The world was crumbling around them, but inside their cramped apartment, Claire and Riley found solace in shared laughter and the remnants of a day-old pizza. 

"To us," Claire raised a paper cup filled with flat beer, a wry smile gracing her lips. Outside, the city burned, the acrid scent of smoke a constant reminder of the world's impending destruction. "Not the end we imagined, but hey, we had a good run." 

Riley, her short pink hair a stark contrast to the bleakness of their surroundings, echoed the sentiment with a nod. "Couldn't have asked for a better partner." 

Claire chuckled. "Except for that time you convinced me to dye my hair blue. Never again." 

Riley grinned, unfazed by the jab. "Come on, it was a vibrant shade of disaster. Besides, we've got bigger things to worry about now." 

Indeed they did. Claire's backpack was stuffed with canned goods, a worn-out Swiss Army knife, and a dog-eared copy of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" – a touch of humor in the face of annihilation. 

Riley's bag, on the other hand, contained a curious assortment of items: a deck of tarot cards, a worn leather journal, and a nasty-looking slingshot. 

"What do you think happens next?" Riley asked, her voice suddenly mellow.

Claire gazed out the window, where a towering skyscraper was engulfed in flames. "Giant spiders from Mars? Zombie apocalypse? Who knows anymore." 

"I'm hoping for something a little more... magical. Maybe we'll get superpowers, or discover a hidden portal to another dimension." Riley's eyes sparkled with a hint of childlike wonder. 

Claire couldn't help but smile at her friend's optimism. "Whatever happens, we'll face it together.” She drained the last of her beer then contemplated a casual toss of the cup in a room she no longer owned, but her conscience prevailed. Even with the world ending, littering still felt wrong.

Riley, however, had no such qualms. She flinged her cup to the side with carefree abandon then swept her pink hair away from her eyes, securing it in a messy bun that defied the chaos around them. While others had looted stores for survival essentials, Riley had taken a bit of time to prioritize her beauty routine, her backpack having a couple of large shampoo bottles, sunscreen and lotions.

"Any predictions for how this all goes down?" Riley inquired, her voice a mix of curiosity and trepidation.

Claire shrugged, the scent of smoke suddenly intensifying. She peeked from the window behind them and watched as the restaurant they often went into, now engulfed in flames, spewed out columns of black smoke into the grey skies. "The System wasn't very clear on what to expect other than most of us are going to die when it comes into effect."

“Like that hasn't happened already,” Riley rolled her eyes but there was a tightness in her voice.

The System had told the world that it was coming a week in advance through messages on the internet. However, most had considered it to be a cruel joke concocted by some weirdo on the web. And yet, when people started getting magical messages floating above their heads telling them that the world as they knew it was going to end, pandemonium began. 

Governments all around the world had tried to reach out and assure everyone that everything would be alright – that they would do their best to combat whatever this System had in store for humans. The police and armies came out in force to control the riots that broke out in just about every city in the world. But that didn’t matter in the end.

By the time the week came to an end, the whole world was on fire. Supply chains had collapsed. Soldiers had deserted. Communities had began eating themselves up in desperation. Everyone was desperate to find a way to survive, even if it meant going against everything the human race once stood for. Calling people animals at this point of time, would be a disservice to the animals themselves. They were that horrible.

From outside, the world seemed already on the brink of collapse before the System could do anything about it. 

Unfortunately, one of the casualties of this pandemonium were Riley's parents. Claire knew them well. They were good people who always had their home open for her to visit anytime she wished. Either for a home-cooked meal or just to stay the night. It was only two days earlier that news somehow reached them that Riley's parents had been gunned down by unknown assailants. 

Claire looked up and watched her best friend's stare at the wall with a far-off look in her eyes. The only reason they were still relatively unharmed and alive was because of Riley being a damn good gymnast who could scale walls, houses and fences with ease. Find supplies and spot out people with ill intentions. Aa for Claire, being a native Texan, meant she was an expert on all things gun related. She kept a separate bag filled with weapons and ammo. They were the first items she stole when the riots broke out.

Their contemplation was suddenly interrupted by a sharp beep emanating  from Claire’s two year old Casio G-shock. A perfect watch in her option, for when the world was ending, She had set an alarm ten minutes before the time the System was supposed to commence. It would give them enough time to leave the apartment and go downstairs. Riley feared that if they stayed inside, they might get crushed if the building was to collapse. No one knew what would happen once the System began its destruction.

And a part of Claire agreed with her friend, so as soon as the alarm went off, both of them were on their feet and ready to move. Bags slinged over their shoulders. Claire reached for her gun — a Glock 26 before glancing up at Riley. 

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“You sure you don't want one?” She asked again, hoping her friend would see reason and take one of her firearms to protect herself whatever the System might throw at them. But Riley shook her eyes, an apologetic smile on her lips. She picked up her baseball bat wrapped with barb wire and slung it over her shoulders. “I’ve got my baby. I don't need any.”

Claire shook her head but decided it wasn't the time to get into an argument. They had seven more minutes to leave the apartment.

So they moved. Quickly through the door without looking back, then down the stairs and past the numerous other apartment doors. Most were empty of both people and the things one could use for survival like food and weapons. But a few still had their inhabitants inside. Their doors were barricaded with thick pieces of wood and metal. Claire hoped the people inside would survive the System and not get turned into a paste of blood and muscles.

Soon they reached the ground floor and within seconds they were on the streets. Claire's watch showed there was still a couple of minutes before the specified time. She looked towards Riley who was staring into the gray skies.

“You ever think that all of this could be for nothing?” Riley asked suddenly. “That after all we’ve been through in the last week, the System could be nothing more than a massive joke?”

Claire bit her lip and looked at the world around her. The locality where she had spent more than four years of her life, interacting and befriending the people and visiting their numerous establishments. But now, most if not all was reduced to ash and smoke. Could all of this be a joke? She looked at her watch. Ten seconds. “We're about to find out.”

They waited.

9…

8…

7…

6…

"Claire?"

"Yeah?" Claire met Riley's gaze for a second, her eyes finding it difficult to leave the watch on her wrist. But her friend was smiling while looking at her.

"Thanks.”

4…

3…

“Huh?” Claire stared, confused for a second. “For wha—?”

But her words were swallowed up by a deafening roar that broke through the clouds. It was followed by a blinding white llight that filled the grey sky, forcing Claire to shield her eyes with a startled cry.

A thunderous voice boomed within Claire's mind, resonating through her very being. When she blinked her eyes open, she saw huge golden letters floating in the sky over their heads. 

“Welcome, Planet JS555E also known as ‘Earth’. The warning period has concluded, so you all will now be assimilated into the System. Be ready. Further stages of Initialization will follow.”

“So its not fake, afterall,” Riley muttered, while glancing into the sky with a wistful look on her face. 

“Yeah, and it seems like we now know how the world ends,” Claire pointed at the sky towards the east. Both of them now starred in equal parts wonder and horror as pieces of it suddenly began to break as if the sky itself was made of a glass dome, and not a sea of clouds held together by gravitational force.

“The hell?" Claire murmured, watching as shards of the sky began to tumble down, revealing a strange grid-like pattern where the clouds should've been. Like someone was forcibly scraping off paint. The broken pieces began falling towards the earth's surface.

“Maybe we should find cover?” Riley muttered, her eyes still transfixed on the sky crumbling down.

“Hmm? Yeah, I think it would be for the best,” Claire's words were slurred as if drunk. Throughout the week, numerous news channels and people from all walks of life had speculated how the world would come to an end. Most believed it would be something akin to a fiery death and total annialation. Some even believed that everyone would simply wake up from the simulation they were plugged in, a.k.a Matrix style. 

But Claire didn't think anyone had imagined something like this could happen. Where the sky itself was shedding its hue like paint being washed off because of the rain. Her thoughts were a mess inside her brain. Her words has no clear meaning inside her head. 

So she simply grabbed Riley's hand and began pulling her inside their apartment complex. Her friend followed her without a word. But their steps came to an abrupt halt when a new block of golden letters suddenly appeared in thin air. But these ones were not huge as before. Instead, they were small and inhabited small spaces above their heads. 

Initialising System…

It said. Followed by, 

Terraforming…

Claire had no idea what those words meant or how they were floating in space, however they had bigger things to worry about. 

The mega sized golden letters were back floating in the sky, spelling their collective doom.

Planet: Earth (codename GWXA7785)  

Integration into the Celestial Imperial System: Successful

Planetary Grade: D

Terraforming: Complete

Dungeons Generated: 101

Safe Zones Generated: 0

Their day just got infinitely worse when a piercing pain shot through both her and Riley's head. It was like someone was trying to push nails through their collective skulls. 

Claire barely stopped herself from screaming. Her knees wobbled, vision swarmed and before she knew it, she was on her knees, clutching her head. She blinked open her eyes amidst the agony and saw the world around her glitch like it were a computer program.

Her reality shook and twisted. The buildings around her wobbled as if made of soft clay. The sky above her continued to crack and break apart, revealing more and more of the grid-like pattern on the other side. The pain inside her head only doubled in intensity.

She could hold it no longer.

Claire screamed. She had failed to handle the blinding agony tearing through her brain and soon she was lying on the cold pavement, howling and crying as if she was on death's doorstep.

Until… a new smaller box came into existence, hanging just above her head.

Subject 1143J: Acquired

Integration into the System: Commencing…

Before Claire could cry out some more, the pain in her head suddenly stopped. She laid there on the pavement gasping, tears slipping down her cheeks. She pushed her body to lie on her back, chest rising and falling. She glanced towards her friend and found Riley knocked out cold. It was then that Claire's eyes caught sight of her own fingers crumbling away into minute dust particles.

They flowed through the air in swirls as the rest of her body continued to crumble. It was like her entire body was a burned-out corpse and not a woman made of flesh and bone. However Claire was too exhausted to put up much of a fight or even shout out in alarm. 

The pain inside her head had left her immobile and tired. 

With weary eyes, she watched as her body slowly crumbled into a swirling mess of grey dust. First her fingers, then her hands, followed by her feet and torso. There was no pain, instead a strange lightness touched her core. It was like she no longer carried a massive weight upon her shoulders.

The same thing was happening all around her. The buildings, lampposts, streets. Even Riley. The entire world it seemed was being reduced into ash and dust. But while all of this was going on, Claire couldn't bring herself to cry out in pain. She didn't feel anything. Not even fear or sadness. She didn't feel horrified upon watching her entire reality be crumble into nothingness.

The last thing Claire witnessed in this crumbling world was more words floating in the space above her head.

Subject 1143J: Integration complete.

Tutorial Sequence: Commencing…

Her and Riley's presence along with the rest of the human race was wiped out of existence by the System.