Nanites in a fantasy

Sam jolted awake in a white Room. They were a They, as at the moment they could not remember what they were. They rubbed a hand over their face or at least they tried. They didn't have hands wait where they supposed to have hands. Why were they having such a hard time thinking?

“Ahh you're finally aware. Give it a moment and it should all come back to you.” A voice said seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

They tried to speak but they couldn't or do anything really else. So, they just did it the voice said and just sat? Float? They waited and yeah after a few minutes their mind began to clear…. Wait they died! They remembered seeing the large truck coming at them, If they swerved to the left, they would have hit the kids that they were trying to avoid and to the right was a wall. He was going to hit something no matter what. Then, then he was just here.

“Good you should be aware enough to now make an informed decision. To explain you died and you didn't have a preferred religion, so we aren't exactly sure where to send you. You have a few options available though I will say your act of self sacrifice in your final moments opened up most of them. Before I present you with the list. Your options can be boiled down to two primary decisions reincarnation which due to your last act you have just enough to do a… Oh what is it you mortals call it an isekai. Though I will warn you, you won't have much to work with if you go that route without making sacrifices. The second option is to head to an afterlife of your choice. But in order to save myself from the typical questions you mortals tend to prattle upon. No, the afterlife is not eternal think of it a bit like a cleansing or warm bath. A pleasant time but the longer you spend there the less you will be you until one day you are nothing more than a blank slate and are reborn. The only reason why it's a different classification from reincarnation is beyond obvious. The afterlife is a reward, but the cleansing is far more thorough. Reincarnations do not retain most of their memories and what little they do would be simple deja vu or strange dreams. The problem is they tend to keep whatever weird quirks they developed from their previous life. Sometimes this is a blessing, sometimes a curse. Some of the most famous prodigies or infamous beings from your world were reincarnates. And no, they did not know this, despite some information carrying over. Now unless you have any questions you may make your decision.” The voice said as a screen appeared in front of him along with a sort of body.

It was transparent and lacked key details but at least it had limbs and working hands. Thankfully their didn't seem to be any time limits and this body, if you could even call it that. Lacked any form of needs which gave him plenty of time to consider his option of which there weren't a lot. Apparently, this whole system worked on some form of point values and Sam didn't have a lot of points. He could buy the isekai ability, but he had no control over what or where he ended up as. As all those were too expensive. The only things he could afford were things like bacteria or simple single cell organisms.

‘Wait.’

He flipped through the list of available worlds which he couldn't afford. Fantasy, sci-fi, grimdark, the list went on. Curiously he goes back to the species panel. And he couldn't find any non organic species.

“Hey quick question I only see organic species in this. Like plants, animals and even bacteria but if I'm not wrong even in my world we had already figured out stuff like silicon could sustain life. So, living crystals should be a possibility. And I know there are tons of things in fantasy and so on that are made of elements. And sci-fi has robots that are sentient as well. Am I limited to just these or can I opt in to others.”

“You could but it is a jarring difference compared to what you are used to from your previous life. That's why they are not listed. That being said let me know what you were looking for and I will see if it is available.” The voice said clearly bored with the conversation.

“What about a nanobot swarm I mean you don't even have to start me off with a large swarm if it’s going to cost me more points. Well so long as they have the capability of reproducing.”

“Ah you have a mind in you after all. That's quite an interesting proposal. Very few are brave enough to go that route….. Maybe you won't be such a disappointment after all.” As the voice said that the screen shifted, and Sam found himself staring at a new option menu.

[Race: Grey Goo. Starting size: 0.05 ML. Total drones: 36995432. Skills: Replication.]

[WARNING: current swarm size is too small to contain users consciousness.]

[Penalties: Due to current swarm being too small to house even a limited version of swarm consciousness. In solution a fragile crystalline matrix has been granted as a boon. This small crystal orb is weaker than glass and is your mind and soul until such time as you can find a way to fully transition into the swarm host consciousness.]

[Notice: The orb additionally contains basic blueprint structures for new nanobots as well as the required programming and a limited power source. Note this power source cannot maintain a large swarm of nanobots. An additional power source will need to be located.]

A surprisingly useful penalty in Sam's opinion and one that even granted him a few points. Not a lot of them mind you but enough he was able to pick up two skills. Printing and research and he could barely afford research, it being one the most expensive skills for the class but its description made it clear it was necessary.

[Research: Research replaces the random and accomplishment set skill system with the time based intelligence system. While not allowing you to unlock new skills. This skill helps with the development of tools scientifical formula and general upgrades.]

“You’re not as dumb as you look boy. I’m surprised you caught that yes most mechanical creatures cannot integrate with the mechanics of higher worlds another reason why they aren’t normally on the list. Your earth being one of the lower planes does not have access to the benefits and foes the higher planes enjoy. It’s for that very reason planes like your world are not invaded by stronger worlds. Because despite physical resources there isn't much there to offer. Yes, worlds like these tend to eventually develop rather interesting technology, they rarely develop anything that isn't achievable elsewhere. Regardless mechanical type powers do not tend to meld well without an organic base on realms that lacks the suitable technology. At least with this you will be able to develop the technology needed on your own. Though until your swarm grows large enough to function fully independently it will be extremely slow going. Your core only has enough processing power to run your personality matrix on the lowest value Any additional processing power will have to be drawn from the swarm network which would take millions of drones to form even the most minute amount of processing power. Well at the beginning anyways but this has the beginnings for almost infinite growth and almost infinite power. But it will not be an easy road. You must understand you're going to be starting off very, very weak and very, very small. That said this is one of the more interesting things I've seen in a while so I will allow it.

Sam then felt a pop like sensation and was simply gone