Blinding light entered Alex’s vision. He felt like he could see both everything and nothing. He soared past nebulas and blackholes at speeds so fast he couldn’t take anything in. He was moving extremely fast, yet he didn’t get the feeling that he was moving at all. It’s wasn’t like when he went to the amusement park when he was younger. He didn’t feel the lurch when he began moving, nor did he feel his stomach continue with inertia as he changed directions. He could tell that he was moving yet he wasn’t at the same time. It was really hard for him to wrap his head around.

After what seemed like hours, he finally came to a stop. He was in a completely white room. All of the light fixtures were white, the furniture, and even the decorations. It wasn’t even shades of white. The entire room was pristine. It felt like it was designed to put you at ease but the lack of anything different put Alex on edge. It was too perfect. It felt off.

The only thing that wasn’t white was a humanoid woman sitting on one of the chairs. Alex knew she was humanoid and not human, due her indigo skin. She had many green geometric tattoos on her skin as well. Her white tunic and pants looked rather comfortable and hugged her lithe body. She wasn’t small however and was easily a foot taller than a normal sized person putting her at nearly seven feet tall.

She began to speak but Alex couldn’t understand a thing she said. Her speech was series of groans and clicking sounds coming from the back of her throat but the longer she spoke, the more Alex began to make sense of the ramblings.

“…I thought they were going to fix this stupid translator. I swear he’s been staring at me for twenty minutes while I explain everything to him. I bet he hasn’t understood a word I said.”

Alex debated whether he should let her know that the translator she had mentioned began to work, or if he should let her keep talking to see if she would say something important or embarrassing. Either would do for him. He started to think of what might be considered embarrassing for what was no doubt an alien. He had visions of them croaking a slightly wrong sound at a funeral and insulting the person that had died. Or worse, maybe they all looked similar except for their tattoos and someone had the same tattoo as their spouse or something and the other person was just being nice for too long before it got awkward and they started making advances or something.

Thinking of this must have caused a smile to form because the alien slowed and inspected Alex.

“How long have you been able to understand what I’ve been saying?” she asked in a posh British sounding accent with a twinge of robotic timbre.

“Not long. I just heard something about a translator and then I got distracted thinking about something,” Alex responded.

“Well I guess that you didn’t hear much of what I said at all then did you. Even if the translator was working you probably wouldn’t have paid attention. I apologize for the confusion of your teleport. I am glad to say that no malfunctions occurred during your transportation to the Forge’s training facility.”

“What would a malfunction have looked like?”

“Well first of all we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I wouldn’t be talking to you at all but to your next of kin regarding recompense for…” she trailed off. “You know that isn’t important right now. We only have a limited time before you are removed from here and we spent nearly half of it figuring out this stupid translator. Speaking of which I believe I have accustomed myself to your language enough for me to put this away.”

She place a bracelet she was wearing into her pocket and began speaking again. Alex assumed what would come out was the groaning sounds would continue but what came out was, “Now how does that sound? Are you still able to understand what I’m saying?”

He was dumbfounded. His face must have been priceless as the alien started to chuckle.

“I guess that’s a yes. I have already introduced myself but it seems as though I should reintroduce myself. I am Vixlan-Katz-ur but you may call me Vix. I know that many of the awakened do not like our longer naming system. This is my first time working with a human hence the translator in the beginning.”

She still spoke with that British accent but without the robotic overtone that’s he had before.

“How are you speaking English?” Alex asked slightly alarmed.

“The translator is only part of the mechanism in the bracelet I was wearing. It helps me to communicate with others in languages I do not know, while the other part of it begins to dissect your language and begins to feed that information into my brain so that I am then able to communicate with you as if I have always known how to do so. Very handy in my line of work.”

“Can I get one? That seems handy in any line of work.”

“After completing your introduction and tutorial, you will be given this as a skill. You will not need the device I was using earlier as it will come naturally to you. It will actually be even easier and you won’t even notice that you are using it. Others will likely not notice either.

“What are you talking about tutorial? What’s going on? Why was I taken? I feel like I’ve been pretty calm and that’s mostly because I had no idea what was going on but now I’m starting to freak out. You seem fine but you’ve basically kidnapped me and taken me to who knows where to do who knows what.”

“Again I apologize. Had the translator worked correctly, after the initial phase of trying to understand your language we would have been able to communicate after only a minute or two. Just give me time and I will explain as much I am able to. Please walk with me as we talk. I have to get you to the next phase in a little bit and it’s still a distance away.”

Alex was about to tell her that he wasn’t able to walk and that would probably slow them down when he realized that he was standing up this entire time.

He stood in shock that he was standing at all. How was this possible? He hadn’t been able to stand for years and doctors told him that he wouldn’t ever walk again.

“How is this possible?” Alex asked barely audibly.

“You are in the process of being awoken. This has many benefits including enhanced regeneration. The awakening process has reset your body to its fully functioning state.”

“What does that mean ‘awakened’? You’ve said that a few times now. What is that doing to me?”

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Vix began to lead Alex out of the white room and into a large corridor. Like the room everything was white. The exception being the thin, blue line of light that flowed along the wall at around chest height. It went straight for a few dozen feet before dropping down to his waist where it continued straight for the same distance and rose back up to chest height.

At least it isn’t all white anymore.

The ceilings were at least fifteen feet high and made a type of pointed arch at the top. Where corridors met, which for some reason there were always five at an intersection not four, it made a star pattern in the ceiling.

“In short, you have been selected. You, through actions you have taken in your life, have proven to fit our criteria for an exceedingly great opportunity. The title we give to those who are allowed to receive this opportunity is ‘the awakened’ or simply ‘awakened’. We have developed a technology which is called the Forge. Its function is simple. Forge the champions we have selected into the heroes they will become. You have already been neuro-linked to this Forge, thus the changes to your body you have already noticed. There will be many more changes that you will begin to see and experience in the future.”

“Don’t I get a choice?! Why did I just get whisked away? That doesn’t seem right!” Alex almost screamed at her.

“Unfortunately in the past, the Forge took agency into account and the results were suboptimal. To counteract this, choice is no longer taken into consideration. All who have met the criteria on a chosen planet, are then selected and uploaded to the Forge’s infrastructure. Criteria is often updated to provide the best results, but no choice is given. We are understanding of any grievances held, however data shows that nearly all awakened get past these and see that the benefits far outweigh any potential drawbacks.”

Alex definitely didn’t like the idea of being forced into something he didn’t agree to. He could see the benefits that he was already receiving. He had basically received a miracle treatment as a signing bonus. Even though he didn’t technically sign anything.

“I’m not going to say I understand why taking choice out for optimization makes any sense to you,” Alex said somewhat accusatorially, “but I will say that the benefits are pretty good so far. I feel in better shape than I ever was and I can walk again. But, before I get too excited, what exactly am I signing up for?”

“Now we are getting to the meat of it. As I’m sure you are aware my people are not humans.”

“Obviously not,” Alex gave her a deadpan look.

“We are a race know as the Threxari,” Vix said without missing a beat, “Although there are many similarities between our races, we have been around much longer. The technology that you have at your disposal is stuff that we made in our infancy millennia ago. While we are old, we are not the oldest nor the most advanced civilization in the multiverse. We are one of the oldest in our sector of the universe however.”

“I feel like there is a point coming somewhere in this monologue.”

“Yes… While we are a force to be reckoned within our sector, we have recently suffered a collision. Our sector has collided with another, much older one. There are powers that we have never seen before. And while we have chosen to be a rather benevolent power, striving to usher in peace and growth rather than chaos and dominance, that is not the case with those we have collided with. It has been a bloodbath since the integration of this sector to ours. They seek to control us and we wish to find a balance that allows us to continue to be autonomous while maintaining our pursuit of growth.”

“That sounds difficult for sure but why are you going to random planets and forcing people to be awakened? It seems like this would be something that would be better used on your own people to help make them stronger.”

“While that is true it would not work. My people have devoted themselves to the pursuit of knowledge. Once we were a conquering people but we have evolved past that. Every member of my race has made a pledge to never attack another. This is a vow we take very seriously. Don’t misunderstand, we do defend ourselves and we are very good at negotiating to grow in that way. We just don’t follow the path of conquest anymore.”

“So basically you forcefully enlist people from other planets to fight your battles?!”

This was beyond unreal. Alex went from calm to anxious to outraged throughout this twenty minute conversation with Vix. How did they have such a weird moral compass. They thought it was wrong to attack other people but they didn’t think it was wrong to force people into a fight they had no business being in. From the sounds of it the Threxari could decimate Earth’s super powers without even an ounce of effort on their part. They wouldn’t because they thought that was wrong, but the people they were afraid of would and they were even stronger. It didn’t make any sense to Alex. And he still didn’t understand what his purpose was in this whole conflict.

“We have enlisted you and many others from your planet but we plan to compensate you and everyone on Earth greatly for this. We will share many of our technological advancements as well as share some of our knowledge so that you may grow independently of our aid in the years to come. We are not enlisting you into our ranks, as I told you before we are not a conquering power anymore. We are a part of a coalition of forces known as The Starbound Coalition. Most call it the Coalition. With them you will both defend our sector as well as expand the Coalition’s reach on the neighboring sector.

“We understand that your primary obligation will be to your own planet. To accommodate this, you will be returned to Earth after your tutorial is complete and will only be summoned when the need arises. With the help of the Forge, we hope to aid in your growth so that your chances of survival on these summons grows higher.”

“So not only do I not get a say in joining this war, but I also don’t get a say of when I go. They just tell to go and I go. I imagine it’s like this teleport that brought me here. A notice telling me to prepare and then I’m off.”

Alex wasn’t sure what to feel. He was elated to have his legs back but he also felt helpless. There was so much that was changing and nothing he could do to stop it. He was caught in the riptide and he felt like he was drowning.

“There are many things that you did not get to choose. This is true however, when you enter the tutorial you will be able to make some choices that will have great effect on your future,” Vix said grasping at something to change the mood of their discussion.

This did little to aid Alex in feeling more at ease but it did grant him some solace. He would have at least a little say in his life it seemed.

“What choices?” Alex asked curtly.

“Your power selections of course. The Forge is here to grant you power and to help you cultivate that seedling of power into a vast forest. The only limit to your power is your own ambition,” Vix answered much too jovially, “it will make more sense once you have entered the tutorial. I can’t give you much information on the tutorial however as it unique to each awakened group that enters. Specifically tailored to you and your needs.”

“I guess that is something. At least I can choose that.”

They finally stopped at a large doorway. It was about twelve feet high and looked the same shape as the corridor. The blue lights that had been on either side of the corridor, met at the doorway and went all the way to the top where they met in the same star shape the corridor intersections made.

“We are here. This is the entrance to the tutorial. I cannot follow you past this point and I cannot help you anymore either. I am sorry that our time was short and I am also sorry for the limited information I was able to give to you. I wish you the best in your tutorial and in your future summons and endeavors.”

Vix started to walk away but Alex stopped her.

“Please just answer a few more questions. Why did you pick Earth of all places? What about us stuck out to you? And who are we even up against?”

“These are the last questions and then you must enter your tutorial. The reason we picked Earth is simple. You are in our sector. We have largely left you alone due to the fact that your technology was so primitive. The collision of sectors obviously changed that. As for what stuck out, I’m not sure. The Forge detected a rather large number of people that were potential candidates for awakening. More than we have seen on any one planet. And to answer your final question, our main threat at the moment is The Qurath.”

With that Vix walked away briskly not leaving any time to ask more questions. Alex received a prompt.

Welcome to the tutorial. Please enter and make class decisions.

Without any other option Alex turned and entered the tutorial.