf? Do I run? No, a child can't possibly outrun that, Should I…

My thoughts were immediately derailed as it suddenly charged for a lunge. Its gleaming sharp teeth drizzled with saliva as if it has gone mad for its prey.

“Oh, shhiiii –”