Elana moaned in her trance. The Sight had come unbidden and had locked her in a Vision. She saw into another Realm and saw odd-looking bipedal beings. Another Realm was being assimilated by the Great System. This in and of itself was nothing new. The Shattered Realms had many alien populations. What locked her in her vision and caused her heart to beat in fear was that this Realm held an Emergence and one of these beings were about to become a Fatebringer. As far as Elana knew, there had not been a new Emergence for several millennium. The tales of the last Fatebringer to emerge told of war and devastation as various Realms fought to control the Fatebringer for their own ends which ultimately resulted in damage to the Great System and the creation of the Shattered Realms.
A hazy image formed of several beings along with a large creature all of which were unknown to Elana. The group were sitting in some kind of open-air courtyard with sunlight filtering through beautiful flora that made Elana weep in joy at viewing. Peace and calm permeated the scene.
The people in her vision were indistinct but the potential for massive power emanated from one of them. The light of the courtyard faded, and the individuals all stood and quickly ran in different directions away from the singular one who remained standing in the center. Scattered images of blasted battlefields, burning seas, giants, monsters, and legions of dead warriors from all races converged on the Fatebringer. Elana could see entire Realms burned from existence in a cascade of fiery Aether.
As suddenly as the Vision began, it ended. Elana began to hear her name called. Her husband’s voice was a balm, and she clung to it as she climbed from the mental cage of the Sight. When her normal vision finally cleared, she was seated on her throne. Her husband, the King, and her attendants were present as were both Lord Arnas the court Magister and Baron Kar the War Minister. Her personal Champion, the mute warrior Faz was standing by her side just out of arms reach, allowing her attendants to assist her. The previously packed throne room had been cleared of supplicants while she had been in the throes of her Vision.
“My darling. Are you well? Can you hear me?” The abject worry and love in her husband’s voice brought a smile to her lips. Her small pink nose quivered, and her large golden eyes opened. She could feel the dampness of her facial fur as her attendants held cold compresses to her. She was sure her cheek dye was running, and she thought that she must look a mess. Her thin tan fingers grasped her husband’s own hands. His familiar long fingers entwined with hers. “I am... myself again my love.” She whispered. She sat up straighter looking to recover her royal demeanor. Waving off her attendants, she cast her gaze around those assembled. Turning to her ladies in waiting, she simply waved and as a group they left, eyes downcast and tails limp as was proper.
Once the attendants were gone, she steeled herself and forced eye contact with all of those left in the room. “I have seen a Sight that hints at joy, but I fear, ultimately brings only horror.”
The men around her shifted uncomfortably. They all knew that as the most powerful Oracle classer in the realm, Queen Elana’s visions were never wrong. If she was afraid, then they would react accordingly, but whatever she had to say, they were sure they could handle it. They were, after all, the most powerful men in the most powerful Realm in their sector. The sheer power in the throne room alone was enough to stop entire armies. How bad could it be?
“A Fatebringer has emerged.” She almost whispered.
Lord Arnas dropped his staff of office in shock while Baron Kar took a deep breath, trying to quell the trembling in his hands. That was, quite literally, the worst news they could ever have anticipated, which they hadn’t. However, neither of them questioned the veracity of her Vision. What to do about it was a different matter.
King Targin narrowed his large eyes and contemplated the news while gently stroking his wife’s hand. He came to a very quick decision. Addressing the men in the room he said, “Find out all you can about this newly assimilated Realm. As soon as it has passed the third initialization, I want a full invasion force ready to launch. We need to control this Fatebringer before our enemies even get a whiff of its existence.” He looked each person in the eye, “This does not leave this room. Does everyone understand?”
In unison, Arnas and Kar answered, “Yes your Majesty!” While the mute, Faz nodded solemnly.
“Good. We cannot afford for this information to reach outside of this room.”
Unfortunately for King Targin, the spies hidden in his throne room were already sending messages to their various Realms. By the end of the day the news of an Emergence had spread to nearly every kingdom in the entirety of the Shattered Realms. The third planet from the sun of the Emergent Realm would soon become a battleground of mythic proportions. And all this future contention was building before the planet, or its unsuspecting populace had even begun to be integrated.
---------------------------------------------------
“What the hell just happened?” Shane muttered as he abruptly came to with the sound of steady rain on the roof of the car. One moment he was unconscious and the next, he was wide awake, but confused. The Ford Explorer he had been driving was off the freeway and stuck in a mass of bushes on the side of the road. Rain outside was pelting the car with a steady drone. His seatbelt had been pulled tight and the airbag had been deployed. The sounds of the others in the car snapped him back to reality as his EMT training took over. He looked at the passenger seat and saw that Brom was shaking off the effects of what was obviously a crash. Turning further, he could see, sitting behind Brom, Brynn, and next to her, Malcolm. Shane uncoupled his seatbelt so that he could turn all the way around to see the Kenzie sitting directly behind him. “Everyone okay? Anyone hurt?” His eyes darted from person to person, assessing his friends for injuries. A chorus of “No” and “I don’t think so” greeted his ears. He took a quick mental stock of himself and determined that he too was uninjured.
“What the fuck dude?” Brom’s deep voice held an edge of strain as he released his seatbelt and turned his large frame in his seat. “Sis, you alright?” His bright blue eyes darted over his sister, concern plain on his rugged features.
Brynn, clutching her teddy bear backpack looked shaken, “I’m fine. Kind of dizzy, but otherwise I’m okay.”
Malcolm, in the middle seat, was being fussed over by his sister, “Get off!” He complained and batted her probing hands away. “I’m not hurt.”
Kenzie, for her part was not taking his word for it and continued checking him for a few more seconds before relenting and looking to Shane, “You good babe?”
Shane nodded, “Yeah. I don’t feel injured. I’m more confused than anything else. Do any of you remember anything, ‘cause I don’t know why we crashed.”
After being fussed over, Malcolm released his seatbelt and leaned forward, “I remember something weird, but maybe it was a dream? Brynn was arguing with me about the lyrics to a song I think, and then a weird glowing square appeared with words in it?” He shook his head. “It’s kind of fuzzy.”
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Brynn’s eyes lit up, “Mal’s right. I remember something like that too!” She tapped Brom’s shoulder rapidly. “Do you remember that Brom?”
Brom’s blonde brows knit together as he thought, “Yeah, actually. Now that you say it out loud, it does seem right.”
“Oh my God!” Brynn practically screamed.
Brom immediately spun in his seat, “What? What’s wrong?”
Brynn held up her cell phone, “It’s dead.”
Everyone in the car sagged from relief, Shane shook his head, “Jeez Brynn, way to give us a heart attack.”
Malcolm frowned at Brynn, “Seriously?” However, he took out his phone and found that it too was dead.
Several minutes of conversation resulted in everyone checking their phones and finding them all completely devoid of power. Shane tried to start the car, but it too would not engage. The interior lights no longer worked either. They were all on the verge of settling down to discuss their current situation when a glowing box of text appeared before each one.
Aether Stabilized
Average Aether quality within normal parameters
Sapient survival rate: 86.89952%
Welcome Sapients and congratulations! You have been initiated into the Great System. As stated in the prior communication, the primary initialization has been completed. Your world and all encompassed upon it have been converted by the RPG [Reality Processing Generator] to be compatible with the Great System and the benefits and controls it confers.
All sapient beings now have access to the Classes, Skills and Abilities guaranteed under the auspices of the Great System, as well as the standard control interface screens. Now that the first initialization has been completed, the second Initialization has begun. The first initialization installed the world’s Aether Source. The second initialization will begin spawning dungeons, lairs, raid zones, wandering monsters and natural refuges. Please be aware that certain areas of the world will be more likely to spawn higher levels of monsters at random. While the spawning is initiated, you may choose your Class.
Your Class will determine the types of Statistics, Skills, and Spells available to you. All sapients have access to the basic classes regardless of their previous life experiences. Additionally, each sapient will be offered a secondary set of Class options to choose from based upon their previous life experiences. Please be advised that each sapient has thirty minutes to choose from the secondary list before the options are lost and only the basic Class options will remain.
The time to completion of the second initialization is thirty days. Once complete, the third and final initialization will commence. The third initialization will connect your Realm to the greater reach of the Great System and allow travel between Realms. This will allow this Realm’s sapients to travel the Bleed to other Realms and conversely allow those from other Realms to travel to this one. The time to completion of the third initialization is six months.
For further information, please consult the Help Guide.
Again, congratulations and welcome to the Great System!
Shouts and panic erupted in the close confines of the SUV. “What the actual fuck?” “Did you see that?” “What is that?” “Is this real?”
Shane finally managed to calm the group down enough to hold a quieter conversation. “Okay. We all agree that we saw the same thing, right?” At nods all around, he continued, “Good. That means that if this is a hallucination, then we’re all experiencing it together.”
“But what if it’s not?” Brynn was close to tears. “What if this is real and there’s going to be monsters and stuff?” The teenager held tight to her teddy bear backpack.
“Then I will protect you.” Brom stated flatly. He maneuvered in his seat until he was facing backwards and took Brynn’s hand. He gazed at her with a very serious expression, “I promise that I will not let anything happen to you.” He then said something to her in Russian that the others did not understand, and Brynn’s expression softened as she held Brom’s hand tighter.
Kenzie was about to reach over and place a comforting hand on Brynn’s arm when she noticed that Malcolm was unusually quiet and staring off into space. She waved her hand in front of his face, but he did not react. “Mal?!” She almost shouted which startled everyone who immediately turned their attention to the young man.
Startled by Kenzie’s outburst, the seventeen-year old’s attention came back to those in the car. He gave Kenzie an annoyed look, “Jeez! What?”
“What do you mean what?” Her voice began to rise as she gestured at her brother. “You were, like, gone for a minute.”
Shane nodded in agreement, “Yeah dude, you had a real thousand-yard stare going on.”
“Oh? Sorry.” Malcolm’s reactive demeanor changed to contrition quickly. “I was just checking out the System interface and looking at the Classes and stuff.”
Kenzie raised an eyebrow, “I’m sorry, what?” Her incredulous stare prompted Malcom to hastily continue.
“Well, the message said that we only had thirty minutes to be able to choose a better than basic Class, so I thought I’d look and see what my options were.” He swiveled his head and looked at everyone, a bit confused. “I mean, it’s easy to do. And I figure if this is real, then isn’t it better to have a good Class type? That’s basic gaming 101 right there.” His gaze continued to bounce around, “Look, I can show you. Just focus on the air in front of you and think something like interface or system access.” His eyes took a slightly faraway look to them again. “And once it’s open, you can think at it to show you your stats and Class options and stuff.”
Everyone sat back and began to focus. Shane went slightly cross-eyed and thought about accessing the system and instantly the screen appeared.
Shane Cooper
Status
Class Options
Help
“Whoa! It works! Are you guys seeing this?”
Kenzie answered, “Yeah, I can see mine, but I can’t see anyone else’s. This is crazy.”
Shane focused on the Status option and a new screen appeared.
Shane Cooper
Class: None
Level: 1
BODY
Strength 10
Endurance 11
Agility 11
MIND
Intellect 12
Wisdom 12
Perception 11
SPIRIT
Willpower 11
Vitality 11
Personality 11
HP: 31
SP: 32
MP: 32
PD: +2
MD: +2
Defense: 2
Astonished, he blurted out, “Hey, this is like a role-playing game! I have stats and hit points and stuff.” He then managed to change back to the beginning screen and chose Class Options.
Basic Class Options
Advanced Class Options
Ignoring the basic options, Shane chose to view the advanced.
Cleric of Asclepius
Paladin of Sekhmet
Stellar Druid
Battle Medic
Divine Sorcerer
Blood Hunter
He went down the line looking at the details of each Class option. They almost all had a religious element to them. The cleric, paladin and sorcerer all required the person to basically worship a deity to perform magic and such. As an atheist or at least an agnostic, Shane did not think that any of those would suit him. The Blood Hunter seemed wild and dangerous and involved taking some sort of oath to hunt monsters like werewolves and vampires. Ugh. No thanks. That left the final option, Battle Medic. This seemed to be a fusion of healer and fighter. This spoke to Shane far more than any of the others. As a certified EMT and someone who was halfway through Paramedic training, Shane felt this would allow him to better help people while protecting himself. That was assuming that this was all real in the first place.