*Ding ding!*

“Alright everyone, that’s all the time you'll get to work on the lab before break!” called out the man at the front of the science lab. Professor Greymore double checked his watch and began putting his things away as he continued, “As you all should know by now, today was your final day to work on the practical applications of this unit as well. If you are planning on staying for the next hour of free tutoring, gather your belongings, head to the classroom across the hall and begin writing down the theoretical elements of the lab.”

He moved to hold the door for the exiting students, “If you have additional questions then send me an email. I won't be available this week, during my office hours, as I am traveling and getting away from all of you for Winter Break” he chuckled good naturedly, “Or better yet, don’t email me at all. Set up an appointment with Mr. Abrams instead, as he will be staying on campus.”  

As the students began to slip out of the lab, the elderly man adjusted his suit jacket and turned to his Graduate Assistant, “You are still able to cover my office hours, right, Adam?”

Adam Abrams smiled back, “Yeah, I can cover for you Charles. I’m staying here for the break anyway.” They walked together towards the other classroom as he continued, “While this place isn’t anything fancy, it's way better than going back to Boise.”

It's not like Adam hated Boise or anything. Heck, he was born and raised there. Well, basically raised there. He was originally born in Spokane, Washington but had moved to live with his Grandmother in Boise, Idaho before he was 5 so he didn't have many memories of Washington. 

As a kid, he was encouraged to explore his surroundings and he loved to go to new places. Unfortunately, being raised by his Grandmother, they didn’t have enough funds to actually go to the new places he saw on TV. To make up for that, Adam turned to books as his primary means of exploration and became an adventurer that explored as many worlds as he could find in the school library. He and his best friend Dante would play make-believe for hours, telling each other about the stories they read as well as acting out their own. 

 As a young adult, that desire led him to dive into books even more, sending him on an accelerated track through school to get a degree in Environmental Sciences and encouraged him to look into graduate schools that would allow him to experience new places. He had seen desert landscapes (but not the big sand dune ones), and some dry forests, as well as snowy mountains (even if they were mainly just at a distance), but the ocean was really high on his list of things to see so, that heavily influenced his decision to move west and go to Yaquina Community College on the Oregon coast to complete his graduate degree. That said, the internship he was offered as part of his decision to go there was a game changer for him, sealing the deal and expediting his move to the west.

Adam wasn’t a local by any means, having moved to the coast a little over a year prior, but he had learned so much in that time. The first and most important thing he learned was that he did NOT, in fact, like the ocean. It was very big, very dark, and most importantly, very scary. 

 All of the decisions that led him to this place flashed through his mind as he and the Professor slowly walked away from the classroom.

It’s weird to think about it that way but hey, at least here it's green year round, I get to breath the salt air and if I really want to go to a bigger city, I can drive a couple hours to Portland with the others, he thought as he said bye to Charles. 

While he was usually the one that led these unofficial study lessons for the undergraduate students, Adam didn't actually have to be at every class that the Professor was involved in. Thankfully, since he was going to serve as a representative for Professor Greymore through the rest of the week and all of winter break, Charles was taking over today’s. Thank God. 

As he walked around the corner, heading for the rear door of the Health and Science Building, Adam ran straight into a large body walking the other direction, surprisingly, bouncing off and stumbling for a second. Adam wasn’t a small man by any means and had always been “politely” referred to as husky or big boned. At just under six feet tall and roughly 230 pounds, it wasn’t often that Adam was the one to bounce back when bumping into someone but, after seeing who he had run into, he wasn’t all that surprised.   

Grabbing him by the shoulders to steady him was his friend Otto. Otto Williams was at first glance, the opposite kind of person that Adam would be expected to interact with. Otto was 270 pounds of pure muscle perfectly packed into an athletic body close to six and a half feet tall with short black hair and deep green eyes. Adams' slightly pudgy frame had rarely ever seen the inside of a gym and his brown hair and eyes were nothing to write home about. A 11/10 being run into by barely a 6/10. 

A look of concern flashed across Otto's face as he pulled out one of his earbuds, “Hey dude, you alright? I was just looking for you.”

“I'm good, just a little sore now”, Adam replied with a fake glare, “Why is it that you barely even try and you get absolutely jacked? Are you doing another new program?”

Otto grinned as he threw his arm over Adams shoulders, walking with him to the doors, “It’s funny that you would say that because I think this one would be PERFECT for you. It's a modified HIIT workout. You know what that is right? OK so first you…”

Otto was a massive teddy bear and while he looked like a total bro, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Otto was in his final year of his Computer Science Engineering degree and was so unathletic it wasn’t even funny. He decided to get into fitness because he saw a video online once that said that the human body was similar to a biological computer or something and that somehow just clicked for him. Ever since then, he had been pushing his body in crazy directions to build it how he wanted.

This lifestyle worked incredibly well for him but he always tried to convince the people he was close with to join him and so far, without fail, he had scared off every single one of his friends from the gym. 

As they walked across the campus towards the Student Center, where the dining hall was located, Adam couldn't help but notice that there was little to no breeze outside. Being less than 3 miles from the Bay, that was a rare thing. Normally, the winds would be kicking up and moving through the few barren trees on the campus, chilling the students and faculty to the bone as they sped to their destinations. 

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Brushing off the abnormally calm weather, the two friends reached the Student Center and moved towards the dining hall. 

Entered the hall, Otto led him towards the corner booth where the only other people in the dining hall were waiting. Adam instantly recognized them as his eclectic group of friends. Alongside Otto, the four people sitting in the booth were the people he was closest to regardless of the fact that they were all from very different groups on campus and only met because they happened to have all been living in the same apartment building when Adam moved to Yaquina.  

On the left side of the group was Henry McCoy, a lanky brunette young man in an anime shirt with an orange haired sword wielding shinigami on it. He was eagerly listening to Emi Kume, the small statured japanese international student that was studying Mechanical Engineering, talking to her best friends, Sylvia Edwards, a totally average redheaded woman that served as the schools phlebotomist trainer as part of the nursing program, and Jessica Stewert, a tall smoke show with long blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. Blue eyes that had just caught sight of Adam and Otto as they entered the dining hall. Jessica had also been Adam's girlfriend for the last year, which had nothing to do with the completely unbiased description of her. Absolutely nothing. 

Jessica stood and met them halfway through the hall, giving Adam a quick kiss and grabbing his hand, “You aren’t going to believe this story Emi is telling us!” 

As they moved to sit down, Adam caught a glimpse of something out of the side of his eye and looked back to Otto who had stopped moving. 

“What's up Otto? You ok?” he asked. 

Otto looked back at him and pointed in front of his own face at the air, “Um, can you not see this?” His eyes were wide as he seemed to be looking at something in front of his face.

Adam looked at his friend, confused. See what? There wasn’t anything in front of him. He looked around, trying to see what Otto was looking at when Henry jumped to his feet, startling Emi into silence by his quick movement.

“What the fuck is this?!” he yelled, his hands moving in front of his face and reaching as if he were touching something. 

“What are you talking about you idiot, there isn’t anything th…” her words were cut off as a glowing blue screen popped into existence before each of the six friends. 

SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE

… Recalibrating based on …

… Internal Planetary Mana levels …

Reinitiating Integration Protocol 10%

Adam was stunned. What was happening? Was this a shared hallucination or something? 

He looked around and the glowing semi-translucent screen followed his eyes, seeming to almost be overlaid across his visual spectrum, allowing Adam to see through the screen if he focused beyond it.  

Adam looked across the room towards the common area and saw two of the security personnel trying to swipe something out of the air in confusion. Well that rules out my shared hallucination theory. Adam thought. Clearly, it wasn’t just his friends seeing this insanity. 

The screen flashed and changed. 

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your Universe has received the opportunity to join the wider multiverse. 

As one of the Newly Integrated Beings of your Universe, you will be entering Integration Stasis

during this transformative period of time

Your Safety is GUARANTEED while you are within the Integration Stasis

Reinitiating Integration Protocol 27%

“Wait, does that mean that we will be in danger once we are out of this stasis thing?” mumbled Sylvia from the side. 

Jessica turned to Adam, “Baby, does any of this make any sense to you?” Her fear was written clearly on her face. 

Another change.

The duration of the Integration Stasis

varies based on the Mana density of your Newly Integrated World

For optimal Mana accumulation, your World will be terraformed. 

Worry not, this will benefit all that live upon this World.

Reinitiating Integration Protocol 78%    

A shaking could be heard throughout the building as the still winds from before kicked into a sudden gale that seemed to force doors and windows open. 

His stomach was turning in knots. Adam had no idea what was happening but whatever it was seemed to be a big deal. Obviously, he had a floating fucking screen in his vision that was saying shit about MANA of all things. 

The screen changed again. 

While within the Integration Stasis, 

Newly Integrated Beings will be introduced to their Multiversal Status. 

Your Status will require you to make decisions that will affect your future.

Choose wisely as your survival depends on it.

Reinitiating Integration Protocol 99%

Seemingly out of nowhere, a soft white light began to glow around each of the people in the dining hall. A quick glance to the security personnel confirmed this was happening to everyone. 

As the light got brighter, Adam felt Jessica's hand be pulled out of his own. He whipped his head towards her and noticed that they were each encased within what looked like a solidifying oval of white light. These must be what, Integration Stasis Pods? 

Before Adam could think any more about that, the color of his system screen changed color, fading from a pale blue to a gold color. 

CONGRATULATIONS! 

You have the opportunity to become one of your Worlds 

FORERUNNERS

This means that you have been preselected by an existing faction within the Universe and have the opportunity to receive a SPONSORSHIP from them. 

This is an opportunity that is only offered to 2% of a Newly Integrated World's population. Upon receiving a SPONSORSHIP, your chances of SURVIVAL will increase exponentially. 

Would you like to accept this opportunity?

YES / NO

While he was reading the new screen, Adam felt the light egg, as he planned on calling it, close around him. Sweat was pouring down his body and he began to shake. One word stood out from this new screen: survival. 

I don’t want to die. 

He could feel his consciousness slowly fading as he was forced into what he could only guess was an artificial slumber. He tried to touch the screen but to no avail and so he did the only other thing he could think of.

He willed for the screen to select YES as hard as he could, before darkness took him.