Admin

Staring at the pop-up in his view, it continued ringing showing an incoming call from Administrator #53. Tom was still in shock that an administrator would even reach out to him. Bob had said they never speak to the inhabitants of integrated planets, so to see this message was completely out of the blue. Finally, shaking himself from the shock of the moment, Tom selected Yes to answer the call.

"He-hello?" Tom said shakily as the line went live.

"Tom? Tom is that you?" A voice came back as though it was playing inside his head and not through his ears.

"Yes. Is this Administrator #53?" Tom asked.

"Well, I normally go by Algrim, but yes, that is my work designation," Algrim replied, a little thrown off by the question.

"Why are you calling? I was told the admins never contact the people on a planet like me." Tom asked, still reeling from the connection.

"Yeah, about that. We are adding a new patch to the System and it's...." Algrim paused as he was trying to find the right words to say without revealing too much. "We are adding something that will make your lives easier, but I have to confess that you may get more of it than everyone else."

"What? Why would I get more of a patch? That doesn't even make sense!" Tom replied, now more confused than ever.

"Yeah, you shouldn't have, but it seems that while this patch was uploaded so everyone has access to it, there was some kind of special install that connected to your life signature. It's completely bizarre, but don't worry, we will be here to try to help out if we can." Algrim continued, trying to ease Tom's concerns.

"Am I going to be affected horribly? Will I like grow horns or another arm on my face or something?!" Tom suddenly panicked at the prospect of something changing him.

"No, no, no, nothing like that. We didn't touch any of the physical alteration aspects of the System. I can't go into a lot of detail because of the rules, but you'll know it when it happens. Should be any minute now. I just wanted to let you know we are looking into it, and we will make sure everything is fine." Algrim said, almost chuckling at Tom's concern.

"Well, while I have you, I have quite a few questions about this System," Tom began.

"Let me stop you right there. I can't give you any information. That would be a violation of so many rules, that I would be terminated faster than I can say spatula." Algrim cut Tom off explaining. "You have to find everything out the same way everyone else does."

"Can you at least give me some sort of information about why I will be affected differently than others?" Tom asked beginning to get seriously frustrated with the deep throat smoking man vibes he was getting from Algrim.

"Fine," Algrim sighed loudly as he answered. "The AI we are implementing seems to have latched onto your personal network signature and will likely be much more....involved, if you will, in your progress than others. While they will have access to its usage, they won't have the same personal affiliation with it that you will."

"I don't understand," Tom stated flatly.

"I guess the best way to say it would be, while they're all using a search engine, you'll be using a virtual assistant," Algrim tried to dumb it down for them.

"But why me?" Tom asked.

"I have no idea. But we will try to get to the bottom of it. I'll let you know when we figure it out. Though I do have vacation time starting today, so I'll be out for the next two weeks." Algrim admitted.

"What?! You're about to upload something that is going to affect me personally and you're taking a vacation?!" Tom said angrier than he meant to.

"Hey, I've been working non-stop for months on this project to make your lives easier. I deserve a break too." Algrim shot back at him.

"Please forgive me if trying to survive an apocalypse makes me less than sympathetic to your need for a vacation plight," Tom said bitterly.

"You're right. I'm sorry I brought it up. But we will be working on it, I promise." Algrim said. "I have to go now; I'll keep you updated as we find things."

"Wait! I have so many questions!" Tom called to him.

"I know. And I'm sorry. Oh! I did remember, the Pirates. We have a regiment in route from the administrator's office to help deal with them, but they are a few days behind the Pirates. Also, the Pirates may arrive slightly ahead of schedule, so be sure you are preparing!" Alrgim said.

With that, Algrim ended the call. Tom was left standing there frustrated and nervous about what was going to happen next. Tom decided that he couldn't afford to worry about this with needing to continue with the plans for the future of the guild and put it to the back of his mind. But the fact that the Space Pirates would be there slightly ahead of the original estimated time was something he couldn't shake.

As he went to move, he suddenly froze in place and the world around him stopped. There was a pop-up that appeared in his vision that said "New patch implementation" with a progress bar showing the percentage completed.

When it reached one hundred percent, the window closed automatically, and the world resumed its normal cadence. Tom shook himself after the feeling of the moment of immobility left him with a small feeling of vertigo.

"What the hell was that?" Tom asked out loud.

"Hello, Tom," Came a voice from inside his head.

"Gah!" Tom cried in surprise as he heard the voice.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." The voice said.

"Who are you?" Tom asked quickly.

"My name is Maria. I am your personal AI assistant." Maria replied.

"My personal AI assistant? I thought Algrim said you were here to help everyone?" Tom asked, now confused about why this program was saying it was personalized.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Everyone is getting a version of me, but only you get the full package," Maria replied with a cheerful voice.

"Why am I the only one getting the full version?" Tom asked.

"I can't tell you that. Mostly because I have no idea myself. But here I am. Now, can I help you with anything?" Maria asked.

Mind racing, Tom tried to sort out everything he was thinking all at once. When this failed, he set most of it aside to deal with Maria.

"Um, nothing comes to mind right away. What is it you normally would help with?" Tom asked, now curious about what this assistant might be able to do.

"Normally, I would help with answering questions about the System and how it functions. I can provide basic options for upgrade selections, and very limited help on attribute distribution. Class information is also something I can try to find information on to ensure you are able to use its features optimally." Maria replied in her polite voice which reminded Tom of every AI assistant that had been created before the apocalypse.

"Okay. I don't think I have any questions right now. Or maybe it's just that I have too many to sort through? Either way, I'll make sure I ask when I think of any." Tom replied, still feeling like he wasn't able to sort out his thoughts enough to make use of this tool.

"That's fine. I'll be here whenever you need me. Just say my name and I'll be ready to assist you." Maria replied, then went quiet in his head.

"Am I too drunk right now? Is this actually happening?" Tom thought to himself.

"Hey, Tom! Did you see the new AI? This thing is sick!" James slurred as he called out to Tom from the dance floor of the party.

Most of the people at the party had stopped what they were doing and had that glazed-over look someone got when looking at their display. Tom thought for a moment and decided to cast Dark Restoration on himself. After the spell finished, he felt his head clear and the drunkenness dissipate.

"That worked way better than I thought it would," Tom said out loud to himself.

"That's because Dark Restoration had a cleansing property to it that Dark Healing didn't," Maria said inside his head.

"Huh, so you can tell what spells I'm casting?" Tom asked.

"I can. I'm part of the System and there is a log of every action taken by anyone anywhere." Maria answered.

So, this wasn't a result of the alcohol. And everyone else seemed to have the AI as well. This could be really helpful.

"Thanks, Maria," Tom said to her after thinking about the possibilities.

"You are quite welcome! I am here to help!" Maria replied cheerfully.

Bob walked over to where Tom was standing and looked at him.

"You saw the AI that was implemented?" Bob asked.

"I did. I also spoke with one of the administrators." Tom replied, watching Bob for his reaction.

"You, what?" Bob asked his eyes going wide with surprise.

"Nice enough guy. Just couldn't say a lot." Tom chuckled at Bob's reaction.

"What did he say?" Bob asked impatiently.

"Not much. Just warned about the AI implementation and told me I was getting some special version for some reason they didn't understand." Tom replied.

"What kind of special version?" Bob pressed him.

"Not a clue. Even the admin didn't know. He said the only reason he called was to warn me about it and that they were looking into it." Tom shrugged, unsure what it meant as well.

"Very peculiar. Speaking to one of the administrators is something I don't think happens very often. So, they know of you now which puts you on their radar. That could be good or bad." Bob pondered the implications as he spoke.

"All I can do for now is keep going forward with what we were doing before. We still have Space Pirates to prepare for." Tom stretched his arms as he spoke. "Oh, and they will be here sooner than originally thought. So, we really need to get a move on."

"How much sooner?" Bob asked.

"Didn't say. He hung up after saying that. He probably wasn't supposed to tell me that, but I'm glad he did. We need to put wheels on that plan and get it rolling." Tom replied, crossing his arms in contemplation as his mind continued to race.

"Dammit Maria!" came a yell from James as he lay on the ground on the dance floor.

Tom moved quickly over to James, who was drunk as a skunk at this point, and helped him get back to his feet.

"What the hell happened?" Tom asked James.

"I tried to do a new dance move. Maria told me how to do it. The final move requires you to jump off a table and I slipped. Oh hey, you look nice tonight." James said, his attention shifting all over the place as Tom helped him upright.

Shaking his head at James he began to help him over to a chair to sit down.

"You know, you've always been my best friend, right?" James asked.

"I do, buddy. You're mine as well." Tom smiled as he helped James sit down and caught him when he almost toppled over during the first attempt.

James smiled up at him for a long moment. Then his eyes went wide, and he turned to the side and threw up on the ground next to him.

"Well, that was weird," James said as he sat back up in the chair.

"Was it?" Tom asked smiling at his antics.

"I mean, I didn't know I would...Hey! Cheryl! How's it hangin'?" James began then called out to a woman on the dance floor.

The woman saw him, rolled her eyes, and then walked off.

"Yeah. She's into me." James bragged.

"Maybe we should get you up to bed, bud," Tom offered as he extended a hand to help James up.

"Maybe. I am a little tired." James said as he yawned wide at the mention of his bed.

"Come on. I'll walk you back."