The middle-aged woman appeared without any warning or explanation. Barry had stumbled back so quickly he’d fallen on his side. The strange lady was standing right in front of him, wearing a pretty dress in bright, summery clothes. She had shoulder length ginger hair and wore a bright smile on her slightly freckled face that deepened the lines around her eyes. Looking closer, the woman reminded him of his aunt, but something felt off. He noticed her eyes were just a little bit too intense, almost fanatical. Somehow, her voice also sounded off, as if it was coming from every direction.
“What the-”
“As one of the first 100 humans to unlock your PE module, you’ll be given additional rewards!”
She continued without pause, giving no sign that she’d heard him. Though she was looking in his general direction, she wasn’t looking directly at him.
“Wait. Can you please-” He tried to say as he scrambled back up.
“For having killed a creature in a light orange zone, far above your capabilities, you’ll be given additional rewards!”
Barry tried interrupting her again, without success. She was rattling off his rewards now, names and numbers which were meaningless to him. As he got up and moved away from the ledge, he noticed her eyes weren’t following him. He walked up to her and went to put his hand on her shoulder, but it went straight through. It was some kind of recorded projection then, straight out of a sci-fi movie. This again raised a lot of questions, all of which he’d have to park for later. This one would be lower on the list. At least for a projected image, he could imagine some way it would work, through advanced applied laser technology or similar technology. There was no reasonable explanation for the existence of that monstrous bull.
He still caught the last words before the lady disappeared. “Remember your training for proper use of your PE container! Happy hunting.”
“What training? What are you talking about?” Barry wanted to shout, but the words came out as a wheeze as he clutched his chest in pain. He was no medical professional, but he’d bet some of his ribs were broken.
He spun around to the sound of a man clearing his throat. Floating about 5 feet off the ground, there was indeed a small old man with a long, white beard and pointy ears, positioned with his legs crossed and hands resting on his knees. The old man, about half the size of a normal person, seemed to be studying him. There was a smirk on his face and an intensity in his gaze that would have normally made Barry uncomfortable.
“Another recording? Hopefully some useful information this time.” Barry murmured.
“A projection, not a recording. I’m known as Pokka. You’ve been honored with my training services as part of your rewards.” The old man answered in a high voice, speaking quickly but clearly. He seemed unusually happy to be informing Barry of this, as if there was a joke that he wasn’t in on.
Barry stared at him, trying to parse what was happening, but his thoughts were slow, distracted by his aching body. He was covered in patches of sand where it had stuck to him, from his short, black curly hairs down to his formerly white sneakers. His navy sports jacket showed a spot of puke, still wet, and was torn in several spots, the largest hole near his right shoulder revealing a dark bloody spot on his white t-shirt. There were nasty scrapes across his neck and left cheek, barely visible through the sand stuck to his face. A line of muddy drool was still hanging from his bottom lip, which he hadn’t bothered to wipe off. His right arm was hanging limply by his side, blood slowly dripping down his hand, while his left was clenching his broken ribs.
“Why are you not rejoicing?” Pokka asked with that same positive intensity.
There was another silence. Barry’s mouth moved as if to start speaking, but broke off each time, until he finally shook his head, deciding to ignore the question.
“Do you know where I am and can you help me get home?”
“Home? Foolish child, have you ignored all of the…” Pokka paused for a second, then continued,
“Ah. I see what happened. But how did.. Oh. A small oversight. Well then, I will have to be the one to share this information with you. It would normally be done more carefully, given how frail human minds can be, but I’m afraid I don’t have such delicate sensibilities.”
Pokka cleared his throat and seemed to settle in, though he was still just floating in the air.
“There are other sentient species out in the universe. Some are able to reach each other and, as such species are wont to do, many of them have been at war. In recent times, a new enemy has arisen, posing a threat of such magnitude that most others have joined forces against them. Despite these joint war efforts, the Ulm have continued to advance. It is likely that Earth will come under direct threat in a decade or two. For planets with species so weak and primitive in technology as yours, INUU policy is to empower you. Defending you is not a viable option - they can barely defend themselves - so you are instead given the means to grow stronger, defend yourself and eventually join the other members in the war effort.”
The words had come out so fast, Barry had barely been able to process them. Pokka only paused for a few breaths.
“Wait, please,” Barry interjected, “Just.. You’re saying I’m still on Earth? Where exactly?”
“I can’t give you a meaningful answer to that, as your planet has been changed completely. The empowerment process, by necessity, leads to a thorough transformation of the entire world. So thorough and comprehensive, that you should not be able to recognize this as your old planet anymore. You will learn more over time, but I can tell you that it’s become much larger and considerably more dangerous.Your former cities are gone. You can consider it as a complete re-rendering of Earth.”
Barry stared out in front of him, mouth agape, eyes turning glassy.
“You may consider this bad news. But there is also good news!” Pokka continued cheerfully.
“Most people will be able to enjoy the benefits of advanced technology, and will grow capabilities that would have been impossible before.
On an individual level, the empowerment process works through a miniscule Potential Energy controller, otherwise called a ‘PE node’, embedded near the brain stem to have a two-way connection with your central nervous system. People are given limited access to their PE node only after some show of competence. Its activation and use takes up precious resources which we wouldn’t want to waste on anyone that won’t properly harness them. Once activated, people can use the stored Potential Energy in various ways. With some training, you will be able to weaponize it. You will also be able to strengthen yourself, growing faster, stronger, smarter, or more durable. In fact, I recommend you start doing that shortly.”
After a short pause, he added “I’ve been informed that humans are slow to process new information, especially if it doesn’t fit within their previous worldview, so I’ll pause for questions at this stage.”
A wave of emotions passed through Barry, so closely intertwined he couldn’t tell them apart. It was like experiencing the five stages of grief all at the same time. He felt dizzy and decided to sit down, staring at the sand while he gathered his thoughts.
He took a long moment before looking up and asking, “Who are you? How do you know all these things?”
“As I said, I will be training you, but you may also see me, in part, as a representative of the INUU, which is essentially a joint war council formed by various nations.” Pokka answered.
Barry didn’t say anything, instead just staring glassy-eyed in Pokka’s direction.
“I’m not sure what you’re doing, but it doesn’t seem very productive. If you have no further questions, shall we get started on your training?” Pokka prompted after a while.
The young man frowned, his jaw tensing and gaze sharpening on Pokka.
“You’re telling me you’ve basically destroyed our entire civilization and now you want me to just, what, go along with anything you say? Fuck that. You’re part of this. I can’t verify any of what you’re saying, except that you’ve transported me against my will and nearly got me killed. What the hell have you done to our planet? Where are all the people? My family..”
Starting off angrily, his voice had gotten more desperate as he spoke, breaking at the end. He wiped tears from his eyes and looked around, glaring at the foreign surroundings. With considerable effort, Barry got up, limped to the closest tree and carefully sat down with his back against it, angled so that the tree would provide some shade from the burning sun. The black bark was so rough he could feel it poking against his back through his jacket.
“Where are they?” Barry asked, voice calmer now.
“Well young man, I cannot share anyone’s exact whereabouts, but I can tell you that other humans are still undergoing the onboarding process. They’ll only be released in about 48 hours. Unless they were airborne at the exact time of integration, in which case I assume they would have ended up in a similar situation as you.” Pokka stroked his beard pensively at the last part.
“Onboarding process?”
“An explanation of the basics of this new world. The benefits of the PE node, the Gildi system, how to use the interface, how to interpret the zones. Don’t worry about missing out, I’ll share the same information with you.”
There was another silence, filled with only the sounds of Barry’s labored breathing, which had gotten faster.
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“You did all this, transformed our entire world, just so that we could defend ourselves? You didn’t stop to think that the cure might be worse than the disease? There’s nothing left to defend.” He finally replied, voice laced with anger and sadness.
“Most humans are still alive. Data shows your species is quite adaptable. There will be hardship, but this should still be preferable over total annihilation.” Pokka replied.
“Oh yeah, thanks so much for fucking our entire planet up. I’ll be forever in your debt.” He spat. “What’s with this nonsense about being airborne by the way? I was just walking down the street and then I was here.”
“There was an oversight in the program responsible for identifying and moving people. You were more than 1 meter off the ground during the scan and.. Well, let’s say you weren’t moved in the way you should have been. But we shouldn’t dwell on that detail.” Pokka waved his hand dismissively.
Barry was staring at him intensely now, brow furrowed and jaw clenched. He was taking large, forced breaths, in through his nose and out his mouth. His left hand was repeatedly clenching and unclenching.
“You mentioned people will be released after the onboarding process, where will they be released to? Somewhere safe?” Barry asked, forcing himself to speak calmly and slowly. There was no hope in his voice.
“They’ll be released into light green zones. Those are the least dangerous areas, barely life threatening even for beings as weak as you.”
“What zone are we in now?” Barry hissed angrily, grinding his teeth.
“Dark orange.” Pokka answered, watching Barry intently.
“You’ve killed me.” Barry growled between heaving, panicked breaths, eyes wide and teary.
He was losing control. The anger had been building in his chest like steam in a kettle, growing urgent and dangerous, mixing with panic as he recognized what was happening. It kept rising until it felt overwhelming, the feeling filling his chest, pressing down on his lungs until he couldn’t breathe.
His home was gone. Everyone was going to die. His family too. He imagined his father, standing in front of his mother and little Jasmine, futilely trying to shield them from a Roid-Bull coming straight at them.
He was hyperventilating now, each desperate breath causing a stab of pain in his side. The rhythm continued, faster, each quick gasp followed by a painful sting. There was nothing he could do. Never mind the monsters, he was going to choke to death here in this godforsaken desert.
The agony continued for far too long, until he whispered, imitating Dr. Schulz’s voice, slow, patient and confident, “You know this. You’ve handled this before. You’ll manage it again now. Follow the steps”.
He closed his eyes, moving his good arm down, pushing his fingers down into the sand, focusing on its warmth. Imagining his body, feeling his legs on the ground, tree in his back, Barry then started focusing on his breathing. First just 2 seconds in, 3 seconds out, then a bit longer on the next one. He was still sitting here. He had control of himself.
As he got his breathing back under control, the anger and panic faded. He kept sitting there, focusing on his breathing as the emotions faded away. His thoughts felt clearer now, like there was a bit of distance between him and what was happening.
What was he going to do? Walk to the cliff, jump down, wake up relieved and never go to sleep again. No, that wasn’t a rational thought. He had to think of the outcomes. If he was dreaming and woke up, all would be well. But in that case, he’d eventually wake up anyway. If he wasn’t dreaming, if that deranged old man was telling the truth, he’d jump down and be dead forever. The only reasonable option was to carry on as if this were real.
He had a moment to sadly reflect how he didn’t feel any awe or wonder at the situation. If someone had told him, just a few hours ago, that a probe had found some insignificant bacteria on Mars, he would have lost his mind with excitement. Now, aliens were real and they’d come to Earth, like arrogant colonizers, throwing everything into chaos. He pushed down on the anger. It wasn’t helpful. He had to focus on what mattered right now.
After a while, Barry finally opened his eyes. “I need to find my family,” he said with determination.
Pokka observed him briefly before answering, “Your first priority should be to seek shelter and heal. The chance that you survive is already low and it decreases every minute you don’t spend empowering yourself and moving towards shelter.”
“I don’t have time for that Pokka, there are only forty-something hours left until they’re thrown into this ridiculous world.” There was some panic in his voice again, a sense of desperate urgency. He couldn’t stand the thought of being delayed, of arriving too late and not being able to help.
“I hope this stupidity is only temporary, caused by your wounds. A concussion seems likely.. The journey there will take months, not hours. You will have to prepare and train well to survive the trek.”
The conversation continued like this for a while, Pokka pressing Barry to follow his instructions and Barry either ignoring him, or replying angrily with short, clipped sentences. He couldn’t deny that Pokka made some good points. Finally, after learning that there were other, more dangerous creatures out there, Barry decided to follow him towards shelter.
Pokka had immediately started floating along the ridge, fast enough that the injured Barry, moving with a limp, could barely keep up. Now that the adrenaline had mostly worn off, each step was agony. He tried to distract himself by focusing on where he placed his feet, aiming for pockets of sand where he could, mindful of the vibrations.
There was a clump of worry and stress in Barry’s stomach, fed by recurring thoughts of his parents and Jasmine. How would they deal with this? Jasmine was quick to learn and she liked playing video games. It would be more intuitive for her, so hopefully she’d be able to help their parents out. His father would doubtless be trying to protect the both of them, his mother likely trying to help anyone she could. She was kind like that.
He squeezed his eyes shut, as if that would stop the tears from leaking out. They’d be alright, he told himself. They had to be. He’d get there as soon as he could.
The old man continued to share information, including the fact that he wasn’t really an old man, but an AI. His current form was simply a projection suited to training. If this took Barry by surprise, he didn’t show it. The only sounds coming from Barry were heavy panting with occasional grunts of pain. He kept getting regular flares of pain from his dislocated shoulder, but he didn’t want to ask Pokka to stop so he could try to take care of it, so he stubbornly pushed through the pain.
Not showing any awareness of Barry’s ongoing suffering, Pokka had gone on to explain more about the workings of the new system, which he described as a ‘meritocracy’. People are given points for their achievements, called ‘Value’, and that Value can be traded for various things. It could be spent on improving your physical body in some form, which was referred to as physical empowerment. Another way to spend Value was to unlock abilities. This apparently involved active use of the PE node, which was challenging and potentially dangerous. Barry, pausing to catch his breath, had then broken his silence to confirm he’d been given some Value for surviving that monster. Pokka had turned around to show him a wicked grin.
“Oh you’ve been given more than just some Value. A lot more. There are no penalties for indirect kills through traps, so you received full rewards for killing a creature from a dark orange zone, with a yet inactive PE node.” The old man’s grin had kept growing as he spoke, but then he paused, studying Barry, who was wearing a deep frown on his face, “Is it not common for humans to celebrate when they receive rewards?”
Barry sighed, shaking his head. “Running into that monster was a horrible experience for me. I don’t want to repeat that. You’re trying to turn me into some kind of monster hunter, or soldier, or I don’t know what exactly. But it would clearly involve me risking my life and killing things. I don’t want that.”
The old man, still floating at eye level, was looking at Barry with clear disappointment, when suddenly an earth-shaking roar blasted out of the ravine. Barry flinched back, pressing his left hand to his ear, barely managing to regain his balance. Pokka showed no reaction.
“Red zone down there. No need to wet your pants, it won’t come up,” he clarified, then started moving again.
Barry followed in silence, moving a bit faster than before, a haunted look on his face. They continued like that for a while, until Pokka stopped abruptly, turning towards Barry. He stretched his arms forward, palms facing upward. “There are many paths to take in this new world, also beyond fighting. Let me show you.” he said, before images appeared above his hands.
First, the images showed people fighting, clearly making use of special abilities. A fierce looking red-haired woman, seeming to call down lightning on a bulging mass of tentacles with a wave of her hand. A brown-skinned man placing his palm on the back of a massive gorilla, after which black smoke blasted out of its mouth, its eyes bursting out like overcooked grapes at the same time. Then, someone moving too fast to be seen, seemingly teleporting across a forest, thick black trees being cut through with every flash of movement.
Barry looked on with interest, as the projection started to show more peaceful scenarios. People bent over what could only be machines, working on inscribing pieces of leather and metal armor. Laborers digging up massive rocks and building houses with their bare hands at an inhuman speed. A stern looking woman in uniform, quickly swiping her hands through interactive maps as she addressed other people in the room.
“Many things that were impossible in your old world, will become real in this new one. Provided of course, that one embraces the empowerment system. Think of your goals. Think of the people you want to protect. Without the system, you’ll just die a swift and meaningless death.”
The young man didn’t respond to that, just frowning as he slowly started shuffling along the ridge again. After another short walk with the two ignoring each other, Pokka finally declared that they had arrived. Barry looked around, seeing no change in the scenery, then at Pokka.
“Well? Where’s the shelter?”
“Oh it’s just down here,” Pokka noted calmly, waving his hand over the ledge. “About 40 feet down, you’ll find a cave. This is the best option for safe shelter that was still within a manageable distance.”
Barry closed his eyes, bringing his hand up to squeeze the bridge of his nose as he let out a long sigh. His other hand was still hanging uselessly by his side. “Just one thing after another,” he mumbled.
“Is there a problem? My records indicate that the average youth is capable of climbing 40 feet. Is your level of frailty above average?” Pokka asked sincerely.
“My shoulder is dislocated. But even if it wasn’t, I don’t have the skill needed to climb barehanded down a rough wall of rock like that.” There was heat in his words as he gestured to his right arm.
Pokka slowly floated over to Barry, and there was an intensity about him that hadn’t been there before. The lax and friendly expression on his old face dropped for the first time, instead turning cold and heavy. Barry’s eyes widened slightly and he took a small step back, alarmed by what he saw in Pokka’s gaze.
“Perhaps I’ve been coddling you so far. Let me speak plainly. You don't have another option. Fix your shoulder. Empower yourself. Climb down to the cave. Or. You. Will. Die.”
He then floated back slightly and closed his eyes in a meditative pose. Barry stood there, still looking at the old man, brows drawing together and his lips slightly pursed. After a short pause, he shuffled to the edge and looked down. The sheer scale of the canyon was daunting, cracked sheets of brown stone stretching miles down into a dark abyss. The other side was so far off it was hard to spot any detail, but it looked much the same. Looking closer, Barry thought he could see a slight protruding edge, about where Pokka said the cave entrance would be. Despite the cracks and layers, the sheer rock wall looked impossible to climb. He clenched his jaw as he stared down, occasionally whispering angry curses.
“Might as well have a look,” Barry sighed as he turned around and followed Pokka’s instructions for activating the system interface, pressing his eyes closed while holding the back of his neck with his left hand. After 3 seconds, he opened his eyes to a jarring overlay of text and numbers. Strangely, he was able to browse through the information very quickly. The interface felt so intuitive, he didn’t even have to read through everything, the information seeming to flow directly into his mind.
During the long walk here, Pokka had mentioned that the physical empowerment system could be applied with different levels of detail. As an example, you could invest points into Strength, which would simply increase your overall strength, or you could choose to focus on specific sections like upper body or core, or even on specific muscles. The same principle applied to other categories like Senses or Durability, but there were also exceptions, like Intelligence or Speed. The old man had explained that functionally improving Speed required a complex series of changes across the entire body, including the nervous system. Speeding up only part of yourself was not possible.
He didn’t have a clue how the empowerment would actually work. With his fear and anger keeping his usual curiosity in check, Barry had found it easier to remain in denial and avoid asking questions. There had been a stubborn and perhaps irrational desire for resistance, fueled by his anger, but it was starting to fade now. Still, it had been clear from Pokka’s monologues that the process would involve irreversible changes. Did he want to give consent to these invaders to mess around with his body? Absolutely not. But did he have a choice?
The fact that they were asking for consent, that he had to be the one to give the instructions, made him even angrier. After wiping away human civilization without a word of warning, they still wanted to keep up appearances, to pretend to be the friendly neighborhood aliens, just here to help humanity fight off the real enemies. Barry closed his eyes again, taking a slow breath. He had to push down on any useless thoughts and feelings. If he wanted to make a difference, if he wanted to help anyone at all, he would first have to survive.
That didn’t mean he would just rush into this and go along with all of Pokka’s suggestions. He resolved to approach this carefully. First, he would thoroughly review all the options, then invest a single point in a single stat. Then he would experiment, review the results, and decide how to proceed further. Step by step. He let out a long breath, feeling resolved and somewhat relieved.
The question was which stat to review first. If he prioritized ease of measurement, Speed would probably be top of the list. He could mark out a distance in the sand, then track how quickly he could cross it. Going to his status screen, he saw that the stat was sitting at 8 points now, so he should definitely notice something from that relatively large increase. He’d first have to mark the distance and sprint across, timing his sprint, before adding the point and trying it again.
Unallocated Value: 8760
Stats
Strength: 6
Durability: 7
Speed: 8
Senses: 7
Intelligence: 8
PE Capacity: 50 Joule
Abilities
No abilities unlocked
The stats overview raised a lot of questions, but a stab of pain in his shoulder brought him back to reality. Could he even move at a decent speed now? His right shoulder was clearly dislocated. He had some idea on how to get it back in its socket, but he’d been putting it off. Also, sprinting back and forth out here was bound to draw another Roid-Bull. He’d have to think of a safer test. With a sigh, he resolved to get the least pleasant task done first.
But as soon as he closed the window, his stomach dropped. In the distance, he could clearly make out a familiar, rapidly growing cloud of dust. It could only be another Roid-Bull, coming straight at him. Time was up.