The various humans here were deathly silent as they listened to information that could as well have belonged to a low budget sci-fi flick, only now they would have to accept that this was actually reality.

Many had heavy expressions, worried about their own fates, the fates of their loved ones and the fate of their collective species. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

Previously, they had been like ants fighting over cubes of sugar, now their anthill was blown open, allowing them to meet the bees, termites, centipedes and everything else that existed surrounding their habitat.

Whether they could weather the incoming storm from being exposed to a new world was up in the air. There was no precedent for this as a species, so everyone could only force themselves not to panic.

It wasn't that hard, since no one wanted to do anything to disgrace themselves here or get on the bad side of the literal vampire. Seemingly everyone had watched movies where a group of kidnapped kids or adults would receive a monologue from the villain, and one or two idiots would either panic, talk down, or talk back to the villain, only to be brutally killed to serve as an example… and nobody wanted to be made an example of.

In fact, many of the humans were looking left and right to see if anyone was going to try something, yet it was pointless when everyone had the same idea.

Movies and fiction had many problems, like lowering productivity, creating depression and giving false ideas or narratives, but one thing it did that would go down in history was desensitize people to fantastical situations.

With the blockbuster franchise about a family's internal problems in a galaxy far, far away that everyone knew of, nobody overreacted to the sight of a spaceship. Just a bit of shock and awe, but not an exaggerated reaction. In fact, one might develop interest and excitement, wanting to go closer.

This was opposed to characters in those fictions who would scream, fall over, or run. Watch enough of such scenes, and you'd develop a subconscious belief that this 'common sense' action was wrong, since those who fled would usually be punished for it.

It seemed like such a background character thing to do, and no one truly regarded themselves as a background character. Even the severely disillusioned and depressed still had a belief that they were the main character, at least of their own story.

Just like now. Ambrose had first broadcast to everyone's minds and then brought them here. The first few minutes of shock had passed as these people came to understand that there was nothing they could do about it, so they had subconsciously accepted their new reality.

Everyone would at least consider the possibility of aliens being out there at some point in their life, with the unknown being whether humanity would ever truly meet them.

Now that they had, the questions had been answered, leaving room for newer ones. So rather than fear, there was a burning curiosity in their minds.

"What a strange species." Ambrose complained.

Not even a single one of them was letting their emotions take over, overreact, call him out, or maybe even insult him over his earlier broadcast? How boring.

Like that, he had immediately lost interest. He then waved over to one of his aides, who was an insect-like creature with a humanoid build.

"Send them for awakening in batches." He commanded as he walked out of the room, his long black cape fluttering behind him.

The Aide saluted until Ambrose was gone, then came before the group of 100 humans. "Right, just as you are, follow me. You should feel lucky to be allowed to enter our Virtual Reality Pods and undergo a free awakening."

The humans nodded and followed along, Damon going with them. He had not made a sound, but his brows were furrowed. He felt like everything he had done all his life was a joke, and his pursuit of immortality now felt childish.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

What was the point of trying to be remembered by the future generations of the human species when he was exposed to millions, possibly billions of other species out there?

Damon could achieve being remembered by humans by playing a few tricks. He had trained and planned almost all his cognitive life for that, after all, but how was he supposed to do the same on an intergalactic platform?

What could be special enough about him that it might transcend most individual beings in the universe that were most likely more numerous than the grains of sand in the entire Sahara Desert?

How many others were also vying for importance and fame?

How many had succeeded and how many failed?

The scale of the numbers would obviously be far greater than his limited mathematical ability could calculate for him.

Damon was experiencing the exact set of emotions and thoughts as the proverbial frog in the well. Up until a few moments ago, he had believed the narrow sky he had seen from the bottom of the well to be the entire world, only to be flooded out of the well by heavy rain and allowed to see the expansive horizon for the first time.

Heh, it was good enough that he didn't descend into depression.

However, he was definitely not far off. His life's goal that he had taken the first step towards by doing something unforgivable, which had seemed like it would be achievable in due time, had just shown him that the space between them was actually an infinitude.

Like a zombie, Damon followed along and watched as the first batch were introduced into 20 pods that were styled like those chambers seen in sci-fi movies, where they sealed protagonists in cryogenic freezing.

They were soon submerged in a greenish solution that was translucent. After this was done, needles were inserted from all over into their internals, sticking into the humans in very compromising areas.

Those outside grimaced heavily and shuddered, but those inside seemed unable to feel anything as they were pumped full of a black and white solution. Rather, they seemed to be in a state similar to anesthesia, so there was that as consolation.

Not much time passed after they were injected, only about five minutes. Then the one who led them here signaled to a group at the observation deck above their location, where the controller of these devices likely received a command.

The pods then drained of their green solution and opened up, revealing the original 20 who slowly and groggily got out and staggered to their feet. The remaining 80 stared at them intensely, curiosity and wonder burning through them.

Because the 20 who went in may have looked the same, but in a strange spiritual way, they didn't feel the same. Even Damon felt this clearly, so he was just as curious as the rest. What kind of abilities did they awaken, and what did it mean for the rest?

Ambrose spoke from the observation deck using some sort of speaker. "Right, your species seems to have a suitable saying about this kind of situation. 'There is nothing like a free lunch'. Fortunately for you, the only price you have to pay here is to publicly share your awakened abilities with us. It's for the sake of data gathering and initial sampling."

A lot of people in the crowd frowned, Damon included. They were the type who automatically knew that anything they got here should be a secret meant to become their trump cards in the future. Only a fool would publicly announce their power to the world.

"Hello, Lord Ambrose, I believe we were told that the Universe's Will would automatically awaken it for us?" A suave young girl with a notable outfit and square rimmed glasses asked fearlessly in a very polite manner.

All eyes fell on her as she gazed right at Ambrose, who stared back. His lips curled, but he made no moves. "A good question. There is a lot you haven't been told yet, because as they say, 'too much exposition leaves you in a shitty position'."

"It will be my task to handle your initiation to the IUAS slowly and gently, so do not rush. You will be fed the full story piece by piece, so you can swallow and ingest it in comfort rather than being bombarded with it all at once. Is that amenable?" Ambrose asked with a squinty-eyed smile.

"Yes, Lord Ambrose, thank you very much." The lass replied with a curtsy.

"Smart girl." Ambrose commented simply.

The eyes of Damon and a few others flashed after that conversation. They understood the girl's intentions. It was something he himself had neglected, busy with his own contemplation about his wasted life's goal.

While Ambrose might be their Overseer now, he was not the final boss. That would be the Universe's Will, the spiritual consciousness of their universe. It was not powering up the universe's inhabitants by providing such features for free, but because it was exchanging power for capable warriors and spelunkers.

In other words, every human was a potential warrior that could help it achieve its goal. There was no way the Universe's Will would allow fellows like Ambrose to go around and enslave or slaughter new species wantonly.

There had to be a set of rules and regulations that had been negotiated by the upper echelon of that Galactic Union and the Universe Will.

Through her question, the lass had just likely unearthed one of them: Ambrose cannot kill or punish you if you speak respectfully and politely. This should be obvious enough, but that was only using a human's 'common sense'.

With that out of the way, Ambrose took the floor again after that. "Right, all those who have been awakened have automatically been introduced to the Augmented Reality world of Essence. Just think of opening your Character panel, and you should see something amazing."