Chapter 323 - My SI Stash #23 - My Harem Academia by Leecifer (MyHeroAcademia)

-Ah yes, mind control~ 235899 285981 253119

Synopsis: ???

Rated: M

Words: 17K

Posted on: forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/my-harem-academia-r34-economy-mha-start.12294/ (Leecifer)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

Author Note: I've been reading a number of these R34 Economy stories, and the premise seems like the kind of thing that, while absolutely an opportunity for a sociopathic power wank (sometimes literally), seems to me to make for a much better example of how to take a completely immoral premise and twist it for good. Subvert it for virtuous means? Pervert it for Justice? Either way, I had two ideas of where to go with this, so, rather than stick to one, I'm doing both. The Sister Story, Draconian Remnant can be found HERE. If you've read that one, skip down to the decision point in the first chapter, as they are literally identical up until then.

My Harem Academia​

In the beginning, there was darkness, and then, light.

Probably because someone flicked the switch.

For me though, there was light, and there was pain. Not some mind rending agony, not a soul deep ache, nothing that over the top, merely a sharp spike that quickly dulled. Blinking, having previously been on my bed, scrolling through CYOA's to pass the time, I found myself in a blank space, holding, of all things, a piece of parchment, my name signed in dull red at the bottom.

Freezing, not as much like a deer in the headlights as much as an animal awakening in a strange place, because I was, I stared at the doc.u.ment in my hands that had replaced my phone. It was certainly full of words, written in a flowing, yet somehow harsh script. It was just too bad I didn't understand a word of it. A bit of wetness, neither cold nor warm, ran down my right hand, which throbbed with a dull pain.

What. The. Hell.

Holding what looked to literally be a satanic contract, which I'd apparently signed with my blood, I looked around, spotting something dark on the horizon. Luckily, it didn't seem to be moving, a squat shape, and was the only thing in sight. The lack of any reference was odd, meaning it could be anything from a box of cigarettes, to an entire warehouse, and I had no idea.

Slowly getting to my feet, the change in elevation let me narrow it down to 'bigger a breadbox, smaller than a truck'. Hoping that my lack of shoes weren't going to be an issue, I slowly made my way towards it. The ground in this not-place was just as indistinct as the rest, neither warm nor cold, hard nor soft, it merely was.

That very lack of any sensation, in some ways, seemed to help settle my mind, which had been stuck in loops of 'What is going on!?!'.

Despite holding something seemingly demonic in my hand, my surroundings seemed more akin to Purgatory than anything else. Furthermore, as I slowly approached the dark shape, it was a simple steel desk, a chair pulled up to it, and, oddly enough, a tablet computer resting innocuously on the top of it, the only thing on top of the desk.

With no small amount of trepidation, I approached it. "Hello?" I called, my voice muted, without any of the reverberations that came from speaking indoors, but no echoes from far away, even when I called again, louder. "Is anyone there?"

Looking around, looking down, looking up, there was nothing but blank whiteness as far as the eye could see. Clenching my hands in worry, my left closed around the cloth-like paper, and my right felt slick. Looking to it, my palm was bloody, though, feeling my fingertip with my thumb, lightly, I'd stopped bleeding.

On a whim I knelt down, wiping my palm against the 'ground', wondering if it would absorb the blood, or just refuse to be stained, or something.

Instead all I accomplished was leaving a bright red streak across the otherwise pristine nothingness.

Standing up, I looked at the mess I'd left, feeling oddly guilty, as if I'd dirtied something pristine.

However, nothing else happened, and I was forced to look back at the desk, the chair, and the tablet.

Approaching it, worried that. . . well, I didn't know what I was worried about, I was just worried, I put the parchment in my pants pocket and carefully touched the chair, which, while hard steel, was the same not-warm, not-cold as everything else. Sliding it back, I took a seat, ignoring the tablet to pull open the drawers, only to find them empty.

Looking at the tablet, it was on, a black background marred only by a single white square that read, in English 'Please Insert Authentication!'.

I tapped it, then pressed my finger down on it, hoping it was some sort of bio-metric lock, only for nothing to happen. On a whim, I wiped a little bit of the blood that was still on my right had, only to dirty the screen.

Wiping it off with my shirt, I pulled out and considered the seemingly infernal contract. Lacking any other options, I touched the tip of the parchment, only for it to catch fire with brilliant emerald flames. Dropping it like it was on fire, because it was, I tried to scoot backwards in the chair, but the legs caught on something, and the chair tipped backwards, sending me sprawling.

Scrambling to my feet, I could see the smoke from the flames rising up, before hitting an invisible ceiling and starting to billow out in every direction. However, before it spread, it started to spin, the last of the paper burning away so cleanly there was not even ash left.

The smoke, a thick, evil looking, dark cloud continued to spin, tightening into a funnel like a miniature tornado that touched down on the tablet, pouring itself into the computer, before, with something akin to a sucking sound, it disappeared, leaving only silence in the void, along with the table, chair, tablet, and out-of-place blood smear.

Carefully approaching, sitting back down in my chair, the tablet screen had changed. Now there was a cartoon happy face, below which read 'Authentication recognized!' with a button that said 'Great!' on it.

Hesitantly, I clicked it, reading the new screen.

'Welcome User: Leecifer! We at The Company are proud to have you as our newest employee! In these trying times, the demand for Waifus and Husbandos has reached an all time high! As such you have been selected to help us search the multiverse for quality stock from which quantum duplicates can be provided to our customer base for a nominal fee!'

. . . what.

There were two buttons. One labelled in green 'I Understand!', and one in red labelled 'I Have Some Questions!'

I clicked the second.

A new box appeared, at the top of which was an unhappy face that was oddly ominous.

'Oh no!' it read. 'Did your recruitment officer not explain in sufficient detail? This has been noted but, as you are already a contractually obligated employee, we can only provide base information. The three most frequently asked questions are answered below!'

Unsure whether or not I'd just made a serious mistake, I scrolled down.

'1: If you can make quantum copies, why do you need new stock? Can't you just keep copying them?

Quantum copies can only be made a limited amount of times, between 8 and 999,999,999,998, before the multiversal limit is reached and a new dimensional analog is required to continue production!

2: I don't remember signing any contract! How can I be held to contract I didn't sign?

Memory of signing the contract, nor one's state of mind, be it intoxicated, controlled, or emotional, has any bearing on the validity of said contract. While regrettable, premature termination of the contract will result in the premature termination of the signee.

3: What!? How is that fair? Isn't that slavery!?

Yes! Yes it is! For all parties! Fairness is a social construct and employee's cultural practices are contractually allowed only in such ways as they do not interfere with the completion of their contract!

Those are the three most common queries. We hope this clears up any remaining uncertainties.

Welcome to The Company! "We Do What We Must Because We Can!"'

And below that was a single green button, labelled 'I Understand!'

Well. . . shit.

Getting up from the desk, wanting nothing to do with what I was pretty sure this was, I squared my shoulders and walked away.

And walked.

And walked.

Until I finally saw a dark shape on the horizon. A squat shape.

It was the desk. With the tablet. Still asking me to accept this.

I didn't, tipping over the chair, picking a different direction, and walked away.

And walked.

And walked.

Until I finally saw two dark shapes on the horizon. A squat shape, and a smaller shape next to it.

It was the desk. With the tablet. The chair turned over exactly where I left it.

F.u.c.k.

The blood on the ground had dried, and I was feeling a little thirsty. Putting the chair back, I picked a different direction.

And walked.

And walked.

Until I saw that stupid f.u.c.k.i.n.g desk.

As I approached it, however, there was something else on the desk.

A plastic bottle, which the white label on it declared to be filled with 'WATER'.

"Oh Go F.u.c.k Yourself!" I yelled, useless, at the sky.

There was no response.

Sighing, I sat, grabbing the bottle. Opening it and taking a sip it was, indeed, water. Not cold. Not warm. Not containing any flavor whatsoever. Just. Water.

"F.u.c.k.i.n.g Non-Euclidean Bullshit," I muttered to myself.

Well, I was either already f.u.c.k.i.e.d, either having signed, or having been forced to sign, a contract already, or I was just going to stay here, forever. Or maybe until I starved, assuming food didn't show up. Either way, I didn't have a choice.

Clicking the green 'I Accept!' button, a new screen opened itself.

'Welcome to the Waifu Catalog! Please select your starting dimension, and spend your allotment as you see fit! All choices can be reversed until finalized at the end of your initiation!'

Scrolling past that, I started to click through menus, my stomach sinking as I got a better idea of what this was. Of what the limits were. Of what the mechanics were. Of what I was expected of me.

I was a slaver.

Oh, it was dressed up with cutesy language, talking about 'ensuring loyalty' and 'For safety reasons', but it was slavery. The fact that the control methods could not be resisted made that clear, and managed to hit one of my largest triggers.

I hate Mind Control.

A person was their mind. To remove that, to change who they were?

It would be kinder just to kill someone.

And whoever forced me into this?

They knew it.

The option I wanted, the 'No Bindings' choice?

It was greyed out.

The free option, the slave/tramp stamp that slowly made the affected slowly like me more in every way, was already selected, and while I could choose more expensive options, I couldn't un-select the stamp.

"F.u.c.k you," I declared, not knowing if whatever stuck me here could hear me, but needing to state it all the same.

Maybe it was Naïve, but, if, when, I found someone I wanted them to be interested in me, not be forced into it. Any 'waifu' I bought to try to help me, even if they were just copies or clones, would come pre-stamped, and most importantly, they could not be removed.

Even the more expensive option that could be removed, the choker that reshaped their bodies and enforced complete submission, didn't matter because they all came pre-stamped so I couldn't just free them as soon as they arrived.

Looking over the point costs, the abilities for myself that I could buy, I started to form an idea of what I wanted. Looking over the dimensions, I instantly tried to go to the specialty option, the Tier 11, which I could use to get my own dreadnought starship, something that would ensure that, wherever I went, I could both survive and help others.

Doing so opened a window that read 'Your signing bonus does not include Top-Tier options!'

"Of course it doesn't," I grumbled, closing it out.

That sent me back to the drawing board, blinking as I noticed a white bar on the desk, labelled 'Food'.

Shrugging, I opened it, revealing an unappealing grey bar. With an experimental bite, it tasted like. . . nothing. It had texture, the firm sameness of most food bars, but while I could feel it in my mouth, swallowing it and knowing it moved down my throat, it tasted like nothing at all.

Looking up, where the smoke had pooled as if against an invisible ceiling, I grabbed the empty water bottle and threw it upwards. It flew high, a perfect parabolic arc that went right through the space where the smoke had stopped, coming to bounce with a slight crinkling sound a couple dozen feet away.

Sure. Whatever, I thought, not needing, nor having the tools, to figure out what was going on with this place.

Refocusing on the tablet, I narrowed it down to two options: High Power/Danger, and Low Power/Danger. On the low end, I could get some basic skills and enough power to fit into a safer universe without question, able to offer help to others, and to deal with those that would hurt others.

While I hated mind control, I believe it would be more concise to say I hated it when used on good people, which, to be fair, is ninety nine percent of how it's ever uses. If you put, for instance, if you put Bellatrix Lestrange, the mass-murdering psychopath from the Harry Potter series in front of me, I'd have no problem killing her, or putting her under the same mind-control spell she used to torture others. Death was kinder, but there were quite a few people who, with their reckless disregard for innocents, with their enjoyment in the pain of those that had done nothing to them, didn't deserve that kindness.

On the other hand, the defensive suite of perks could be shared with everyone I 'captured', and if, after I laid the cards on the table, they still accepted? That was entirely different. There would still be an aspect of 'do they want me for me or me for what I can give them', but if I only brought that up after we were already friends. In a perfect world they'd choose me for me, but in a perfect world I wasn't a f.u.c.k.i.n.g slave forced to be a slaver.

So, yeah.

On the higher end? On the higher end I'd honestly still help people, still make the offer, I'd just be doing so with a great deal more benefits in a lower end death world.

If I allowed myself to get everything I wanted? Everything I felt I'd need to make this work? I'd need a Tier Seven world, at least. That put me in the realm of the New World of Darkness, where ancient vampires danced in their Masquerade, RWBY, where the gods had abandoned the world and creatures of solidified hate hunted those that were left, and Kingdom Hearts, which was so full of absolute f.u.c.k.i.n.g bullshit that, even with a freaking Star Dreadnought, I might not even be safe from having some idiot from killing me by 'removing the desires of my heart' or some other tripe.

If I bumped myself up to Tier Eight, while it would nearly double my budget, it would also mean I'd get dropped into comic book worlds, where gods roamed and World Eaters got scared off, Shield Hero, which I knew just enough about to know that I didn't want to go there, and Worm, which was a hard no. You literally couldn't pay me enough to stick my nose in that complete can of worms, pun intended, powered by bullshit squared, where everyone may be dancing to the tune of several different Pre-cogs, and with monsters that could, in all likelihood, kick Godzilla's ass.

It was either end of the sliding scale without pegging either side, where I could start at the 'bottom', and would need to take down or recruit seven people of note, knowing that their copies would be sold off, just to leave and head to another dimension, and do it all again, but stronger. It would be a situation where I would start weak, but knew that, with time, and if I didn't really mess up, I could get stronger while the threat of death was a distant possibility. Doing so would allow me time to get a good grounding in my capabilities and allow myself to grow, but I'd need close to fifty captures before I could even approach where I'd start if I went the other way.

And if I did go the other way? I'd be dropping myself in the deep end. Not the instant death-fest I could find myself in if I chose something like f.u.c.k.i.n.g Worm, but close. I'd read the details given in the system that would determine my path forward, and I could work with it, using a couple of loopholes to get access to lower-tiered areas, if they worked, but it'd be much harder, much more dangerous path, the points I'd get to spend absolutely needed.

So. . . which way should I go?

.

.

.

What was I thinking? One of the cheapest perks gave someone biological immortality. I wouldn't age, so why, the hell, was I trying to rush headfirst into this? This wasn't a game! Even going to Remnant, the nicer of the Tier Seven worlds, would be going to a place where I'd be fighting Grimm, literal incarnations of hate who wanted nothing more than to rip me limb from limb!

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, they were controlled by Salem, who was anywhere from Fate level Servant to literal Goddess in strength; I really didn't know which. I'd only watched the first two volumes before losing interest with how Jaune, the character I identified with, was constantly shit on, just like Xander was on Buffy. No, I wanted nothing to do with that area, especially considering that the way I got stronger had nothing to do with combat!

And the thing was, even with the more limited start, I could still get there. The only things locked into 'character generation' was how I'd start in my first dimension, and the 'no bindings' option, which I wanted but couldn't get!

The temptation of being a dragon was great, but what was better than being a dragon? Being a dragon in a place where they didn't kill dragons! Yeah, it was technically a wyvern, but there was a Grimm Dragon, and it was killed, or, at least, I'm pretty sure it was. I remember it being mentioned and then not being an issue later on, so I assume it was. Either way, not the place to be, where every Huntsman (some of whom were absolutely evil) was a discount X-Man with a Brute/Mover package. And, even with that, they still died. Not any many of the main cast, but, with the seriousness with which the huntsman academy handled Grimm, I think that was more plot armor than anything else. Something that I would not have.

No. Nope. No way in hell.

However, that meant I needed somewhere with a number of super-powered women that wasn't the deathtraps of Marvel, DC, or Worm, and one stood out beyond the others: My Hero Academia.

A place where most people had powers, but those powers were much more limited than anything in normal superhero settings. A stunning example of how Syndrome was full of shit, it was a place where almost everyone had powers, but that just heightened the difference between them, not negated it. It was a place where I'd have the opportunity to face against super-powered women that were actively evil, and whom I could 'capture' without worrying about inflicting a horrible fate against someone who didn't deserve it.

The next closest setting would likely be Bleach, with the large amount of female Arrancar, Bounts, Quincies, and so on, but, at that point we were back into the problem of fighting literal monsters that wanted to kill and/or eat me. And given the 'Now the Gods Fight' level bullshit there was near the end, I'd, ironically, be safer on Remnant.

No, MHA was the place to go. However, as a Tier Three world, I had a paltry fifty-five points to start with. Still more than enough to fit in, near the upper tier of the fighters that could be found, though by no means the top. It was a far cry from the seven-hundred I'd get if I went to Remnant, and I had a feeling that this infusion of points was definitely a one time thing, not available if I tried to go to a higher tier dimension, but it just wasn't worth it.

So, to start with, I needed to pick who I was going to substitute in for. I'd only watched through season three, but that should be enough, however all of that knowledge was dependent on me being at UA High. I might be able to get in on the strength of my own abilities, if I had time to get ready, as nothing I could afford would give me strength to do so from the get go. The problem was, while I was pretty sure I'd get dropped in near the start, I had no clue if I'd pop in during episode one, with the slime monster, giving me months to get up to snuff, or if I'd show up during the entrance exams where I would have hours, or maybe even minutes to do the same.

And even then, I'd show up as an a.d.u.l.t, in a setting where to be a hero one needed to start as a teen, and where a majority of the people I could 'capture', read, convince to go along with it, would all be in a position where that would never happen. No, I needed to swap in for someone, someone with a Quirk strong enough for me to get in instead of some random extra as there were no extras once the school year started, assuming whatever set this entire thing up wasn't being extra unpleasant and starting me after the exam. Which, given that it was making things more difficult for me, was very much a possibility.

My first instinct was to become Izuku, but that was. . . wrong. He was the one I empathized with, but unlike Jaune, he was on his way to actually achieve his potential. I wouldn't be helping him get better, I wouldn't be taking his goal and running it to completion where he couldn't, I wouldn't be helping him by any stretch of the imagination. No, putting a stop to his journey like that felt like I was taking something from him. I needed to become someone else.

Bakugo was right out, as I didn't think I had it in me to be that much of a raging douche-nozzle, and changing my behavior would be instantly noticed by Midoriya, just like Bakugo would likely notice if I took over Izuku. Also was the fact that, beyond being king of the douchebags, the kid was trying to go for a goal, trying to be the best and help people, and he was on track to do so, he was just an angry d.i.c.k about it.

I wanted to stay completely human, at least for now, which really limited my choices, but that was fine, I knew exactly who I wanted to take over. He was a nice enough guy, but his power could've been so much better used than he had in canon, and, as far as I knew, the guy had no real ambitions.

Surprisingly, he was Tier 3, as literally everyone else in Class 1-A, at least the female contingent, was Tier 4. Then again, I couldn't remember a solo fight he'd been in that he won, and the dude was kind of a moron, so that made sense. So with only five points gone, I had fifty left to go.

Next came the base pair of Body Talent, to get the previously mentioned biological immortality, and Martial Talent, so I could learn how to fight, both the actual fighting and how to command, far faster than I ever would normally. Another ten gone. Forty.

Trying to get Social Talent, the five point perk that taught one the fine art of not putting your foot in your mouth, something I still had trouble with, I found that it, just like the no-bindings option, was locked. Because of course it was. Scrolling through the rest of the options showed that Warranty, the 200 point option that let me bring anyone bound to me back from the dead, their consciousness saved while they were re-sleeved into a new body a week later, cortical stack style, was also gone. Thankfully, the number of instant, 'go die now', no-warning powers in this setting were vanishingly rare, but they weren't nonexistent. That was something to worry about later, I supposed, doubling down on my decision to start small and work my way up.

Instead I picked up Psychic Talent, which helped with any sci-fi related ability, of which Quirks fit right in, increasing my capabilities for learning just like Martial Talent did. However, on top of that, it let me learn other abilities. I had to see the power in action, get a sense of how it worked, before I could, and I was sure that it wouldn't be easy.

While the ability to just See a power and be able to use it would be awesome, and easily kick me to the upper echelons in days, nothing else in this complete goat-f.u.c.k seemed built to be helpful, dangling power in front of my face if I'd just jump into shark-infested waters please, and I assumed this wasn't going to be the same. No, it was very clear that I could 'rapidly learn' any psychic abilities I came across, but that meant very little. Able to figure out how to use a quirk that took it's user a decade to get a handle on in only two years? Well, that would definitely be rapid, wouldn't it?

Without seeing the perk in action, I couldn't get a handle on just how fast it would work, but even if it took me a solid month to replicate even the basest use of another Quirk, it'd be worth the fifteen points it cost, and on top of that it would make my own Quirk, and wasn't that a weird thought, much easier to master.

Regardless, I was now down to Twenty five, and that presented me a problem, as, even with a lesser group of things I wanted to grab, it wasn't enough. To put it simply, I had no lures. Nothing particularly great that could help me attract others to me, which I need. . . . ed. . . . . . F.u.c.k.

I was being an idiot.

The entire point of trying to make this work was that I didn't want to attract people using powers, I was either going to convince the people I liked without powers, or I was going to stamp and sell the irredeemable headcases like Toga.

God, the entire structure of this thing, with categories that called to the human desire to fill all the blanks, drifted one towards the intended mindset. No, I knew exactly what I was going to get. The main villain was someone who could literally turn you to dust with a touch?

Body Defense, which made one immune to disease, parasites, toxins, and most of all anything that transformed the body was the answer. Hell, that might even allow someone with a power that changed their body to reset themselves to normal, though that was not something I could test in good conscience.

And I had five left, but what to spend them on? Wild Talent? Not a lot of outdoorsmanship needed in the cities of Japan, but the Wild Defense upgrade that required Wild Talent let me no-sell environmental hazards, and dealing with Mr. 'I'm hot then I'm cold' would be easier with that.

Or I could get Doctor Who style Psychic Paper, but given Japan ran on actual paperwork that'd bite me if I needed to stay in place for a while. And I was. Similarly, I could instantly get great at s.e.x which, while deeply appealing, was something I'd already decided not to do.

But I didn't need either of them, and if I wanted to go for Wild Defense it would need to be once I had a surplus of points, which wasn't the case right not. No, it was best to think of it as a down payment on my one hundred point pocket dimension, and the portal machine that rested inside, which would let me branch out to other dimensions. With that decidion, I reached the end of my available funds.

I was out. Done. The well had metaphorically run dry.

I felt another tinge of loss as I considered the Tier Seven option, of the power I was giving up that was free for the taking, and the number of people that'd either join up with me, or that I'd have to take out, in order to get to that level from here. But that was another trap too, trying to tempt me to go for the golden ring when I already had the bronze at my fingertips. In some ways, it reminded me of what I'd heard about the dungeon in Danmachi.

It was easy to see the numbers on the display and not think how there were things lurking around the higher levels that could do shit like write 'you got stabbed through the heart with this spear' into reality, and then re-write causality to make it happen.

F.u.c.k.i.n.g Cu Chulainn.

No, I was going to go to superhero high school and I was going to like it.

Wait. . . oh god, I was going to need to go back to high school.

F.u.c.k it, if I thought about it any longer I was going to talk myself into getting into even more trouble. I'd made the decision and I needed to stick with it. I hit the finalize button, which asked me if I was sure, and then asked me if I was really sure, and then, as I hit the button a third time, the lights flickered, and I was still seated, only this time in a large lecture hall, where a blonde man, with the most ridiculous hair I've ever seen, stood under a spotlight at the center.

"You with the unkempt hair!" A prissy, or whatever the male version of that was, voice snapped to my side. Reflexively, my hand went up to my own blonde locks. Right, I'm blonde now, not brown-haired. "You've been muttering this entire time," the voice continued, and I blinked at how hypocritical it was to stop an entire presentation just to call out one fellow student for quietly talking to himself when the presenter had been practically yelling. "Stop that!"

Looking over, I saw the dark green hair of Deku, and damn he was smaller than I thought he'd be. As I sat back and Iida, definitely the prick I remembered, 'let' the lecture continue, I could feel a second set of memories slot themselves in place in my mind, very much a feeling of otherness to them, just as described, with no danger of psychological contamination. The memories lacked any emotional pull, like a very detailed movie I recalled seeing instead of something I lived through.

The guy I took over wasn't dead, not really, we'd just. . . merged? Or at least I hoped we had. Either way, I couldn't think of what else had happened, the fleeting understanding of the process that'd flitted across my mind (Something about rewriting quantum uncertainties?) was already out of my head before I could get a handle on it. All that left me now was a second set of memories, and a secondary identity I could pull from, even as the benefits of a perfect physique already made him different then what I vaguely remembered.

The man I now was had no real ambitions, other than to be liked, which he'd had some luck with until he'd pushed away the shallow 'like him 'cause he's hot' people and went all 'like me for me'. I could understand that, hell, it was one of the things that I wanted, more than I liked to admit, but I didn't have this guy's looks, or his support, or his power. This kid coasted on the strength of his Quirk, never developing it in any direction but in brute force applications, and was lacking in social graces as much as I was. That said the bits that he'd figured out still helped me a little to understand some things, just like, if he was the dominant one, my memories would've helped him be less of a pervert, or at least not as open about it. It was no Social Talent, but every bit helped.

However, while the guy had some tactical know-how, which built upon my own, he was, to put it bluntly, kind of an idiot. Hearing the man I now remembered was Present Mic finish up the briefing I'd already heard once before, I let a few sparks dance between my fingertips, ignoring the grumbling of the kid next to me. While I wished I had more time, I could still work with this, and pass the exam.

And then?

The sky was the limit.