Chapter 1: My office blew up on the first day. What about you?

Spring was always strange in Melbourne. Sweltering heat and frigid storms came and went by the hour, and today was no exception. The rays of the rising sun in a clear sky were bouncing off my suit when I hopped onto my train. Twenty minutes later torrential rain was pelting the sidewalk as I made my way through the city. There was nothing to stop the tides except for the flimsy shade covers that all modern buildings had.

That meant I was showing up to my new job with wet shoes and with locks of black hair matted onto my neck and collar.

I glanced around Collins Street and gazed up at the buildings from underneath the cover of the nearby shops. A long row of dirty mats and trolleys were spread out across the sidewalk as the homeless people of the city sought shelter. I gave what coins I had to the few that begged, but for the most part they talked among themselves.

They were unimpressed with the rain as they huddled around the buildings that formed a protective wall against nature. It was a drab and dreary morning, but in hours each building would be teeming with life and suits.

I made my way toward the tallest building of the lot.

The developers called it the Eureka Skyscraper, named to trick people into thinking it was associated with the more popular Eureka Tower. A mass of metal and windows, it was home to hundreds of businesses and corporations both big and small.

This was where I'd be working. Titans of the industry made their homes here, and in the past few years they’d grown accustomed to their ivory tower. Forty floors high it was a skyscraper that threatened to break apart the stormy clouds. This was the place that people dream of working in.

That didn't mean that everyone was happy with its existence.

There'd been a huge hubbub of protests when it had first been approved and looking up at it now, I could see why people were hesitant. Among the storm clouds and pouring rain it creaked and waved from side to side, a giant steel cage of glass and money. It was a vertigo inducing sight.

It was also the only building that didn't have any cover outside of it, so I would get soaked running toward it. Or that would be the case normally, but not this time.

I knew something like this would happen.

Droplets touched a silky surface as I propped up my umbrella. The forecast had predicted a sunny day, but I knew better than the weatherman. Only my right shoulder caught some of the dampness as the rain trickled onto it.

That was one disaster avoided.

The first day of work was always tough. Especially for me. That was why I'd tried to leave early enough to avoid anything that could go wrong. Train delays, unexpected team meetings, and even rain on a sunny day. Each problem could be avoided by coming in before anyone else and carrying an umbrella.

I was an expert at this point. After all, I’d had five jobs, and something had gone wrong with each and every one of them on the first day.

In my first job I’d tripped over someone’s chair and landed on the floor. It had gotten a laugh, and someone had helped me up and given me a firm pat on the back that sent me sprawling again. It wasn't that I was weak, the firefighters were just huge.

At my last job the building next door had exploded.

The professionals said it was a gas leak, but my co-workers said I was bad luck. Compared to that, a little bit of rain wasn't so bad. I could handle a light drizzle. Especially since I was finally working where I wanted to. My new company had a good location on the thirty ninth floor of the skyscraper and I was going to be their latest investment manager.

I’d thought that was what I would be doing in my previous job, but that was a trick. All my old co-workers had done was convince people that their retirement funds could be better placed in their hands. It wasn't even true. They gave false information to their potential ‘clients’ and never compared their services with better ones, giving a biased view. I hated the job with a passion.

Scamming people for a living had surprisingly little impact on the people around me, and that was how I knew I didn't fit in. I didn't have the voracious appetite for money that the others had. When they scammed someone, I felt it. And it didn't feel good. I knew it. The others knew it. None of us hid that knowledge from each other, and I’d been gently but firmly pushed out of the group.

Sometimes I wondered if that gas explosion wasn't a warning to get out of that hellhole before it was too late.

I stepped into the lobby of the Eureka Skyscraper and white marble floors greeted me. Long strips of gray carpet in the middle provided the corporate equivalent of pizzazz and I walked toward the back where multiple elevators greeted me.

Normally, I would take the stairs, but I wasn't going to walk all the way up to the thirty ninth floor.

That was just crazy.

Unlike every other elevator I'd been in, this one actually had music in it. Dulcet tones of cellos and violins guided my step as I walked onto the thirty ninth floor, the elevator’s doors opening smoothly as I stepped onto white marble.

There was only one elevator that went up this high, and it opened up into the middle of the floor. That was because my new company owned the entire floor. I wasn't sure how many offices there were, but there were at least two corridors and more areas branching off beyond my sight.

The corridors were sleek and polished plaster interspersed with doors and glass. Each office was lovely, and far bigger than my previous one, but there was one key difference. They all had glass where the entrances and front walls usually were.

It was perfect for me to see each employee at all times, and for others to see me. I wouldn't have a single moment of privacy.

“Not bad,” I said.

My words echoed in the empty corridor, and my footsteps soon joined them. I was early enough that I'd thought I would be the first inside. However, I could see signs of life within the office walls. For one thing the doors were unlocked, and the lights were turned on.

The scent of burnt wood also filled the air.

I tensed as the smell cradled the surroundings and I picked up my pace. I couldn't see smoke, but the odor grew stronger and stronger until I reached a small corridor that branched off from the main one. A quick peek inside showed me the kitchen and I saw the cause of the scent. Three people were staring at a mass of flames in the middle of the table.

It was a wildfire.

"What are you guys doing?” I asked.

My voice boomed across the small space. None of the people around the flames were doing a single thing to stop the fire from spreading across the table. Before any of them reacted, I was already at the tap, water guzzling down onto three cups that somebody had left in the sink.

A moment later I swung a cup of water at the foundation of the flames, the middle of the table, and watched as part of the crackling fire was quenched underneath a small tide of water. Droplets rolled over the other side of the table and dropped onto the white marble floor.

Thankfully, it was the kind of flame that could be put out with water.

The cup of water wasn't enough to put the fire out entirely. I grabbed another cup and gave the frozen people a slap on the back each.

“Grab one. Fill it. Join me,” I said.

My tone left no room for objection and the three jolted into action.

Seconds later the fire was fizzling out pitifully and the floor was soaked. I took in a deep breath as I double checked that the embers had died. In seconds the only difference between the room and a normal kitchen was that the air lingered with the scent of burning.

In my house that wouldn't be considered abnormal.

I turned toward my co-workers, their shock wearing off. I'd heard of people freezing up in emergencies, but this was ridiculous.

“We didn't do that,” one said.

She was a woman around my age. Shoulder-length brown hair flowed over a white shirt, and she glanced at the burn mark and then back at me, her eyes laced with confusion. “We were eating, and then it just appeared. Did you see the blue—”

“That’s enough, Marian,” a man spoke out. He was standing in the middle of the trio, his head held up high. “The cameras will tell us what happened.”

I looked up at his words. In the corner of the kitchen was a camera facing directly at the table. They were monitoring us while we ate.

Then I looked back down and realized that I knew the man.

He was blonde, had deep blue eyes, and a straight back. This was a man I'd seen in all the pictures on the company's website.

Harold Till, CEO.

The man had his fingers in half a dozen lucrative pies. From film studios to lamb farms his money made the economy go round. Or at least a small part of it. He was technically my boss, although it was more accurate to say that he was my boss’s boss.

His gray suit was the same one that had been in all his pictures, and his bright red tie stuck out like a sore thumb.

“You must be Shame,” he said. “I heard a new hire was coming in today.”

“It's Shane, sir. Shane Decker,” I tried to correct him as gently as I could.

Harold let out a hum and moved beside me, his shoulders brushing against mine in the narrow entrance.

"That was a quick reaction,” he said. “I like that.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I was a volunteer firefighter for a summer,” I said. “I didn't get to wrestle any fires personally, but it was a fun experience.”

That was always a fun icebreaker that got me a few questions. Harold turned toward me, his hands fixing up an imaginary crinkle in his suit jacket.

“Huh,” he said. “So, you didn't always work in finance?

There was a sneer to his tone. Condescension flickered across his features, and I frowned. The sliver of detest in his eyes prickled my nerves and put me on the defensive.

“I was busy saving lives,” I said.

“And you weren't making money.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I hope you're not slower than the others. You're early so you're ready to work.

“As the firefighter, you're the most qualified to mop up this mess. Get to it and throw the whole table out if you need to. Then report to Marian and she’ll get you settled in.”

Well, that was one way to kick me while I was down.

He gave me a single pat on the shoulder, and I felt pressure exerting into my body. I instantly realized what he was doing. My boss was trying to push me down. Literally.

It was only a single nudge, but I recognised a power play when I saw one.

Unfortunately for Harold, I had more strength in a single shoulder than he had in his entire body. It had nothing to do with my muscles, and everything to do with my posture. His power move might have worked if he wasn't a good head shorter than me and had spent more time in the gym. Instead of asserting dominance like he'd intended he stood there awkwardly with his fingers hooked into my suit.

“You're wet,” he said.

There was a slight squelch as Harold let go of my shoulder and locks of my black hair were pushed to the side by his movement. He shook his hand to clean it and turned back toward the others in the kitchen.

“As for you two, let's talk about what just happened.”

With those words he disappeared through the corridors.

He hadn't said thank you.

Harold was quietly followed by the last of the trio, a woman with bright red hair that hadn't spoken. I could see fright dimming her bright green eyes and she rushed right past me. The sudden fire must have been terrifying for her.

Miriam swept her hair to the side and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"My name’s Miriam, not Marian. Get used to his nicknames because he's not going to remember your real one,” she said. “And I promise the tables don't usually spontaneously combust around here. I—, well, some freaky crap just happened, and I want to get to the bottom of it. I’ll come grab you when our meeting is done.”

She wanted to say more. I could see it in her eyes. Her fingers twitched as though trying to reach out for something only she could see. Then her co-worker grabbed her by the wrist and broke her out of her daze.

I could tell that they wanted to thank me, and even help, but they didn't want it more than they wanted to be on the boss’s good side. The pecking order in this company was clear from the get-go. Miriam waved gently as she passed by me and shot me a quick smile.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here after all.

That sentiment lasted exactly five minutes as I mopped up the burnt table. I hadn't gotten this far in life by mopping up tables, and I didn't intend for that to be my main job here either.

I'd even taken a break to look at Harold’s office, where the others were holding their meeting.

After I was done, I checked the table for a stray cigarette or signs of a lighter or even small explosion. Despite what Miriam had said I didn't quite believe her story of spontaneous combustion, but whatever had caused the fire had probably been pocketed afterward because there was nothing here.

The floor trembled as I pulled up a chair and sat. I sighed and my shoulders relaxed. The workday hadn't begun yet and my building had already been set on fire. On the plus side that meant that my bad luck was all used up.

Just as that thought crossed my mind the trembling grew stronger.

A second later I realised it wasn't my stomach.

An earthquake? In Melbourne?

I jumped to my feet and rushed to the entrance of the kitchen as the quaking intensified. In moments the building was reverberating, and my vision doubled and tripled as my eyes shook from the force.

There was a crash down the corridor and when I looked, I saw that the elevator was ajar, the steel doors were cracked, and part of the upper floor ripped out of the ceiling. Exposed wall spread dust across the floor and wires whipped into the air. It looked like that section of the building had been cut in half.

The elevator music continued through the building’s destruction, its cellos and violins grating against my ears. The speakers had been damaged, and now a cacophony of broken sounds pierced through the destroyed doors and cascaded down into the corridor, mixing with the sound of shattering glass and cracking walls.

A quick look to the opposite side confirmed that the sound of breaking glass was coming from the offices. Their glass walls had shattered, and parts of the next floor had collapsed into them.

I was in the middle of a death trap.

It was a bad time to remember that I was thirty-nine floors high in a box of glass and flimsy metal. I hoped that the Skyscraper was sturdy enough that it didn't collapse on top of me.

A moment later the shaking stopped, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

My good feelings lasted a full second before the world started flickering around me. The offices and the elevator disappeared and reappeared as though someone was turning all of the lights around me off and on. I closed my eyes as nausea rose from my chest and stomach, and then opened them again as I felt my world tilt.

A moment later the entire floor went dark.

I let out a loud curse as my vision disappeared. The ceiling lights had died out. As I groped through the darkness a wave of confusion washed over me. The entire skyscraper was covered in windows, so even if the lights were turned off, I should still be able to see. That left only one option.

There was no sunlight outside.

A wave of fear crossed over my heart as my mind tried to comprehend the unnatural phenomena.

Then the lights returned, and I blinked as my vision became a swirl of colors.

The corridor bulbs were still out, but the darkness had been replaced by a soft white glow that shone in through the outside windows. The sunlight wasn't as strong as it had been before, but I didn't have time to investigate the strange occurrence.

There were still people in here with me.

“Is everybody okay?” I called out.

My voice was drowned out by another sound. It pierced through the offices and the shattered glass, and even the distant crashes paled in comparison to its high wail.

Someone was screaming.

I turned toward the sound. It was coming from the offices that had been destroyed during the earthquake. There were only three people on this floor aside from me. Harold, Miriam, and the woman whose name I hadn't gotten.

All of them had been having a meeting inside the furthest office.

I assumed it was Harold's office.

As I took a tentative step forward into the corridor, I saw the office in question. It was situated toward the Docklands, but unlike the other offices it wasn’t made of glass. Solid oak doors were framed by freshly painted plaster, and I couldn't see past it to check on my coworkers.

The screams were coming from inside, but a moment later they cut off. Then there was only silence.

I needed to get them out of that office.

The kitchen wall creaked as I let go of it and moved fully into the corridor. Between us was a collapsing ceiling and a floor that looked dangerously close to cracking in two. The marble had been covered with a layer of dust and plaster, and glass shards littered the ground. If there were people above or below me, I couldn't hear them through the sounds of the skyscraper’s creaking.

It was a miracle that the windows hadn't been destroyed like the office walls had.

I took a step forward and the ground held steady. The white light outside the windows wasn't bright, but as I looked outside, I saw a second glow appear in their place. It was soft, and blue, and shaped faintly like a box. It also covered the middle of my vision, and I couldn't see beyond it.

[Hello.]

In the middle of the box was a single word, and I blinked in surprise as I read it.

Great. I was hallucinating.

“Keep it together, Shane. You can't go losing your head now,” I said.

The blue light disappeared. Then it was replaced by another one. This time the text was longer, and the box was covering everything.

[Lose your head? Is that something you do?]

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, but it didn't help. The box was still there. Even with my eyes closed.

[Hey, it's rude to ignore my queries. You should speak with your crowd and get to know them, or they might leave. There are eight billion more options for us to view, you know?]

[Actually, it's more like seven billion now.]

As the boxes started multiplying, I grew even more worried. The earthquake must have shaken my brain. Or maybe I’d banged it against the wall during the commotion.

I was losing my mind.

A single slap resounded through the surroundings. Pain coursed through my cheek as I removed my hand. The blue box disappeared with my action, and I smiled. As much as I wanted to curl up in a ball and shout my frustration into the air, there were more important things I had to do. The screams from within Harold’s office had stopped, but I didn't know if my coworkers were safe. There was no time for me to lose my head.

For a single instance the blue boxes were quiet, but before I’d taken my next step another one appeared.

[They ignored you, did they not? I saw it,] the message said. [Why would you fight to help them? Run. Save yourself. I'll help you if you choose to leave.]

The moment I read the words I knew it couldn't be a fantasy conjured by my mind. I would never think that way, even in my darkest moments. Even as I stood within a crumbling building the situation was simple to me. There were people that needed my help.

That was all I needed to know to make my decision.

“I don't know what you are, or what's happening here, but if you're not going to be helpful, then get out of my way or I'll find a way to deal with you myself,” I said.

It felt silly to talk into the air like a mad man. The blue boxes weren’t real. They couldn't be. But until they stopped blocking my vision, I wouldn't be getting anything done.

[Interesting.]

The message popped up in front of my eyes, and then it was replaced by another.

[Choose wisely. I’ll be watching you.]

My vision cleared for a single moment as the destruction around me continued. The ceiling above me was beginning to divide, and I could see large cracks appearing. I tried to duck and frowned as my body refused to move at my command.

I was frozen.

"What is this? What have you done?"

[You have been given a gift by a supporter. System integration has begun. Please choose a foundational skill.]

If the blue boxes could respond, then that meant I wasn't going crazy. But it also meant that whoever was on the other side of the messages was messing with me.

This time no blue box has appeared. Instead, there was a cascade of golden light. It unfurled from above me and reverberated across my vision as it drowned out the chaos in the surroundings. When the light died down, I immediately spotted a change in the corridor.

Three luminescent cards floated in front of me in a mix of green, red, and blue.

They were different from the blue boxes. For one thing, they didn't block my vision, and they were physical objects. Gold trimming was etched into each of them in the form of words and pictures. With the exception of the golden words, there was only one color per card.

The green card had a picture of a pair of boots with wings.

It was transparent but before my eyes could examine the cards words appeared in front of me. They took the form of the same blue boxes that had been used to send me messages.

[You have been given a tier 1 gift from supporter (Ashanti)! Congratulations! As reward for being one of the first ten humans to receive a gift, you have been granted a +15 stat bonus. It will apply to the main stat of the first skill you select.]

Stats?

Skills?

The words barely registered in my mind as I struggled against the bindings that held me. A moment later the blue box disappeared, and the green card floated in front of me, forcing itself onto my vision.

[Flash Forward (tier 1 speed skill/upgradeable): Base speed increases by a factor of 2 for a period of 10 minutes. This increase is compatible with your stats at the time of activation. This skill passively provides a static 3% increase to speed, and a 1% increase in strength and defense. Choosing this skill unlocks the speed stat.]

[WARNING: This ability will form the first core of your foundational path. Choose carefully.]

“Let. Me. Go,” I said.

The card flickered, its light disappearing and reappearing at my words. Then it floated back to its original position and the red one took its place.

[Runes of Cataclysm (tier 1 power skill/upgradeable): Etch a rune into your skin in exchange for power. Base increase of 30% strength in all relevant areas. Base weight increases by a factor of 2. Each activation of the skill will consume half a liter of blood. The skill effects last twenty minutes upon activation and all negative conditions will be temporarily lessened. This skill passively provides a static 3% increase to power, and a 1% increase in defense and speed. Choosing this skill unlocks the power stat.]

[WARNING: This ability will form the first core of your foundational path. Choose carefully.]

The moment I finished reading it I rejected the text vehemently. Losing blood wasn't ideal in any scenario, let alone a dangerous situation like this. That was like asking to get killed.

Blue light illuminated my vision as the final card presented its offer to me.

[Twilight Sun (tier 1 defense skill/upgradeable): Summon a set of armor that will protect you from harm. Base mental processes and reaction time increases by a factor of 1.5. The summoned armor will conform to your stats, runes, and skills at time of deployment. This skill passively provides a static 3% increase in defense, and 1% increase in strength and speed. Choosing this skill unlocks the defense stat.]

[WARNING: This ability will form the first core of your foundational path. Choose carefully.]

The invisible bindings that kept my body stuck to the ground weren't disappearing. If all of this wasn't a hallucination, then my next act was clear.

I would have to pick a card.