Sunlight streamed through the window shade as a young man threw aside his bedcovers and stood up from his bed stretching. As he rolled his left shoulder and neck he recalled his regretful decision to pick up Rugby as aa hobby. The shoulder injury that ended his Academy career as a Thirdclassman, his sophomore year, still bothered him first thing in the morning. The otherwise minor injury limited mobility and ensured that he would never fly military aircraft. Ty growled at himself for his moment of self-pity and pulled on jogging shorts and a light self-wicking tee shirt.
As he tied his shoes the alarm on his cellphone went off, chirping its redundant wake-up alarm. He grabbed the phones, put in some ear-buds, and started his jog through the neighborhood to the nearby orchards that marked the edge of town. Ty thought about how much he preferred this route, between the trees, over his inclement weather circuit that took him down Rose Avenue, past the vacant shopping center and to the economically depressed and largely vacant downtown center of his hometown.
The depressed economy reminded him, in retrospect, that it might have been smarter to stay in the military where he would have been guaranteed employment, while he finished the 5-year service commitment that he'd chosen to decline, rather than venture into the uncertain, and currently oversaturated.
Were any of Ty's friends or family present, they would have thought his self-recrimination silly. He had sacrificed quite a lot to pursue a commission and pilot slot. Even being accepted to the Air Force Academy had been a nightmare. To apply, one needed a nomination from a senator, member of Congress, the Vice President of the United States; even then, only 11% of the individuals able to obtain such a nomination were accepted. The average cadet is in the top 20% scoring on the SAT, needing a composite score of 1440 with strong math scores, to even be competitive. Of the individuals accepted, 98% choose to enter the Academy over other options. While the U.S. Military Academy is known as the most prestigious to get into, of all the service academies, the Air Force has the highest washout rate.
Once accepted, Ty's class of cadet appointees underwent the equivalent of basic training in the Colorado Rockies followed by nearly a year of not-technically-hazing during the underclassment year. Parents would occasionally visit and see cadets sprinting down narrow marble strips while, somehow, keeping his upper body at rigid attention, while saluting and shouting "Good Morning Sir (or Ma'am) to the upperclassmen. Some visitors were able to see cadets were subjected to daily inspections, they had observed as he and other cadets were inspected. Inspection of uniform, haircut, shave, the tightness of the corners of his bed, and even the proper folding of his underwear was required to be immaculate and were subject to inspection. Aside from classroom hours or study hours, from 5-9 PM, and sleep hours, Doolie cadets were the property of upperclassmen. Ty's family noted when visiting that, at 6'6" and 225lbs, he stood out, head and shoulders above most cadets, which did not help him "stay under the radar" during the "sweat sessions" and inspections. Ty did not enjoy his Academy experience and the reality of military life lost the luster depicted in family stories. However, he was willing to make sacrifices to fly.
The injury came in January of his second year at the Academy. The surgeons concluded that he would not be medically cleared for a pilot. Given that he would not be able to fly, Ty declined to live two more years of uniform monastism and incur a service commitment. He accepted a medical discharge and received his walking papers. After leaving the Academy, and returning to civilian life, the scholarships that had previously been available to him were no longer there. Competing against the brightest and most hardworking minds in the nation, while being graded on a curve, didn't do wonders for his GPA; it made even getting accepted back into a good university difficult.
Ty applied to several University of California Schools, but decided to attend Fresno State, and was on-track to graduating with an Architectural Engineering Degree with a minor in History. He had a few friends in college and never successfully integrated with his classmates, who had formed cliques while he was in Colorado. He had dated a bit, but his dating experience had been fairly superficial. In addition to his retail job at the local Ace Hardware, a hardware/sporting-goods store, he worked on weekends in his grandparents orchard in Del Ray. His grandparents were in their 70s, living in Monterey, but they relied on the income from the farm which was leased to a less than scrupulous corporate operation. Ty helped maintain a family presence and ensure that the lessor wasn't overdrawing the limited water granted via county ditch and pump rights, harming or annoying local family-operated farms. The system of irrigation ducts and standpipes were all manually controlled and it would be easy for someone to "accidentally" leave a leak, stealing water scheduled for neighbors.
Ty was speeding along the powerline road in an old 1973 Massey Fergison tractor along his grandparent's orange orchards when it happened...
System Integration Initiating
... ... ...
Ty nearly fell off the tractor while ducking to evade an opaque bar of text appearing in the center of his vision just shy of 2 feet in front of his face. He simultaniously "heard" a voice slowly reading the information directly into his mind while he simultaneously tried to swipe the message away and control the speeding tractor. About 3 seconds after the first window appeared, the text disappeared and Ty started "hearing" new information as it appeared in the window.
...
Prepare for quantification and insertion in 15 seconds.
If your vector is greater than .000135 feet per second or .000041 meters per second, you will be corrupted and automatically deleted.
Stop. Remain calm. Remain in a fixed position relative to the planet beneath you until prompted.
...
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"Hearing" the first line of text, Ty lost the last of his composure. Stomping on the petal under his feet he managed to step on the accelerator and left brake of the tractor. The tractor veered to the left off the narrow dusty road, through a power pole and into the main standpipe. Water was gushing out of the pipe as Ty unbluckled his seat belt and recalled the instruction he heard he next box of text appeared in front of him while he did his best to bring himself to rigid attention, as he had practiced at the Academy.
...
Applying system overlay. ... ... ... ... ... DONE
*** NOTICE*** You are being integrated into the Weave, energy transfer, communication, and information preservation network that already exists across the galaxy. Attempting communicate with the system during installation is both inherently hazardous and also will register as an attempted intrusion and will result in immediate DEATH. Access to the Weave is being enabled for your sector and as a sentient lifeform in this sector, you are being granted first-tier access priviliges to the Weave. Excessive movement is extremely hazardous and may interfere with the application of the installation of the protective filter seperating you from direct Weave contact. Remain standing until instructed otherwise.
...
Scanning Gross Anatomy ... DONE
- Hydrocarbon-Protein-Nucleic, self-organizing, self replicating
- Designated: Terran Homonid, subclass sapiens, gender male
Obtaining pneuma lock ... LOCKED AND TRACKING
Recording and mirroring pneuma. ... ... ... DONE
Measuring Deviation from Standard ... ... ... DONE
- Injuries: Eyesight Degradation 5% ... Shoulder Injury 10% ... Nominal epidermal scarring wounds and surface infection 2% ... Impact related axonal injury and neurological scarring 4% ... Gross toxin accumulation 4% ... Gross skelital damage 3% ... Gross cellular degeneration 6% ...
... Initiating medical correction plan into SAMT initiation profile ...
- Attributes: Gross Physique +1, Gross Mind +1, Coordination +0, Concentration +2, Physical Endurance +2, Willpower +0 ... ... ... DONE
Initiating System Attribute and Skill Market - Applying Trait Option Limiters - Crediting 64 Seconds Time ... ... @#$%####1###8######################
Ty heard a loud crack, then a splash, and then crackling behind him. Ty tensed and nearly turned around but a part of his mind screamed out "STOP" giving him time to recall the fact that he moved under penalty of death. He smelled ozone and heard crackling and popping for several seconds. Simultaneously the "voice" in his head started making garbled noises, he started "hearing" bizarre smells, while feeling phantom sensations across is face and down his sides. Then, suddenly, the popping sound behind him stopped and the window in front of him winked out of existence.
Ty remained standing at attention.
Unknown to Ty, by this point, nearly 90% of humanity had ceased to exist. Those who failed to stop moving faded out of existence. Those who were unable to hold still during the first 60 seconds simply collapsed to the ground twitching and moaning, alive but somehow less than human, missing some vital spark. A few, those who made it past the first minute, but were unable to remain standing for 5 minutes, were cooked alive. The earlier they moved, the longer their bodies were subjected to a mysterious energy, no longer properly calibrated to remain benign. Along with the remaining 10% of humanity, Ty remained standing at attention. About 11 seconds after the disappearance of the mysterious screen, and the last crackle, another box appeared.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Around the world, while other people started talking to themselves, swiping at imaginary boxes, or passing out, Ty stood at attention staring at a window of blinking dots and "hearing" a subtle "ping" tone. He made no attempt to communicate with the system or move, per instructions. Based on everything he'd read aind inferred, it was a horrible idea to move before instructed.
Anyone who has stood at rigid attention for any prolonged period can tell you that it is not easy; it is physically and mentally taxing. After two hours awkwardly at attention on the seating platform of a tractor, Ty questioned how much longer the system would require before he would be allowed to move. He was aware that the system, or its connection with him, might have been disrupted by the high voltage electricity. He knew that he might not be in danger. But, he had no way to confirm this and his life was on the line. He was praying for a phone call, to see or hear a vehicle pass nearby, or some other indicator that people were moving around. But, he was the lone human in the middle of an orchard. He wondered how long he would be able to stand silently under the summer sun in the Central Valley.
...
SYSTEM ACHIIEVEMENT: THE LAST
You are the last sentient being in this sector, still in the WEAVE System Integration Initilization Menu. You are reminded that the system integration process is complete and you only have Discounted Quotation via your Initialization SAMT access for 1024 seconds. Please use the help menu in your Personal Pneuma Screen for more information.
Maintaining this cycle has an unreasonable resource cost. As encouragement to exit this menu and exit the Initialization Menu, should you choose to voluntarily exit, you will be granted the "Persistent" and "Lucky" Traits for free and be granted an additional 16 seconds of Skill or Attribute Modification Time on top of the previously allotted 64 seconds. Should you choose not to exit the menu, and initialize your Pneuma Record within 16 seconds, you will lose all previously granted SAMT resources and have your health reduced to 0%, which will automatically close the menu. Remember, time is precious! Good luck!!!
Ty scratched his head and repeated aloud, "Pneuma Record?!" A new window popped up. Ty was not surprised
NAME Ty Moore Lifeform Designation H. Sap. (M) HEALTH 92% CONSCIOUSNESS 74% ATTRIBUTE Physique 6 Mind 16 Coordination 7 Concentration 13 Endurance 11 Willpower 7 Unspent Skill/Attribute Mod. 6434 seconds remaining TRAITS Persistent Lucky SKILLS - -
He was contemplating the fact that he had no idea what "Skill/Attribute MT" did, or was useful for when his leg finally gave out and he tumbled from the drivers platform of the tractor into the dust of the road. As his legs began to cramp up and wobble, As he shifted his weight from side-to-side to try and reduce the discomfort, he reviewed the window and noted an inconsistency. His Skill/Attribute Mod had far more time allotted than was indicated in the previous alerts. He recalled that initially he'd been granted 64 seconds plus 15 seconds... he had far more points than he should.