Chapter 1

Awareness slowly crept to the forefront of Drew’s being as an uncomfortable pressure rose to prominence. The serene comfort of his previous unconscious state swiftly evaporated as an urgent need came to his attention. Despite his current grogginess, it made itself known in such a way that it could not be denied.

He needed to pee. Badly.

Being the kind and thoughtful husband he was, he reached down to gently shift the covers and shuffle out of bed via the barest of movements… except his hands met only air.

Did Amber steal the covers again?

Drew grumbled groggily at his wife’s thievery.

Come to think of it, it was pollen season, Amber’s allergy-fueled snoring should have been near shaking the walls - banishing any thought of returning to sleep until he applied his marriage-saving earplugs.

But all was silent.

There was no snoring, no creepy-yet-endearing sleep muttering, no tossing and turning as her husband’s movement provoked an unconscious bid to claim the soon-to-be-vacated bed space. He couldn’t even hear the distant whine of Freya in the backyard – who had an uncanny ability to sense when one of her owners was awake. It was true silence.

It was in that moment that Drew’s actual surroundings finally registered in his mind.

Drew wasn’t in his bed. His wife wasn’t next to him. There was no night-pee-friendly connected bathroom nearby nor excitable dog stirring in the backyard. No, he was in a nondescript white room.

He blinked rapidly, reaching up with his hands to wipe away what must have been a hallucination brought upon by his semi-wakefulness. Alas, even after clearing his eyes, the room remained, as did his urgent need to relieve himself.

Ugh, this is the worst. A dream where I’m stuck needing to pee, and not a single bathroom in sight. Drew shook his head in frustration as he propped himself up off the cool white floor he’d found himself lying on.

That’s when it hit him, it was cold. Like, really cold. Drew felt a shiver run up and down his spine as he rubbed his arms to gain some semblance of warmth as he was otherwise naked, except for the silky heart-patterned boxers sitting around his waist.

Drew turned around to take in his surroundings, the last fogginess of his mind swept away by the sudden influx of cold. He was definitely in a dream, that much was certain. The room itself was bright, but contained no light source of any kind.

The walls never seemed to meet the floor nor the ceiling, and it was almost like the entire room had been hollowed out by some unnatural machine. Without any doors or windows, the room was bare and felt more like a prison cell of some kind rather than…

Well, whatever the hell this place is. Did I eat something bad before bed last night?

Drew’s confusion was only heightened upon seeing a perfectly normal-looking office desk, complete with two chairs. One of which was currently occupied. Drew could have sworn he had been alone in the room just moments prior.

*DING!*

A chime or bell of some kind went off and Drew jumped briefly as the silence was broken. The sound seemed to echo within his brain. What was even stranger than the sound itself, was that he could have sworn he’d briefly seen the word ding flash before his eyes before quickly disappearing. Thinking that his dream-self had somehow gone insane, and that this was the start of a nightmare of some kind, Drew quickly looked back to the man sitting behind the desk.

The man had short brown hair parted to the side like some kind of fancy businessman, yet he wore a plain black t-shirt, tan cargo shorts, and what appeared to be Crocs. His well-groomed, short beard remained unmoving, much like the rest of him, which made zero sense considering the suddenness of the chime that had just blasted through the air.

What’s going on here?*System Initiation of the Sol System confirmed. 1,000 Human Progenitors randomly chosen and confirmed. Tutorial introduction commencing…*

Drew both saw and heard the mechanical words yet, despite hearing them, there was no origin. The man sitting at the desk remained unmoving. Additionally, the words had met his ears without any inflection of accent, gender, or anything else. Even the mechanical accent of them seemed subdued, watered down to some baseline verbal sound.

Hearing voices in a dream was certainly a new concept that Drew hadn’t experienced before, and he found himself unsettled.

*DING!*

*Welcome to the Tutorial Introduction, Drew Wright. *

It was at this moment that the man sitting at the desk stood and beckoned Drew forward with one of his hands.

Still cold, still needing to use the restroom, and very confused, Drew walked over to the man to seek comfort in some sense of normality.

“Welcome, Drew Wright,” the man said, nodding his head ever so slightly. “Please, take a seat.” The man gestured to the open chair.

“You know my name?” Drew asked, the words croaking out as he sat down. He didn’t know what was going on, but he needed answers, if for no other reason than to progress the dream further so he could wake up and finally relieve himself.

Only the man’s mouth moved. “Of course, knowing you is part of my purpose. I am your guide for this basic introduction and tutorial of The System. You may call me Spock.” He showed no emotion at all, and it was almost as if he was acting on autopilot. His facial muscles stayed tightly controlled, and Drew couldn’t get a feel for the guy at all. He felt mechanical.

“Did you say your name is Spock?” Drew asked, his eyebrow raised.

“That is correct,” the man replied, again with no unnecessary movement as he spoke.

“Cool freaking name, your parents must be pretty awesome,” Drew said with a smile on his face.

Might as well make a friend in this strange dream.

“I don’t have any parental figures,” Spock replied blankly.

Drew clicked his teeth. “Well, now I feel like an asshole. Sorry dude, my condolences.”

Maybe something happened to his folks?

“Any chance you can tell me where I am, and what I’m doing here then?” Drew asked.

Spock nodded. “That is the entire purpose of my existence. Please, answer one question of mine first before we go any further. Would you prefer the ‘fast and easy’ explanation or something more in-depth?” This time he gave the tiniest inclination of his head as if restraining his curiosity.

Drew mulled it over for a second. He was about five seconds away from losing control of his bladder and the cold was really starting to get to him as his body had begun to uncontrollably shiver. He needed to get out of this dream as quickly as possible.

“Uh, the fast and easy option if you don’t mind. Also, could you point me in the direct of the closest bathroo⎯” Drew began to say before a chime rang in his head again.

*DING! *

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*You have chosen the “Fast and Easy option.” *

Zzzzzapppp

Drew’s entire body seized up, locking all his muscles into extremely painful spasms. He couldn’t even manage to scream, as his jaw, throat and mouth rebelled against his body’s natural response and pain coursed through his body.

His mind blanked as his entire existence seemed to boil and steam from the inside out. He didn’t know how long he endured the excruciating sensation, but at some point, it suddenly stopped and his body finally relaxed.

His mind spent several seconds processing what had just happened. One thing was certain, Drew never wanted to go through whatever that was again. His body felt weak, like it had been hit by a truck, and when he tried lifting himself up off the floor, where he’d fallen from his seat, his arms trembled.

That’s when he noticed Spock leaning over to offer him a hand. His mind still reeling from what happened, Drew accepted the assistance as the man hefted him back into his chair. Spock walked back to his own chair before sitting down.

That was when the aroma hit Drew’s nostrils. The pungent smell of burnt hair and urine. He looked down at his boxers and found that he’d pissed himself. Before Drew could process anything further, Spock spoke.

“I apologize for the pain you experienced, Drew Wright,” Spock said mechanically. “You chose the fast and easy explanation, and although that experience was likely highly unpleasant, I would wager that your future self will be thankful for your choice.” His voice and words cut through Drew’s mental fog.

Drew found himself back in control, though feeling very weak. “I pissed myself, dude. What the fuck was that?” He hissed as he rubbed his temples while glaring at the man sitting across from him.

Spock began to speak as if off a script. “You are not in a dream. You are not dead. These are the most common thought processes that sapient beings experience during the Tutorial Introduction. The pain you experienced was necessary to ensure you are in the correct state of mind for what follows.”

His gaze bored into Drew. “As you are likely aware, even if you have not yet processed it, dreams never contain any element of pain, nor smell. In the event there is pain, you are awoken immediately. Remaining here despite the pain, along with the other sensations previously mentioned is proof that this is waking reality.”

Moments passed as the words sunk in. Spock was right. Dreams didn’t contain smells of any kind. Drew looked down to his wet boxers, and felt them clinging to the skin of his thighs, before frowning.

They definitely don’t contain pain. Every time I’ve gotten even a charlie horse in my sleep, I woke up in a panic immediately. But if this is all real then I’ve been… kidnapped? And I’m hearing and reading weird announcements inside my own head. Not a great sign.

His brows furrowed as he thought about his situation. “This is real?” he asked, looking up to Spock for confirmation.

“Yes,” Spock answered in a perfect monotone.

“Why am I here, and not in my bed next to my wife?” Drew asked.

“I will answer any questions I’m capable of answering,” Spock replied. “But first, please be aware that the time you spend here is extremely limited. It will be to your personal detriment if you spend too much of your limited time asking questions. It could even mean your future death.”

Again with the mechanical tone, is this guy really human? It’s like he’s emotionless, yet if all this is real, maybe he’s got real answers. Unless I’m actually drooling on the floor of a psyche ward right now…

“Okay… what am I doing here?” Drew asked cautiously. He didn’t know what Spock meant by ‘future death’, but after the pain from earlier, he wasn’t willing to risk too much.

“Life as you know it will end in seven days,” Spock answered bluntly.

“Huh, come again?” Drew asked, completely flabbergasted by the man’s answer.

“Humanity, or rather the Humans of planet Earth were doomed to die in seven days,” Spock answered. “I do not know the specific cause of this doom, as I’ve only been given select information, but it is certain that your planet, and all living beings on it, would have died in the span of one week.”

“You said ‘were’ and ‘would,’ I assume that’s no longer the case?” Drew asked, trying to hold back his panic. His current options were insanity or potential apocalypse. Nether were calming prospects.

Wait… why am I not panicking, that is definitely panic worthy… Why haven’t I had any attack—

Spock interrupted his thought. “Correct. The System, which is something akin to an extremely powerful artificial intelligence program of unimaginable scope and scale, has intervened on your civilization’s behalf. Unfortunately, this comes with several major negative consequences for your people. Survival of your species on this planet is not guaranteed.” Yet again the voice contained no emotions of any kind.

“What kind of consequences? And why would this AI program step in to save us, only to let us rot over something else?”

Seriously, why am I not panicking? Usually, I’d be a puddle on the floor right now just imagining these kinds of scenarios…

“To expedite this conversation, and to save you precious time, allow me to explain,” Spock began. “The System slowly expands throughout the multiverse, and it has limited abilities to interact with non-integrated space. To save your planet, and all living things on it, The System was forced to expend a large amount of energy to quickly integrate Earth. Doing so, floods a planet with an energy you would likely refer to as ‘mana’. The sudden influx of that much mana has side effects that are detrimental to a non-integrated civilization. In this case, the mana will rapidly mutate animals into ‘mana-infused beasts’. Additionally, your planet will begin to spawn what you would call ‘monsters’, which are natural mana-based lifeforms. Both the beasts, and the monsters are extremely dangerous, and will kill many people.”

“Holy shit… you can’t be serious?” Drew asked, his mouth hanging open. This was starting to sound too complex, too specific, to be the result of some kind of psychotic-break-induced madness.

Spock didn’t even acknowledge Drew’s outburst. “Finally, as was the case with many prior quickly integrated civilizations, most of your world’s modern technology will cease functioning. I do not know the specific reasons why this happens, only that it does. The System has determined that most of Earth’s weaponry, including most firearms, will be rendered useless. Electricity, the energy source your civilization relies on, will also no longer function. The System has concluded that technology and electricity should return to a usable state after a period of roughly one hundred years.”

That’s it. There's no way my brain, sane or otherwise, came up with something like that. This is real.

Drew gasped, taking in a deep breath. “Well, how the hell are we supposed to survive then, man? Our guns won’t work, our power grids are going to go down. Hell, our entire logistical system for food and goods is going to be screwed, and why am I not having a freaking panic attack about it?”

“The System is currently infusing your body with mana,” Spock replied. “You will likely feel cold during this process. At the same time, it is stabilizing your brain chemistry to prevent erratic thoughts and behavior.”

“Hold up, are you saying The System is fixing my fucking panic and anxiety disorders?” Drew asked, slack jawed.

“Any health conditions will be repaired during this process, yes. As to your continued survival, your species will have access to The System itself.”

“I… I don’t understand,” Drew said, blinking his eyes. ‘The System’ was going to fix his mental health. Something he’d been dealing with for ten years, and it was doing it as a side effect.

“In layman’s terms, your people will become capable of mana-infused progression,” Spock replied. “Surviving combat scenarios will provide exponential growth in the form of increased physical and mental attributes, along with a selection of powerful abilities and what this planet would call ‘magic’. This progression is represented by levels and grades.”

Drew felt his pulse sped up. “So… it’ll be like a video game or a table top RPG? We kill bad things, we get XP, then we level up and get stronger… because of the mana infusion?” he asked. He felt like he was grasping at straws to figure out what everything meant. He hated that feeling.

“Video games. Yes, I received data on this concept. That is an accurate assessment, Drew Wright,” Spock replied.

“And everyone will what, just get access to this magical leveling system and go out and fight monsters and shit?” Drew questioned skeptically. Honestly, it didn’t sound too bad.

Seriously what is going on with my brain?

“Yes…” Spock replied with a slight pause, shuffling his feet. “Although you are a progenitor, one of one thousand randomly chosen human beings. The Progenitor program was created to give civilizations a slight advantage for survival. You will be integrated now, as will the rest of your peers. The remainder of your species will be integrated in seven days when The System is finished saturating your world with mana to avert catastrophe.”

“My family has to wait seven days?” Drew asked aghast. There was no point to any of this without his family, he’d need to do everything possible to ensure their survival.

“At the conclusion of this Tutorial, you will be given five Tokens,” Spock replied again in his flat, mechanical drone. “These may be given to any sapient lifeform you wish, and as long as they fully trust your words, they will undergo the same Tutorial as you, at any time prior to the integration of your planet. However, they will not be given any further Tokens.”

Drew let out a sigh of relief. As long as he could convince his family what was going on, they’d get their superpowers early. The question was, how would Drew manage to convince them without his wife and mom thinking he was completely insane? That thought tied his stomach in knots.

But… with five tokens… I could help Mark and Miranda as well…

Drew firmed his resolve and prepared himself for anything. “Alright, my curiosity isn’t sated, but you said we have a limited amount of time here and if all this is true then I have people I need to protect. What comes next?”

This is a ‘tutorial’ after all.

Spock nodded. It was the closest the guy had showed to being pleased. It seemed like the dude liked efficiency. “While every human will have the ability to acquire classes and professions, only Progenitors like yourself, and their Token holders have the opportunity to acquire a new race. Please be aware, you will be given three boons. These may be exchanged for certain abilities, races, and privileges. If you’re ready, we may begin the race selection process at once.”

“I get to go through character creation?” Drew asked. A younger version of himself would be jumping with joy at the prospect.

“That is an accurate approximation, Drew Wright,” Spock replied.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Drew said with a smile. Either he was insane, or the situation was. Either way, the magic in his brain was keeping the panic away and all that remained was pure excitement.

I get to go through real-life character creation!

*DING! *

*Race and Class selection sequence commencing*