Awake. I was awake, truly, for the first time in my life. Words floated in the darkness in front of me.

And I understood them.

Phase two of metamorphosis protocol complete. Releasing user in 3...

2...

1...

Light. Sudden, harsh. I yelped as I stumbled forward, my paws unwieldly as a newborn puppy’s. They skidded across the metal surface of the box—a shipping container?—and then went in opposite directions. My chin struck the floor, stunning me. I lay there, trying to make sense of what in dog’s name had happened.

I had... eaten a human? That didn’t seem right. Anthropophagy was taboo. That had been drilled into me as a puppy by... Huh. I actually couldn’t remember. Or how I even knew what anthropophagy even was. Everything before this moment felt foggy, a half-remembered memory. Like it had happened to someone else.

Right! Words. I had seen words appear in my vision. Words that hadn’t been written on a surface, or displayed on a screen, but that hovered as if inside my own mind.

Wait, how did I know they were words? Or what a screen was? Knowledge spun about inside my mind so rapidly, I couldn’t make sense of it all. Every time I tried to examine one thing, a thousand others crowded it out.

Well, it didn’t matter. Not right now. I clambered to my paws and looked around. This was definitely the inside of a shipping container, and one that hadn’t seen use in a while, too, by the looks of it. How had I gotten here?

Oh, now I remember. After I had... *shudder*... eaten that human in my desperation and hunger, the words appeared. I tried to remember what they had said, but I hadn’t been able to read then. I don’t know how I knew that, but I did. The words had appeared, and...

I had been sealed in a cocoon. Like a butterfly, I’d been sealed away, and slept. And now, I was awake again.

Something did come back to me then. The words, even if I hadn’t read them, had left an impression on me. They’d said they were changing me, making me... more compatible? I didn’t understand that last part. Was I still me? Was I still a dog?

As I considered all of this, more words began to appear in my vision. And just like when I’d first awoke, I understood them.

Ten day metamorphosis complete. Race and stats have been adjusted within maximum limit allowed for beginning users. To initiate further adjustments, appropriate thresholds must be met.

Okay, slight amendment. I could read the words, but that didn’t mean I understood them. Still, it seemed to confirm what I had suspected. My basic nature had been changed.

I twisted my head about, trying to see what was different. My body seemed the same as before. Long nose. Four paws. Tail in the back. I wagged it once, just to make certain it was still functioning. My fur was a mottled black and brown, and I stood about three feet tall from my paws to the tips of my ears.

Everything appeared normal. I did feel somewhat weaker than before, but that could have been due to my extended confinement. What had the words said? Ten days?

I certainly felt hungry enough to have been asleep for ten days.

Generating new user interface based on debug recommendations...

Generation complete. In the future, to access interface, simply think ‘interface’, or ‘stats’.

Uhh....

Name: *Input Required*

Race: Canid (Advanced)

Class: *Unassigned*

Level: 0

XP: 0/1,000

-Equipment-

Collar: *Empty*

Left Front Leg: *Empty*

Right Front Leg: *Empty*

Left Back Leg: *Empty*

Right Back Leg: *Empty*

-Racial Skills-

Skill 1: *Unassigned*

Skill 2: *Unassigned*

Skill 3: *Unassigned*

Skill 4: *Unassigned*

-Class Skills-

Skill 1: *Unassigned*

-Stats-

Power: 4

Speed: 5

Agility: 4

Presence: 3

Mind: 5

Points Available: 0

My eyes darted back and forth across the wall of text obscuring my vision. Most of it didn’t make sense, so I focused on the parts that did.

First, my race. It said ‘Canid’ now. I was fairly certain it didn’t list that before. Wasn’t canid the biological classification for the dog family? Did that mean I was still a dog?

Visual evidence still pointed to the affirmative. I had fur, paws, and a tail. All the important parts. Opening my mouth, I let out a short bark.

Yep. Still a dog.

Invalid language detected. To interact with interface, please generate a mental command.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Uhhh... okay?

Mental command confirmed. Would you like to view a tutorial about using this interface system?

I barked again. Then, remembering myself, I mentally confirmed.

Commencing tutorial protocol...

Welcome! On behalf of everyone here at Cainox Global Industries, we’d like to thank you for purchasing our deluxe anthronite package. When you think of the future, think anthronites!™

Now that our anthronites have completed their integration with your body, they allow for a complete mental interface overlay on top of your standard synaptic senses. There’s a bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo the eggheads want me to go over with every new user, but between you and me, who really has time for all that boring shit, amirite?

My eyes darted faster and faster, reading the words as they scrolled their way up my vision. For most of it, like anthronites, I had no idea what it meant. And yet, I could intuit that it was trying to explain what happened to me. The longer I was awake, the more knowledge seemed to come back.

Except I knew that I’d possessed no knowledge like this before my metamorphosis. It was a strange sensation, having something feel both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

And what was with the annotation at the end? Even though I couldn’t hear the words, they felt like someone else speaking.

Oblivious to my confusion, the tutorial continued scrolling past.

Of course, our anthronites are doing more than just providing you with a fancy information screen. As promised in our promotional brochure, you’ve also been physically enhanced beyond that of a normal human being. It might not be apparent just yet, but as you grow and develop, as the anthronites customize their offerings based on your feedback, you’ll find yourself going from an ordinary person to something that is just a step below God himself! Pretty cool, huh?

Interesting. Before, the messages had seemed customized to me specifically, but this tutorial felt... more artificial. Like they were pre-generated.

So, you’ve probably noticed that long list thingy floating in your vision and started wondering exactly what it all means! Well, let’s work our way through it together, shall we? First, let’s start with a simple question—your name. It’s blank right now, because here at Cainox we believe everyone deserves a fresh start. You can keep your old name or choose a different one. Go ahead and try that now.

<’Long list thingy’? Really, Craig? Ugh, so unprofessional...>

The words disappeared, and the interface moved back to the center of my vision. The first line enlarged itself, and additional text appeared.

Name: *Input Required*

Previous Alias: Bubba

Would you like to use previous alias?

That word. Bubba. Seeing it set off something inside me. A distant tickle of a memory, a time before... before... well, before all this. I remembered a dark night, laying in front of a warm fire, and a soft hand rubbing my belly. Then it was gone.

I blinked. The question still floated in front of me. Not sure what else to do, I mentally confirmed.

Well done, you’ve completed the first step on your journey to fun and adventure! But don’t think that it’ll always be that easy. You’ve got a long way to go before you’re slaying the enemies of mankind and being heralded the hero of the ages!

Warning: Cainox Global Industries would like to remind users that per their signed Interface Liability Agreement, CGI is not responsible for any negative experiences that users may encounter while utilizing our systems, except in cases of gross negligence or total system collapse. All adventures, both those sanctioned by CGI and created by third parties, carry an inherent element of risk, including but not limited to: INJURY, DISMEMBERMENT, and DEATH.

These words scrolled so fast I barely had time to read them. I didn’t know why, but they left me with a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. Probably the death part.

Alright, now that we got the annoying boilerplate legal stuff out of the way, let’s get on to the fun, fun, fun! After your name, you’ll notice the race field. It’s ‘human’ for the moment, but don’t expect it to stay that way for long! Your choices as you level will determine system offerings, including evolutions, so remember that from here on out, every action has consequences.

Level? Huh?

Your Class is also currently unassigned, but we’ll get back to that in a bit. For now, let’s cover all the basics.

Level and XP are both at 0. As you complete quests and win epic battles, you’ll earn XP, which the nerdy engineers tells me stands for ‘Experience Points’, like that makes any sense, amirite? Should have called them ‘Execution Points’ like in that one game, that would have been way cooler.

Once you have enough ‘XP’, you’ll go up a level. Doing so will provide you with five additional stat points, and eventually new options for evolution. In other words, the sooner you kill a bunch of stuff, the sooner you can quit being a boring old human and move on to exciting, unexplored frontiers!

I didn’t like the sound of that. I’d occasionally had to fight other dogs for a prime piece of food, or a place to sleep, or just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Usually, it involved a bit of snapping, maybe some posturing. Now the words wanted me to not only fight, but kill? That was a lot to take in.

Concerning your stats, just know that there are five of them, all pre-generated with amounts currently equating to your pre-integration abilities. Ten is considered pretty average for all non-augmented humans.

Ten was average? I glanced back at the rest of the interface. I had only half that in two of my stats, and even less in the remaining three. Was I simply that weak, or was the system not measuring my abilities correctly due to my non-human race?

Alright, and that covers all the simple stuff! The rest you can figure out on your adventures, which is really the best way to learn, isn’t it? Nothing like pressure under fire to help you figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Now, let’s move on to possibly the most important decision of your new life. What class would you like to choose?

Options Available:

1. Sled Dog

2. Retriever

3. Ratdog

4. Pit Fighter

5. Wildling