Alex, Sophia and Ethan all sat I silence for a few minutes before Alex broke it. He was really getting better at showing restraint.

“I can’t believe we are getting punished for defending ourselves. Also, what the heck does it mean Coalition property? I’m not property. Did we get that classification when we were awakened?”

“I don’t know but I don’t like how that sounds one bit. What kind of freedoms do we lose by being considered property? Are we essentially war slaves now? I hope that is all they expect of us. I really hope they don’t have other desires for their property,” Sophia said that last bit with a face reminiscent of when Alex had watched a hot dog eating contest and one of the contestants had one too many. He had blown chunks all over the front row of observers and Sophia looked like she would too.

“I mean they attacked us first. I wasn’t just going to bend over and take it. That isn’t who I am. Also, we only got punished for the ones we killed and not the ones we fought. Apparently, injuring a fellow awakened isn’t considered a crime, but killing one is. Cameron and Lila didn’t mention anything so I’m assuming that’s the case,” Alex said while pacing back and forth, tripping over a chunk of road that was sticking up.

Why am I so clumsy? I got a bunch of agility, so that should help right? I guess I am still getting used to walking around again. There has to be some learning curve. I don’t really notice it while I’m fighting though. Maybe the Forge helps me during a fight somehow. Focus Alex. This isn’t really important right now.

“I killed one and have charge against me,” Ethan said.

“Me too,” Sophia replied.

“And I killed two and have two counts against me. That seems to check out. What are your punishments?”

“Tour of duty,” both said in unison.

“That’s what I got but it looks like mine will be extended for the extra charge. It seems pretty straightforward. We will pay for our crimes with battle. Not sure of everything that entails, but I doubt there is much more to that,” Alex stated.

“Do you think that it will start as soon as we leave this tutorial? Or do you think it will hang over our heads and teleport us out later?” Sophia asked.

“No way to know for sure until we actually leave,” Alex answered.

“I just hate this. I had a good life. I was happy. I felt like things were going great. I had money, success, and I could do whatever I wanted. Now, I feel like I’m in a cage. I can see out, I can still do things, but at the end of it all, I am at the mercy of the people looking in at me. I don’t know what it will look like, but they said that we will be teleported out when they need us. Will we get any warning? Do we get any say? The way it’s looking is no to both! We are property now. The stupid AI said so. If we step out of line they will not hesitate to punish us.”

Sophia had her fists balled up and she looked like she was ready to throw some punches. Ethan and Alex instinctively took a step back. They were both stronger than her, but it was human nature to avoid getting hit. She noticed them get further and this seemed to enrage her even more.

“There’s also my family. How are they going to react? I used to go home all the time and I always talk to them. I’ve been gone for more than a month. They have to be worried. Do they think I’m dead? How are they going to react when they find out I have powers? Should I even tell them?”

Alex had thought about a lot of these questions over the course of the tutorial. Of course, his family is dead, but what about Sarah and the girls? Should he tell them he got superpowers? Or should he just pretend to be in the wheelchair again? He was supposed to meet them that day. Were they worried about him? Did they think he had abandoned them? He hoped not. Hopefully, it would all get cleared up when he returned.

“There’s no point in getting upset about all this. There isn’t anything we can do about it right now. The only thing we can do is leave this tutorial. Once we do that, everything else will make more sense. We can’t worry about what ifs and the whys of everything. Let’s just focus on what we can do right now. Later, we may have more information, and then we can act accordingly,” Alex reasoned.

Sophia calmed a little. She went from a raging forest fire to a large bonfire of anger, but progress was progress.

“When we get back, we need to focus on getting stronger though. I don’t know about you guys but I’d rather not die in some space battle on another planet. The stronger we are, the more likely we are to survive,” Alex said.

“Yeah we should find each other when we get to Hillcrest. I don’t know if we are going to teleport next to each other or if we will end up back where we were taken from. Let’s exchange some information,” Sophia suggested.

Alex and Sophia exchanged their names and other means to track each other down.

“We should have done this with the other two. I think I know enough about Lila that I could track her down but I don’t know anything about Cameron,” Alex said.

“I bet I could find Cameron. That is if he can stoop down to our level. I don’t know if he would deign to work with us,” the mock in Sophia’s voice evident.

They talked for a little more and then looked over at Ethan who had been silent, as usual. He didn’t say anything and they both just looked at him expectantly before Alex decided to give the man an out.

“You don’t need to work with us later if you don’t want to. We would love to have you. You are an asset for sure and you handle yourself well. You don’t need to decide now. You have our information and you can find us anytime.”

“Thank you. I will think about it,” was all Ethan had to say.

The remaining three said their final goodbyes and Sophia and Ethan grabbed their stuff and headed through the portals. Sophia hesitated a little bit, but a look back at Alex and a goofy reassuring thumbs up from him, gave her all the courage she needed.

Alex took a second before he stepped through his own exit. He wanted to get a good look at his gains and his upgraded system.

Alex Sullivan

Race- Human

Rank- Private

Grade- G

Class- Shift

Level- 9

Strength-37 (51)

Agility- 22 (35)

Intelligence- 15 (27)

Durability- 57 (73)

Endurance- 32 (46)

Health- 730/730

Stamina- 460/460

P.E.- 0/730

Skills:

Energy transference (Common)- Kinetic energy applied to you by an outside source can be stored for later use. Energy that will be transferred must be released through direct contact of user’s body. Weapons do not allow the transference of energy.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Concentrated Thermal Blast (Common)- Thermal energy accumulated can be concentrated and fired in a focused blast.

Polyglot (Unique)- understand and be able to read and speak the languages of the multiverse.

Titles:

Private- +10 all stats, +10% all stats

There were a few differences. He now had a section dedicated to the skills he had learned. It looked like they were both categorized as common which Alex assumed was the lowest rating a skill could get.

He also got a slot for titles. This is one that he hadn’t even been aware he could get until he finished his tutorial quest. It added a lot to his already growing pool of stats. The percentage amplifier was also extremely welcome. Some stats grew nearly twenty stat points and he knew that would only increase as time went on. He did some quick math and saw that his stats seemed to round down from his percentage boost. Only full points reflected on his stat sheet. Luckily, his health, stamina, and P.E. scale with his stats after the percentage increase. This would mean greater and greater pools the stronger he got. He was not going to complain about that.

There were two other new items added. He now had a rank, that matched his title, and a grade. He wasn’t sure what that meant but he assumed a ‘G’ grade was not spectacular. He had only just been awakened, so it was not unexpected to still be considered rather weak.

All in all Alex felt pretty good about his progress. Things hadn’t quite ended the way he had expected them to and he wasn’t happy about the punishment he was going to receive, but he was alive and the better for it. He didn’t know how much stronger he had gotten. He would have to test himself with more familiar metrics, but he was already much stronger than any regular person. He wasn’t sure about superheroes, but he had a feeling that he would soon be able to test his strength with some of them. With anticipation, barely contained excitement, and a little trepidation, Alex prepared to leave the tutorial.

Before leaving through the portal, he had one last thing to do. He had an upgrade token and he knew exactly what he wanted to use it on.

Symbiotic Biomechanical Armor (Common)

Armor that fuses with the host at a genetic level. Composed of organic matter. Upon binding, armor attaches to host’s neural pathways enabling cohesive movement between host and armor. Due to its biomechanical nature, armor is melded with body fluidly. Enhances innate abilities of host through the armor. Armor is considered the users own flesh. When damaged, armor can self repair using host’s vitality. Armor can be retracted into storage ring that must remain on host at all times. Removal of ring results in a loss of symbiosis. Loss of symbiosis will result in the destruction of armor. To improve symbiosis further, armor can be given compatible organic material.

He mentally probed the system to initiate the upgrade and received a prompt.

Upgrade item? Cannot be undone.

(Y/N)

He selected yes and read the new item.

Symbiotic Biomechanical Armor (Uncommon)

Armor that fuses with the host at a genetic level. Composed of organic matter. Upon binding, armor attaches to host’s neural pathways enabling cohesive movement between host and armor. Due to its biomechanical nature, science is melded with body fluidly. Enhances innate abilities of host through the armor. Armor is considered the users own flesh. When damaged, armor can self repair using host’s vitality. Armor can be retracted into storage ring that must remain on host at all times. Removal of ring results in a loss of symbiosis. Loss of symbiosis will result in the destruction of armor. To improve symbiosis further, armor can be given compatible organic material.

Highly upgradable.

+5 Durability

+5% All stats

+5% Absorption of Energy

----------------------------------------

The description was mostly the same with the only changes being the rarity change from common to uncommon and the stats. Plus, it now said it was highly upgradable. Alex wasn’t sure what that would mean for him, but he hoped it meant that he could keep his armor as he got stronger. The stats were a very welcome increase as well, especially the percentage amplifiers. These were starting to get really nice. His strength was going to start skyrocketing even more than it already was.

With that upgrade in place, Alex walked to the portal with a large smile on his face. A smile that quickly disappeared when he walked through it.

“This isn’t Earth. It looks like the punishment has already begun,” Alex said to himself out loud.

He knew it wasn’t Earth because the sky was green, not blue. The landscape around him was made of red rock and sand and he couldn’t see any vegetation anywhere. What he could see was a large camp of people. Well, not people. Walking in every direction was, what Alex could only describe as skeletons.

They were all white, with chitinous plates all over their bodies. On their rounded heads, large mandibles protruded below two large black eyes. Their bodies were mostly humanoid, though they did have four arms. They also appeared to be only about four to five feet tall. They resembled ants in a way but like an ant had mated with a human in a terrible combination of flesh and chitin.

I’m going to be sick.

Alex looked around to see if he could find Sophia and Ethan. He wished that they had all entered the portals together as they would likely be near each other if that were the case. He locked eyes with one of the ants, which promptly made its way over to him. Alex didn’t know what to expect and prepared for the worst. The ant approached and, when it was about ten feet away, two more ants sprung from the ground grasping Alex’s arms and legs. He tried to work his way free but found he couldn’t move an inch.

These things are strong.

“Do not worry grub. We are not here to harm you. I had my associates grab you so that we could have a discussion about your tour of duty,” the ant man spoke and Alex understood him perfectly. The manner of speaking was awkward and the cadence all wrong, but Alex could understand every word of it.

“My name is Krizzik and I am to be your overseer during your tour. You will be joining my battalion on the battlefield. Do you have any questions?”

“Uh yeah! Only a lot,” Alex responded immediately with exasperation.

“I cannot answer too many questions. Our battalion is scheduled to leave for the frontlines shortly.”

“Where am I? What’s going on? Who are you guys?” Alex asked promptly. If he only had a little bit of time, he was going to get as many answers as he possibly could.

“You are on Saxar IV. You have broken Coalition law and are being punished. I am Krizzik.” He turned to one of his companions and said, “I believe he might have been damaged during his transport, maybe we should check his vital signs before we march to the battlefield.”

The other ant man, woman? Alex didn’t know so he just assumed all of the ant people were male until proven otherwise. The other ant man nodded in agreement. Alex quickly cut them off.

“I’m fine. I just want to know what’s going on. I just got here and you are talking about whisking me away to a battlefield. I know I’m being punished. Who are we fighting? Why? I know you are Krizzik, but what are you guys? What is your race? I’m assuming you are part of the Starbound Coalition, but how are you involved in it?”

“We are fighting the invaders. This is our hive planet and they are trying to take it from us. We are Saxan. We are members of the coalition and have therefore received their aid. We give aid when it is required of us as well. We will take you to our shamans and they will check on you before we leave. Then we will move to the frontlines. We cannot wait any longer.”

The Saxans began ushering Alex forward. He again tried to break free of their grasp, but was unable to. Unable to resist he just followed along.

“Are there others like me here? Others being punished?” Alex asked as they walked hoping to find out where his companions had ended up.

“There are not. We have been granted access only to you. You are the only grub provided by the Coalition.”

“Why do you keep calling me grub?”

“Is this not the correct word? This is what we call those like you. People who belong to the Coalition. They send you wherever you are needed. This is why we call you grubs.”

Well that shows what the Coalition thinks of us awakened. We are warslaves. Nothing more.

They arrived at the tent belonging to the shamans. Alex was pushed inside and forced into a seat. A Saxan wearing a colorful robe that looked a lot like something a monk would wear. On its head it had a sort of netting interlaced with gems and other various metals. It also wore multiple necklaces. In one hand it held a staff with assorted crystals and bones hanging down from it. The other hand was empty. The empty hand began stretching forward towards Alex’s forehead.

Alex pulled back from the ivory, bony looking hand reaching for him. His head was held in place by one of his captors. The hand connected with him and immediately he relaxed. It was as if he had just gotten the best sleep of his life, followed by a two hour massage. All of the stress and anxiety he had built up over the last month, flaked away.

“He will be fine. He had built up a large amount of negative energy, but I have alleviated his mind. It will be easier to communicate and work with him now,” the shaman told the other Saxans.

Before Alex realized he was being whisked away, out of the shaman’s tent. When he came to his senses, he could see a battle raging in front of him.