POV Rio
I was sitting in a waiting room, or at least what I thought was a waiting room. Everything was made of a pearl white color. It seemed like a comfy place.
'How did I get here?'
I got up and walked to the nearby desk where the receptionist would usually be seated. When I got there, I saw a small amount of grey hair.
"Um, excuse me?" I ask.
The person slowly turns around, and I realise the person is definitely not human.
"Ah, you must be the new arrival. Please take a seat, and he will be with you shortly," says the very gravelely voice.
"Um, yes, about that, where am I, uh, Roz is it, love your hair by the way," I compliment the slug woman monster thing.
"Just take a seat, and all will be explained soon, he will be done soon," Roz replies.
I wanted to insist, but I didn't want to be rude, so I just took a seat. I got bored fairly quickly, so I grabbed the really old magazines all these offices seem to love.
'Haha, I can't read.'
The magazines were in an indecipherable language, and the images were very confusing. But I pretended it was a fascinating read while I thought about what drugs someone slipped into my drink.
After an unknown amount of time, I was told to walk through the glowing door to have my meeting. A meeting with whom? No freaking idea. I just knew there was no point in trying to run, as I had tried a few times.
'Please don't be a big, scary monster. Please don't be a big scary monster. Please don't be a big scary monster.'
I entered the door and found myself in an office with a man in a white suit, whom I immediately recognized.
"Morgan Freeman?" I ask.
"Ah, you must be Rio. I've been expecting you," the man says while gesturing for the chair in front of him.
I take a seat.
"So, uh, is this some sort of skit? I mean, I know you got a great voice and play god on occasion, but this is a bit weird," I comment.
"Hahaha, no, no, this isn't some practical joke. Nor a misunderstanding. And I do admit I liked it when I played the human part for a while. I take a trip down there every so often, just to relax," Morgan Freeman says with a smile.
"Okay, so, what's really going on here? Don't get me wrong, it's an honor to meet you in person. The movies you were in were great. But last I checked, my birthday isn't for a while, and I don't have any family that would set this up," I comment.
"You're right. You don't have a family, nor any friends," Morgan Freeman comments with a small nod and a face that says I make sense.
"Ouch. Insulted by Morgan Freeman," I say sarcastically.
"Hehe, yes, well, I suppose we should move this along. I'm God, and you're dead," Morgan Freeman says.
"Sure you are. And I'm President of the World," I say with a smile.
I keep smiling, but my smile slowly falls as I notice Morgan Freeman isn't laughing.
"Well, you did at least stop someone bad from becoming that, or I suppose technically they would be Emperor of Earth. I must say it was quite brave of you to stand up against that autocrat even as everyone else bowed their head. Though I won't deny I am disappointed that they let such a man gain so much power. He was more blatantly evil than Palpatine," Morgan Freeman says while taking out a file and placing it on the desk.
As soon as he says this, I get a flash of memories and realize that he was telling the truth. That, or I was suffering from false memories because someone with authority was telling me that it happened when perhaps it didn't.
"You know that's not true. Search your feelings," Morgan Freeman says.
I pause and realise I didn't say that out loud. I slowly turn towards him and reach for the file on the desk. When I open it, I find it is full of my life story. Everything was there, from a freshly born baby to my eventual death.
"How…" I say with utter shock.
"I know it came to be a lot. Trust me, this isn't the first time I've brought someone here to do this. Take your time, we have all of eternity," Mogan… No God said.
I sit there for a while processing what is happening. It takes a hot minute, but eventually I process it enough to rejoin the conversation.
"So, is this where I go to hell?" I ask.
"No, no, technically there isn't a hell or a heaven. At most, there's purgatory. The waiting room, if you will. Now, you're in the closest thing there is to heaven. No, what happens from here is a bit different. You see, I like you, Rio. You got a good heart. Sure, you did some bad things here and there. But you never did it out of malice or for greed. As such, I'm giving you a chance. But I can't be too partial. Even I have rules I have to abide by," God explains.
"What is this chance?" I ask.
"I can give you a second life. And before you ask, no, it's not here. You'll spin several wheels. Each one will decide a different part of your next life. Where, When, Why, How? Those kinds of things. And don't worry, you get one reroll," God explains.
"Wheels? Like the wheel of fortune?" I ask.
"Yes, exactly like it. Just with a nearly endless amount of possibilities," God explained.
He snaps his fingers, and suddenly we are in a massive white void. Standing before us are numerous wheels.
"Now, the rules are simple. The first wheel determines what you will be. The second, when you will be. The third, where. I should clarify that this wheel is specifically what country, city, planet, etc, you will live in. The fourth, how you will get there or how you will exist there. The particular universe is decided later. The fifth wheel decides what your power will be. The sixth wheel will be which universe you will be sent to. Additional wheels can be added or removed based on the results of the main six wheels. Any questions?" God asks.
"Can the when wheel send me anytime?" I ask.
"Don't worry. I won't send you somewhere you would die right away. Every wheel is changed based on the previous wheel. So you won't be sent to a planet that is still in the forming phase. You'd die almost immediately. But if you, for instance, got a species that could thrive in that condition, then it would be possible to be sent there. Just trust the process. I swear to you that you won't get sent somewhere to die right away," God says with a warm smile.
I trust him. At this point, there wasn't much else I could do. I approach the first wheel and see the various options. Some were good, others were pretty bad. One option I saw that was particularly bad was an Oompa Loompa. Another bad one was a Kenku. I also saw Chuckles the Space Clown, which was not something I wanted to experience. Too much depression. In either case, I grabbed the wheel and gave it a real good tug.
Click Click Click Click
Slowly, the wheel comes to a stop and lands on Elf/Quendi.
"Huh, not a bad option. Some good perks. Magic potential, lives forever, immunity to disease and most poisons, incredible visual prowess, all around a good first roll," God says.
I nod and go to the next wheel. I spin it, and it lands on 07/07/07 CE.
"Whew, I can work with that," I comment.
I go to the third wheel and spin it. This time it lands on New York, USA, Earth.
"Okay, okay, is that NYC or just anywhere in the state?" I ask.
"The State. But it's possible you could be in the city," God explains.
I nod and move to the next wheel. This wheel's options were quite varied. It had things from a homeless hobo to a multibillionaire family legacy. And I even noticed some pluses next to some of the options.
Click Click Click Click
I was a bit more nervous with this one, as I wanted to have a stable base to operate from. And thankfully, I got a pretty good result. The wheel landed on a millionaire with a paid-off mansion. It even had a plus.
"What's the plus for?" I ask.
"It means it comes with some additional background details. You'll find what that is later," God replies.
I nod, and we move to the fifth wheel, the one that would decide what power I got. I suppose you could also call it what my Golden Finger would be. The options looked pretty good. It had things from items, superpowers, systems, and everything in between. I even saw one that said the superpower of being really, really rich. It made me chuckle before I spun the wheel.
Click Click Click Click
The wheel spun and landed on a pretty decent result.
[Template System]
"Not bad, that means you get a bonus wheel to determine what your first template will be. Do you want to spin it now or after the last wheel?" God asks.
"Hmm, let's do it after I find out which universe I will be in," I reply.
"Very well, then let's get to it," God says.
I look at the wheel and see numerous options. Some are good, others are really bad. Regardless, I had to spin; there was no point in worrying about what I couldn't change.
Click Click Click Click
[Marvel Cinematic Universe Plus Ultra]
"Oh, that's… not great. I assume the plus means that it isn't just the MCU, right?" I ask.
"Yes, I can't say what exactly changed, but you can count on it mostly following the MCU timeline with some changes. I can say you don't have to worry about the TVA. I wouldn't send you to a place where you would die within the first few seconds of arriving. Not that you would have to worry about that in the first place, as since you have a background in this universe, you will technically become a natural-born resident. I'll also be adding a boon on top of it," God explained.
"Oh, okay, uh, how long will the boon last?" I ask.
"Until Tony Stark is kidnapped, and it will hide you from anyone attempting to find you. Though I don't think you would have to worry about that," God explains.
"What about mind-reading?" I ask.
"Your mind will be a completely blank slate, at least from those accessing your mind. To magic users, they will believe you have reached a state of zen. Psychics might see it differently based on the person. You also won't have to worry about people stealing your powers; the Template System will be where all the power comes from, and it will never leave you or fail. Well, I suppose they could copy your elf abilities, but they wouldn't be able to clone you. Any attempt would at best produce a human, as you are a magical species, and technically made in a way that doesn't mix with science whatsoever," God explained.
"Hmm, okay. How are the templates chosen?" I ask.
"They use a weighted system. Based on what your previous template's power was, it will try to find a template with a similar level of strength. It also takes into account what kind your previous template was, and it will attempt to avoid picking something similar. And power is broader than just physical strength or magic power. A person's skills, genetics, intelligence, knowledge, age, and other similar factors are how the power level is chosen. You can still get a template far weaker or far stronger than your current level of strength; it just has lower odds. As for who it can choose. It can be literally anyone and anything. Human, non-human, it doesn't matter," God explains.
"Okay, anything else I need to know about the system?" I ask.
"Hmm, oh yes, you will get an inventory space. It starts at a 50-meter cube. You can upgrade it by sacrificing items of power or significance. You also gain a full set of equipment that would belong to the being you are assimilating. This equipment never takes up inventory space, and it can be swapped out instantly with a thought. Other than that, the templates will give you all the strengths and none of the weaknesses. So, for example, if you got a vampire template, you wouldn't gain the weakness to the sun, and you could still eat normal food. And you don't gain any personality traits, or trauma, or anything of that sort," God explains.
"Okay, that sounds great," I say with satisfaction.
I move back to the wheel I didn't spin yet and give it a mighty pull. It spins very fast and lands on a character I had never heard about before.
[007]
"Oh, wow, that's really lucky," I say with a very surprised tone.
"Huh, that's really odd, let me check something real quick," God says before vanishing for a moment.
I wait for a bit until he comes back.
"Sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure the roulette wasn't broken. But everything seems fine. I guess you're just really lucky, or unlucky, depending on your point of view," God says.
"How long will it take to assimilate James Bond?" I ask.
"Hmm, I would say at most two months, but if you practice and train, you get it down to under a month," God says with a shrug.
"Well, that isn't ideal," I ask.
"Well, it's not that bad," God says simply.
"What gear will the template come with, and is there a restriction when it comes ot the equipment?" I ask.
"You'll get his classic Walther PPK with a built-in biometric lock. A laser watch, an explosive pen, a bulletproof tuxedo with controllable invisibility, bug detectors, an assortment of guns and ammo, various disguises, as well as other basic spy gear that you would expect, oh, and his famous Aston Martin DV5 with all the bells and whistles," God lists.
I had to admit it was quite an extensive list, and I was quite excited to test them out, but I had one question.
"What if they are destroyed? Or what about durability and ammo?" I ask.
"You don't have to worry too much about durability. None of the gear will break down over time, and if anything is destroyed, it's gone forever. That being said, if the item is not destroyed beyond recognition, you can place it back in your inventory, and it will slowly repair the damage. Key word being slowly. As for ammo and, to an extent, fuel, unless the ammo is unique, you'll have to source it yourself once you run out. But fuel will never be a problem for anything you get from a template. Though I will warn you that almost nothing you get from a template can be modified. At most, you might be able to enchant some things, but that's a rarity; most often, you can't. I will note that since this is your first template, you're getting more gear than usual, and 007 is known to use a lot of gadgets, which further makes the list extra long. I just gave you the short version; the long version can be sorted through later," God explains.
"Okay, I understand. Is there anything else?" I ask.
"Well, you still have one free reroll. Do you want to use it?" God asks.
"Hmm, I don't need it. Can you give it to whoever comes after me?" I ask.
"Huh?" God says.
"Huh?" I replied.
We both stare at each other with confusion. God is the first to break the confusion.
"Well… I guess that's technically allowed. But why?" God asks.
"Mmm, monkey," I say with a calm smile.
God shakes his head and grabs me by the scruff of my neck as I realise I was suddenly smaller.
"Sure, I'll give your free roll to the next lucky fellow to need it. Now get out of here and go have fun," God says while tossing me into a massive toilet.
"Huh? Why am I…" I didn't get to finish my question before God flushed the toilet.
It was one of those toilets that are on airplanes and suck with the force of a black hole. One second, I was floating in the water; the next, I was sucked down the massive vortex to parts unknown.
"Ahh, I love doing that," God says to himself.