The Engram Scanner

Another day, another soul. Matias lifted the engram scanner off the patient's head, and took a moment to push closed their now-lifeless eyes. That's the cost of moving your soul and mind into a new body - you turn your old brain into a smoothie. He knew this woman from somewhere but couldn't quite place it; maybe a w3-vid star? Behind him, he heard Tynne's low voice chanting, and watched her semi-arthritic fingers picking their way through the memorized hand symbols in the midst of the Ensouling rune circle, the patient's new body at her feet. Most people went big with the changes from their former body to their new one; after all, ensouling cost upwards of a billion credits outside of military facilities, but this woman basically just took ten years off her face, and that was it. Admittedly this wasn't the best facility in the world; it was a satellite station in orbit around Colonie Novis, the methane shrouded origin of Ensouling technology. A lonely office staffed only by him and Tynne. 

He went through the motions of preparing the old body for disposal. Oof, his back ached. Only a few more years, and then he would be getting his own new body. Then, a magical hum, and the chanting stopped. Why? Tynne was the best. He turned to look, and she was facedown in the Ensouling circle, not moving. Shit. He rushed to her side and saw a bright ulfire light emanating from under her skin. A warning alarm blared, and red light blinded him. Beneath her body, snaking veins of ulfire-glass spilled from the runes and reached upwards, crawling up the client's new body as well as Tynne's. Hovering in the air above them was the glittering tesseract of the client's soul, seemingly the target of the glass. 

He wasn't qualified for this; Ensouling magic took decades of experience to understand, much less fix. Frankly, he only got this job because he was Tynne's nephew, and now he would surely lose it if she was dead. He grabbed a broom, and used it to push her out of the circle. Rushing to check her pulse, he realized her skin was burning hot, and realized there was heat pouring from the runes too. Shit. Shit. Shit. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to fix this and there wasn't anyone here who did....or at least not anyone conscious? Wait. The engram scanner had a scan setting; a step below extraction. Somewhere in Tynne's mind was the knowledge he needed. If he could get it out, maybe onto a hard drive, could he use his neural mesh to tap directly into the knowledge? People loaded skills into their neural mesh all the time; would magic be any different? Only one way to find out. 

He grabbed the engram scanner, jammed it onto Tynne's burning head, and ran through the process he had memorized over the past year. His hand terminal blipped "Process Complete". He tapped right into the scan and saw a thousand things at once - the feeling of sun on your face through methane clouds and a habitat dome, complicated feelings after choosing to work with ensouling magic, and finally, the tangible, jarring knowledge that the focusing crystals under the ensouling runes had come unaligned. He rushed to grab the wrench set and lead lined gloves he now knew were in the closet next to the terminal, and shoved his body through the access hatch on the wall. A short adjustment later, the alarms faded. 

Filled with the knowledge of what to do, Matias flung himself into the Ensouling circle, his hands whizzing through strange symbols and his mouth chanting unfamiliar words. After a short time, the crystaline growths receded and he heard the computer chime an indication that the new body was ready to be awoken. Wait. He forgot about Tynne - shit shit shit. She was still facedown, but looking at her, he now knew the radiation that blasted out of the terminal shouldn't have any long term effects. In fact, she would be fine in just five minutes. He went to put her in the recovery position just in case, but when he did, her body was cold. He checked her pulse, and .... there was nothing. Wait, he did it all right! He checked the engram scanner, did a diagnostic check, then ran back through the history, and saw, "Process Complete - 1 Engram Extracted". 

Holy Shit. She was going to be fine, and he killed her. It was autopilot; he just forgot to change the setting from "Extract" to "Scan". He checked the Engram file, and tried to project it to the Ensouling circle. Maybe he could use one of the spare bodies for Tynne? But it buzzed and the runes blinked red. What?! He could still access it with his neural mesh; Tynne's skills were flying around his mind and yet ... his contact with them must have corrupted the engram. His shoulders slumped, and he fell to his knees. It was an accident, but he looks up at the security cameras, and knows they might not see if that way. Then, the comms chirp with a voice call request. He debates, and then reaches out and accepts.

"Matias, this is Overseer Selwyn. We saw what happened, and what you did. Your quick thinking saved your life and the life of the client. As you well know, we reward initiative, especially when it involves innovation. Let's just say the Board is already very interested, and I believe we have much to discuss."

Confederacy of Stars Patent #4723.261A

Engram Scanner: A mechanical headset covered in magical runes and studded with crystals. Place the scanner on a person's head to capture a flash-copy of their mind. If they are alive, this kills them. When you gain an engram, choose a skill that person would reasonably have had. You gain that skill, with ability relative to the person's ability. You may change the skill chosen from the person when you wake up each day.

Ensouling: Ritual spell. Transfer an extracted engram into a living body, overwriting the soul within. On a failure, the runic ensouling circle will attempt to consume both the caster and the living body.