“Ow,” Sebastian said.

The ‘monster’, he realized after a second of outright panic, was actually a very realistic statue.

Which he’d hit his head on somehow.

It was sat beside another statue, like a horrific pet. This one wasn’t monstrous, but a beautiful woman, similar in appearance to an ancient Greek statue, but more real, the stone seeming almost alive.

[https://i.imgur.com/RZmeejs.jpg]

He turned his attention to the room, which was different than the one on the other side of the aberration on his office’s roof. Unlike there, here he couldn’t see beyond its walls, and it felt less like a glitch in reality, and more like an ancient tomb.

“What am I supposed to do here? I don’t see any glowing card.”

No answer.

He felt his ears for his earbuds. Still there.

He checked his phone. Its screen was blank, and it wouldn’t turn on.

Had he broken it?

Beginning to panic once more, he looked around for the exit. He let out a sigh of relief when he spotted an aberration. This one looked different. It was one single color, and looked more like a simple light than a shifting rainbow. It was also barely visible compared to the dazzling display the one on the roof had been.

Having found the way out, he turned his focus to locating the card. He didn’t see it anywhere. The room was empty except for…

His gaze fell on the pair of statues. Now that he wasn’t panicking, he could feel… something coming from them.

On a hunch, he touched the statue’s shoulder. It felt like pressing into something both solid and liquid.

Even though he’d only touched the woman, both statues began to dissolve, draining away like sand in an hourglass, pooling at his feet. The whole process took only a few seconds.

Then the pile burst into flames.

He cried out and stumbled backward, but luckily the flames hadn’t spread to his clothes.

He stood several feet away, watching the sand burn.

When the blaze had burned out, it left behind an object.

A card.

It was made not of glass, as he had half-expected, but wood.

“Weird.”

He picked it up, then noticed the countdown timer at the edge of his vision. He had three seconds before phase one began.

He had no idea what would happen if he was still in here when the timer ran down, and didn’t intend to find out. He ran for the light, hoping it worked the same way exiting as entering, and pushed himself into it.

∎ ∎ ∎

Sebastian found himself back in the tunnel inside the giant black tree outside the transformed Royal Palace.

“Good,” Anubis suddenly said, startling him. “You retrieved it.”

“You didn’t answer before. I thought I broke my phone.”

“That was a shrine, not a transition zone. I cannot see into shrines, nor communicate with anyone inside of them. Unfortunately, our time is over. I hope the aid I’ve provided will be enough. Goodbye, Sebastian. And good luck.”

“Wait, what? Where are you going?”

The voice that answered wasn’t Anubis.

Parameter adjustment complete.

There was a long, strange pause, heavy with something, and somehow Sebastian knew there was more, that the voice wasn’t done.

Transfiguration altered by unauthorized fusion.

Balancing transfiguration to account for alterations.

System access limited until balancing completes.

Sebastian waited, but nothing more came. No countdown, nothing.

“Sebastian.” It was Anubis’s voice, faint now, distant. Crackling.

“Anubis! I thought you were gone.”

“The fusion was more damaging than predicted. This is…” there was a pause here, the first time Sebastian had ever heard Anubis hesitate, “unexpected. The fused world was unlike any other we’ve ever encountered. It has changed not only the physical world, but the very nature of reality, of power. One of these changes will work in your favor, it will allow you to immediately gain power once the phase begins instead of needing to initiate your deck.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“What—”

“There’s little time, please don’t interrupt. The Scions and their Vassals are your main concern. Going through the aberration removed you from Osiris’s direct notice, but you are still in as much danger as the rest of the inhabitants of your world. You have a slim window to get ahead, to advance enough to survive. The cards you took will help you. The first is now a heart card, which you can use once I am gone. But if you choose to use it, nothing will be the same. Aside from how it will change you, the activation of its effect will cause you to once again gain Osiris’s notice.

“So you have two options: You can choose to stay unnoticed, to hide. Perhaps you will even survive via this method. Or you can choose to use the card, choose to become a prime target, but also gain immense power.

“I will not tell you what to do. The choice is yours to make, and yours alone.

“If you do choose to participate, then use the second card as well. As it is not a relic, it is unchanged, so to do so you will need to purchase a deck initiator. Make this purchase your immediate priority. Your money is unsupported and you will need to earn a new currency: orbs. Keep a lookout for aberrations and any monsters who give you the impression of green, yellow, orange, or red. Avoid all other colors. Sell any cards you find that you don’t use, but not the two I led you to. No matter how much or what you’re offered, whether you decide to participate or not, do not sell those cards. Clear the first gate before the phase ends. Finally, it may not work, but if you see a communication crystal, you should purchase it if you can. I wish I could have done more, Sebastian. I am sorry.”

As Anubis was saying the word ‘sorry’, something passed through Sebastian and he fell to his knees, his vision flashing with rainbow colors.

It subsided quickly, and he got up again, feeling slightly different.

“What was that? Was that you? I feel… good. Better somehow.” A pain in his ears he hadn’t really paid attention to was now gone.

In answer to his question came only silence.

And not just in his earbuds.

He pulled one out, listening. Then the other.

The city was silent. The sirens, the traffic, even voices and the chirping of birds and buzzing of insects, all had ceased. As though the world was holding its breath, waiting for something.

His phone’s screen was black, and once again wouldn’t turn on.

He had the sudden intuition it never would again.

Then the voice returned, loud and grating. The voice he now knew was of Osiris, the Apocalypse System.

Balancing complete.

Beginning Phase 1.

The world shifted about him in an instant, points of light blooming into existence all around, then fading to imperceptibility just as quickly, leaving the world looking as it had been, yet forever changed.

Full integration successfully achieved. Phase 1 has now begun.

The voice morphed then, becoming less robotic, more personable, and the text that appeared next was no longer floating in front of him, but somehow inside his head, along with the voice.

Hello, to the inhabitants of planet Earth.

One year ago, forms appeared in your sky, accompanied by sounds vibrating the air with no apparent source.

These were a natural occurrence, a prelude, an indicator of a Threshold approaching.

Now, that Threshold has been surpassed, and I welcome you to true existence.

In the past year, some among you have sought me, I now know. You have been calling me Osiris. It is a surprisingly fitting name, and I approve.

My true name in your language is simple, and descriptive, but lacks the correct connotation. I am known as the Apocalypse System.

Do not let this worry you. For what is any end, but a brand-new beginning? And this end is the start of something wondrous.

When a world such as yours reaches a Threshold, it requires System intervention. I am such a System, and I have already bestowed upon you your first Wonder.

You will have, moments ago, felt something pass through your body. No doubt some of you have already noticed its effects. It has healed you. All diseases, all infections, all disabilities. They have all been wiped away. It is my gift to you, to allow each of you a fair chance in the tests ahead.

Yes, tests. For there are rules, unbreakable, unbendable, even by those such as I.

I would give to you the world, but I cannot. You must earn it. You must be tested, your measure taken, your mettle weighed. This idea exists in many of your myths, histories, and religions, so it should not be a foreign concept.

Prove yourself, pass each phase, and I promise, a paradise awaits you at the end.

The rules are simple: do anything you can to pass each phase. I am forbidden from saying more at this juncture, but luckily your goal for this first phase is simple, and one I can convey: survive.

Those among you who wish to excel may set your sights on clearing Forsaken, the first gate. What that entails, and even its location, you must discover for yourselves.

As is standard, upon death you forfeit your remains to System control.

Those who prove yourselves or meet particular requirements may be chosen to become my Scions, or their Vassals.

There are many paths to grow in power in this new world, and I will not leave you entirely adrift. I will do all I can to aid you in your progress, within the limits of my restrictions.

To that end, you may collect orbs to purchase items from the World Store. This includes weapons, food, shelter, and anything else you may require.

Explore even a little and you will quickly come across Store outposts. The distance between any two is never more than a day’s walk, so you will have no trouble locating them.

To those who were taken from your world, the ones not of this Earth, I apologize. There was interference I could not prevent. You are now bound by the same rules as the natives, and thus will have full access to the System.

If you wish to become Scions, seek out the source of power. All those who have reached what you refer to as Dragon rank will be able to see it.

And finally, to all, from this world or any other, welcome to the Apocalypse System. May you forever strive.

The voice faded along with the captions, and for several long moments, all Sebastian could do was stare into space.

He’d known much of what the message had said, even recalled some of it from the very first message the System had given, all the way back in Anomaly Labs’ offices. But before, he’d been running for his life, he’d had no time to think about it.

That wasn’t quite right. He’d had time to think. What he hadn’t had time for was to process it. To feel it.

He felt now.

He’d watched someone die. And it hadn’t even been Osiris’s doing, or one of its Scions, just a careless person going too fast.

He’d watched that corpse be taken over by the System, watched it turn into something horrific. Watched it kill, and absorb.

And what would it have done to that little girl if he hadn’t stopped her from running to it?

He couldn’t help but imagine.

His best friend was a Scion of Osiris, the Apocalypse System. Sebastian didn’t know what that meant, but from what he’d seen, it could be nothing good.

The city wasn’t exactly destroyed, but it was changed irrevocably, and for the worse. Which according to Anubis, was partly Sebastian’s own doing, and was somehow supposed to save them.

He was alone in a country not his own. He had no way to call his family—something he was embarrassed to admit he only now thought of doing—had no way of knowing if they were even still alive.

Everything was different. The world as he’d known it was over.

And as harsh as the old world was, as cruel as it could sometimes be—and despite Osiris’s encouraging words and his ‘Wonder’—Sebastian knew this new one, this new world he found himself in, it would be far worse than the old one ever was.