CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST AFTERNOON

The two of us are still shaken, but decide it’s better to head in her house rather than continue to sit in my car. A burning smell fills the air and a small amount of smoke seeps out of the car’s engine compartment.

“See, Sera,” Chloe says. “It’s like I told you: this car is a piece of junk and we’re both lucky we got here in one piece.”

I sigh. “If it were any other day, I’d admit that you told me so, but after whatever that was, I’m going to reserve judgement until we have a chance to process what the hell just happened.”

I get out, help Chloe get out, and then the two of us make our way through the front door.

“You saw it too?” she asks

“Some message about a System initialization, and then a whole bunch of strange messages that look like they came straight out of a video game?”

“We’re not like, actually, in a video game, are we?”

Chloe has some trouble unlocking the door, but eventually gets it open. The two of us take off our shoes in the entryway and we step into the living space. I’m always astonished at how big her family’s house is. Two stories and five bedrooms, even though Chloe is an only child. Their kitchen alone is as big as our kitchen and dining room put together, plus an entertainment room upstairs. There’s even a jacuzzi-style bathtub in the master suite!

And that doesn’t even mention all the goodies that are always in the fridge. And not just the name brand products, either. The specialty fancy brand stuff for people who have the money to buy the ground beef where the cow has been lovingly massaged by the farmer’s daughter each week in the three months prior to being ground up. Okay, yes, I will admit to being more than a little bit envious at times.

“You want something to drink?”

“Just water’s fine.”

“Lemon, cucumber, or watermelon?”

“Uh… watermelon, I guess?” Apparently, even their water is extra fancy.

Chloe arrives a moment later and hands me my water. She turns on the television and grabs a seat next to me. We share a look and agree to turn on the news. Can’t stand watching the news on TV; it’s all a bunch of fear mongering designed to keep people addicted to fear and rage. But, it’s a good way to figure out if anyone else has reported something similar.

Nothing on the news so far. Just the latest about stupid politicians here in the States and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere overseas. She hands me the remote and I mute it before I get angry.

“Hey, do you have a knife around here? I want to try something.”

“Uh, sure.” She leaves and returns a moment later with a steak knife.

I take the knife and slit my palm, checking my Status screen as I do.

[Health: 99/100]

“What the hell, Sera!” Chloe screams. “Do you need to talk about something? I–”

“I’m sorry, Chloe. I wanted to test what was going on with this Status screen that keeps showing up in my eye. I wasn’t thinking about how it would look to you. I’m really sorry.”

She stares at me, and all I can do is lower my head in shame.

“Did it work?” she finally asks. “Whatever it was you were trying to do.”

“It did. My Health decreased by a single point. Just as I thought it would.”

“You don’t know anything about this? You’re more of a gamer than I am.”

“I’ve dabbled a bit, but I wouldn’t call myself a gamer. What I can speculate, based on the evidence we have, is that our world is now under the influence of this System that will reward us with Experience as we complete objectives. As we gain experience, we’ll gain levels and get stronger, or better at whatever it is that we’re supposed to be doing.”

“What kind of objectives?”

“Best case scenario, we just need to keep doing whatever we’re meant to be doing. Being good students, getting good grades, being productive and responsible members of society.” I look away from Chloe, scared to answer the follow-up.

“And the worst case?”

I hesitate. “In a lot of these games, the players gain experience by killing things. Monsters… Rats are pretty common early enemies. As are wolves.”

“People?”

“It’s… not outside the realm of possibility. At the very least, it’s something we need to start considering. Because if we’re considering it, then other people are as well. And sooner or later, one of them is going to act upon it.”

“No! That’s horrible! Why?”

“I don’t know. Only whoever, or whatever, is responsible for this System can really say for sure.”

“Can– Can you stay here tonight?” Chloe asks. “I’ve got plenty of spare clothes for you to wear for the next couple of days.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Well, I’m not getting home until my car gets fixed. And besides, Isn’t that what besties are for?” I grin.

“And I better not hear one peep from you about how my clothing is ‘too tight in the chest’ or anything similar!”

It’s not the first or the last time she’s expressed insecurity about the matter, so I just silently agree.

“Thanks, Sera,” she says. “Oh, wait, the news is talking about this now. Can you put the sound back on?”

“And in breaking news this afternoon, a number of people throughout the country have reported strange hallucinations on social media. At this time, doctors and law enforcement are currently investigating the phenomenon. People who come down with this affliction are urged to keep calm and avoid drinking, driving, or any potentially hazardous activity until we know more. And now, Ryan Billings with the latest on what authorities are calling Systemic Hallucination.”

“Thank you, Wolff. I’m joined here by Dr. Antonio Rupert with the latest. Dr. Rupert?”

“Right now, we’re still in the very early stages of this phenomenon. All of our preliminary indications suggest that Systemic Hallucination is highly contagious, but not injurious to health. Those afflicted with the condition report stupor for a few minutes as they adjust, followed by a return to normal activities shortly thereafter.”

“Do you recommend that–”

The conversation on the television goes completely silent, with the two staring into open space. The camera falls a second later, followed by a sickening crunch. I wince as I turn to Chloe.

“Well, I’d say they’re going through System Intialization right about now.”

“We… should make plans, Sera. There’s going to be a lot of panic. I’ve been flipping through my social media feeds and it’s everywhere.” Her eyes widen and her jaw drops. “Oh, holy shit, this is bad.”

“What’s bad?” I ask, fearing the worst.

“There’s a video going viral right now from some guy who claims he just hit level three after– After–” She continues to hesitate.

I reach for her phone. She hands it over and my eyes fill with rage at the headline.

I reached level 3 after killing my–

I immediately block the rest of the video headline out of my brain. This is wrong. So terribly wrong. This isn’t how the integration is supposed to go. We’re supposed to. Supposed to–

I scream and clutch my head and buckle into the sofa. All I see is white, even when I close my eyes and bury my head into the couch. My head throbs, like something is trying to burst forth out of me. Something? A memory? I’m trying to remember something? What could I be trying to remember? It feels like there’s something there, just beyond my reach. But no matter how much I try to remember, it keeps escaping. Why would I have memories I can’t have?

My mind darts back to my Status. It said I was [Touched by the Multiverse]. Am I really not from this world? But, that makes no sense. I was born here, raised by my parents. I grew up here. Nothing makes any sense, so why does this damned System insist that my life is a lie?

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot something weird in my Status.

[Ether: 100 / 40]

The pain subsides bit by bit as my [Ether] slowly drops down. My vision returns to normal. Chloe is there on the couch beside me, waiting for me with a soft smile on her face and worry in her eyes.

“Are you okay, Sera?”

I’m not sure. “Yeah. I think that headache from before just came back with a vengeance, that’s all,” I lie. Something is definitely not adding up. Something extremely important.

I check my Status and confirm that my [Ether] value has returned to 40.

“Changing the subject a bit, but do you know what this [Ether] value is supposed to be in my Status?”

“If it’s like the video games, it’s probably some sort of fuel or energy. Magic power, in a simple sense.”

“Magic like… when we went to watch those illusionists on stage four years ago?”

“No, magic like, real magic. Like, flying and teleportation and shooting fire and lightning out of our bodies.”

“You’re not–” Chloe stops. “No, you’re totally right. I’m watching another video of a guy conjuring a flame out of his hand right now. It could be just a trick of cameras and special effects, but after everything that’s happening this afternoon, I really believe it.”

“Really?” I ask. I’m more than a little surprised at how easily she accepts such extraordinary claims. Unlike her mother, who’s constantly proselytizing and hawking various forms of quackery and new-age woo, Chloe’s very much not into the spiritual and occult. One of the things I respect most about her.

“I mean, when I see three different videos of different people conjuring fire, one creating a cube of ice out of thin air, and another one shooting a bolt of lighting out of her fingertips, the only options are a massive hoax, or that it’s actually happening. And… oh, cool, someone just created a ball of light. Yeah, I’d say that this is all really happening.”

“I know you’re worried about me, Chloe, but I think we should start thinking about trying to defend ourselves. I don’t know if that means getting some sort of weapons or trying to conjure magic like those people in those videos, but I think things are going to get nasty. Because the world is going to change. And I don’t think we can rely on the current system of laws and police to protect us.” To the extent they ever really did for people like me.

“Yeah, my mom keeps a couple of baseball bats lying around the basement just for that purpose. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I’ll come with you. We should probably stick together. Just in case. There’s a reason why they say not to split the party.”

“Oh, yeah, before I forget, Sera. When you were hurting just a couple of minutes ago, you started muttering something about remembering, and then your hair started to glow. Did something strange happen?”

“I wish I knew. I felt like I was trying to remember something that I shouldn’t know. Maybe I wish I didn’t know?” I shake my head as I try to unravel the paradox behind what I tried to say. I don’t mention that my [Ether] had overflowed its limits; I can’t even be certain the two are related.

Chloe laughs. “I’m glad that you still have a sense of humor after everything that’s happened today.”

I go ahead and take the knife with me as we head into the basement. Chloe gives me a look, but I persist. If the Earth really has turned into some hostile video game world, even meager protection is better than nothing. She doesn’t agree with me, but she doesn’t press the issue any further.

My body tenses as she opens the door. A sense of danger and foreboding shakes me to my core. My heart is beating faster and faster and I walk on my tiptoes. I have no idea how Chloe remains so calm. Because it’s her home? Because I have this second life apparently? One I don’t even know about?

I try to take a deep breath, but it doesn’t do much to calm my nerves. Finally, the two of us make our way down the stairs and into the basement. She takes the lead, and then screams. I rush in front of her and come face to face with a pair of foot-tall rats hissing at us.

“Shit! Stay back, Chloe!”