So, an octospatium is what you get if Stephen King designed an octopus and it was cool with hanging out in space instead of water. Other than the tentacles, the first part Alan saw was its mouth, or maybe it would be more appropriate to say beak. No, let’s go with mouth because beaks don’t have so many teeth. These were not small ridges, they were large cutting teeth. The mouth was located under a set of eight eyes running in two vertical rows on the creature's body. That body was the same black as the tentacles with some kind of oily substance coating its skin. It would be hard to see against the backdrop of space, but it currently was framed by the planet earth. Alan had a difficult time counting the tentacles because they were constantly in motion, but it was more than four and less than twenty, so he decided to just define it as eight.
The octospatium squeezed its body through the hole in the FGB module. It was a tight fit and the jagged edges cut into the creature’s body. Red blood oozed from the slices, Alan would have lost money on that one. He figured it would have some kind of evil looking purple sludge. Seemingly unaffected by its wounds it scanned the compartment, the eyes all moving in concert as it took in its surroundings. The good news for Alan was that he was in a different module and there was a closed and dogged hatch between them. The bad news was that it had just spotted him through the window. It reached out with a tentacle and pulled on the hatch. It looked like he was safe for the moment since nothing happened. But then it reached out with two more tentacles. Alan had a sudden flashback to a raptor claw on a door handle and he decided discretion was the better part of valor.
He frantically made his way to the last hatch in the Russian section of the station. Before he could get through it he heard a terrible hiss of air leaking out coming from behind him. He imagined it was what a twenty meter cobra would sound like just before it bit you. He quickly pulled himself into the connection joint and reached for the hatch, but unfortunately he had run out of time. All eight of the creature's tentacles were pulling on the other hatch and it suddenly deformed and was pulled out of its frame. This thing must be incredibly strong.
He found himself hurtling towards the octospatium. With the hatch to the FGB ripped off there was nothing preventing the atmosphere in the rest of the station from escaping out the hole. On its way it was taking anything that wasn’t very securely fastened down. Just before it too was sucked out of the breach Alan could have sworn the octospatium looked panicked. Moments later he too was forced to follow it out and the breathing aperture on his suit closed as it sensed the loss of atmosphere. He also felt gel packs expand around his body. The idea was that these would press on his skin and prevent bruising and ruptures from the difference in pressure. When he had tried them out in vacuum chambers he’d discovered that they still left some bruising, but it was much better than nothing.
Somehow Alan managed to avoid the edges of the breach on the way out preventing his suit from rupturing. The octospatium had not been so lucky. There were at least 3 tentacles floating away on their own and several large gashes across its body. One cut through all four eyes on the left side. Alan briefly hoped it was dead, but it appeared that this thing was very tough as not only was it still alive, it was still looking for a fight. One of its remaining tentacles reached out and wrapped around Alan’s left leg. It started to drag him closer. He tucked his body so he could reach to pry it off but he couldn’t get any purchase on its slick skin. It was like trying to catch a greased pig. He then tried hitting it with similarly worthless results. His fits bounced off its rubbery body like a trampoline.
Quickly scanning around for anything he could use he was surprised by his options. Normally space is pretty, well, empty. That’s why they call it space after all. But between the earlier breach and the recent venting there were lots of objects floating around. The first thing his hand latched onto was a thirty centimeter long handle that had a jagged end where it was ripped off from somewhere in the station. He was pulled closer to the creature’s mouth as he bided his time, he might only get one chance at this. Just before it stuffed him into its jagged maw he stabbed his improvised knife into its face. He felt it push through like he was stabbing jell-o. It didn’t kill the monster, but it must have been incredibly painful. It reared back and threw him away from it. He was traveling at a good clip, but away from the station and unfortunately his suit didn’t include thrusters.
Pretty sure he was screwed, Alan still took a moment to take stock of the battlefield. The station was getting smaller very quickly. This was the nightmare scenario for anyone in space, but the octospatium was also getting farther away from him as well, so maybe that was a wash. Then the beast latched onto the station and began pulling it apart. He didn't know if it was looking for more astronauts or if it was just lashing out in its pain like a toddler with a toothache. But then suddenly it didn’t matter anymore. The FGB had taken too many hits and something found the fuel supply. A large explosion tore up most of the back half of the station and the octospatium went with it. The body was cut into at least three chunks and no matter how tough it had been, it was definitely dead now.
Well, Alan thought, that was fun. He checked his suit, and while it was surpassing all of his pessimistic expectations he only had about eight minutes left of air and no way to steer. This was not how he was expecting to go, but it's better than cancer he figured. I’m sorry Bernie, I wish I was with you. Suddenly there was a message trying to get his attention again.
Quest Completed: Do you have what it takes?
[You have slain the octospatium and proven your worth. Reward: Upgraded Tutorial Token]
A small wooden box was suddenly floating in front of him. Instinctively he reached out and pulled it closer. Before he could open it, though, that weird voice came back.
Congratulations on killing a level 1 octospatium! Transition to the Tutorial Preparation Area commencing. Please hold.
It wasn’t like Alan had anything else to do besides asphyxiate. He did have some questions he would like to ask, but it sounded like maybe he was going somewhere that might have the answers. All of this was very sudden and incredibly weird. Frankly he was surprised he wasn’t freaking out more. Training to be a Green Beret meant learning to be flexible and figuring out how to deal with anything a mission throws at you, but this was a whole nother level. It was hard to dispute that something unexplainable was going on. Since first seeing that nightmare tentacle slither into the station it had only been about thirty seconds. His adrenaline had been through the roof but now his body was starting to calm down and it was his brain’s turn to freak out.
Between the strange voice, the floating messages, a monstrous space octopus, and the box he was holding in his hand he was pretty sure this was not his imagination. Floating through space breathing in the last few minutes of oxygen he had left, all Alan could think about was that whatever this was, maybe it would be the kick in the pants he needed to find purpose again. Ever since Jessica left him and Bernie was diagnosed with cancer he had been drifting through life. He had still been killing it in the SSF, because that’s what he was raised and trained to do, but his heart wasn’t in it. Just as his brain started to accept the situation the small voice that was the doctor in him told him he must be in shock.
Standby…
Loading…
Ranking Solarian Zone 256…
Error##
Recalculating…
Welcome to the Tutorial!
The Earth and the scattered remains of the station faded from view, almost like someone was turning the brightness down on a screen. All that remained was the distant pinpricks of stars until they too faded away. He was left surrounded by a black so all consuming that he could no longer tell if he was floating, standing, or even sitting. He couldn’t see his hands in front of his face and only the sensation of holding the wooden box told him that he still had a body. His brain was trying to freak out again but his training clamped down on it. Until he knew what was going on he needed to keep his wits about him. Then Alan heard another voice. This was not the same one as before, it was more feminine and, if he had to guess, younger. It also seemed to be coming from in front of him rather than all around like that other voice.
“Welcome to the Network! I am Tutorial Assistant Manager #33, you can call me Tamee for short. I am here to assist you all as your star system is incorporated into the wider universe. Please sit back and enjoy this video explaining why you are here.”
He was then subjected to a twenty minute presentation in the style of a good 80’s public safety video. There was no TV or projector screen, it just seemed to be present in front of him, like the highest quality hologram ever. The gist of the video was that the Earth was screwed. The “Network”, Alan still wasn’t sure what that meant, was ever growing. It uses the energy found in stars to expand its reality and add planets, races, and cultures to itself. The next list of stars included Sol, which meant his solar system was about to be absorbed so that the Network could expand itself. It has been around for a really long time and, through a process of trial and error, settled on a particular way of doing things.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Not only was Sol being added, but thirty-nine other stars and their planets were as well. Of those systems, three others also had sentient life in them. These four species, including humans, would be put in competition for control of the new planetary system that was being created. Apparently in the past the races were just thrown together when this happened, which led to several mutual extinction events. Now the Network would place all four races in a tutorial. At the end of the tutorial one race would be deemed the winners and would gain authority over the others. Then they would be allowed entry into the wide universe inside the Network.
In addition to ruling, the prize was the new solar system that was created. A lot of the resources and energy from those forty stolen star systems would go to the Network somehow. But a not inconsiderable amount would be used to make a new homeworld for the remaining members of the four species as well as a whole solar system complete with its own star.
Despite the name, the Network was not a technological thing, so most of the culture was based around what humans would consider Renfest. Swords and sorcery, monsters, dungeons, castles, and quests were the norm. Alan had dabbled with dungeons & dragons here and there in his lifetime so he thought he had at least a limited grasp on what was to be expected.
One thing you learn as an operator was adaptability, so he was gonna jump right in with an open mind. It helped that this was just like those books that his ex loved. There was always some rando who was abducted to a far off planet or some universe spanning organization that inducted Earth into a weird new reality. Now that he thought about it, this genre of stories only appeared in the last ten or fifteen years. Was it a coincidence that it appeared just in time to prepare a large group of people to deal with the now very real Network integration that was happening?
The female voice started up again as the video ended. “Congratulations, you have completed your test combat in the fastest time of anyone in your zone. You have earned the title [Top Recruit], and the first seat in the auditorium…” Her voice trailed off for a moment before she came back strong. “Each planet has been separated into 256 zones and based on our scans the people most likely to succeed from each zone were chosen. Each zone will have ten thousand of the best recruits taken from the given geographical area.”
This Tamee was not giving the best briefing Alan had ever received, but there was some important information in there. The video had been light on the details of how this competition was going to work.
“As we are going through this introduction the Network is creating a tutorial disk. It is broken into six concentric circular tiers and each tier is broken into a number of sections. The outermost tier is where you will begin. Your section is located in a valley that is just under five kilometers wide and twenty-five kilometers long. This outer tier is broken into 1024 sections, 256 for each race.”
He was a pretty smart guy but all these numbers were starting to blur together. As she continued, what he gathered is that the tutorial disk would function as basically a bracket system. The outer tier and at least the next one in would be split into 1024 sections, which is really 256 brackets where all four species would compete. Each of those four sections next to each other would result in one victorious race who would move on to the next tier in, but this also meant that the races wouldn’t mix until tier 3.
“This first tier will last for seven days, at the end of which a pass into tier two will open at the end of the valley. This pass will be guarded by a boss. Slaying this boss will come with great rewards for the group responsible. All remaining recruits will then be allowed to continue their journey inwards and attempt to grow in strength. A warning, while all recruits will be able to pass through into tier two, only a small group of the strongest recruits from each zone will be able to advance into tier three, at least initially.”
Ok, so not only will humans be competing against the other races, but if he wanted to have a chance to make a difference he would also be competing against the others in his zone. He wasn’t sure how many there were, but his odds probably were not great. However, he thought it would be a reasonable assumption that his background should give him a leg up on the competition.
“Your first tier will give you an opportunity to create your class or classes. There are eight dungeons located in the valley and the reward for completing each of them is a class stone.” As she said this a small white round object with a humanoid figure appeared on it. “Absorbing these stones will give you a specific quartz level class, which is the only level of class you currently qualify for. Do not worry, you should have plenty of opportunities to upgrade these later on. These stones will only work if you have no more than a certain number of classes. A common class stone cannot be used if you have any classes already. An uncommon stone can only be used if you have no more than one class already, and a rare stone can only be used if you have fewer than four classes.
“All those who complete the dungeon will receive at least a common version of the class stone. The first…” Tamee trailed off again before mumbling something and then resuming her discourse. “...5000 will receive an uncommon stone instead. The first 100 will receive a rare version, and the first to complete the dungeon will earn an epic stone, which can be used no matter how many classes you already have.” So there were more than 5000 in each zone, that was going to be long odds indeed. “The more classes you end up with the greater your future potential, so you want to be fast out there. Even if you cannot use them, these stones are of great value in the system, so if you can I would suggest getting as many as possible. ”
His competitive nature was already ramping up. Alan had no clue what having a class meant, but it had to be good if it was a prize, right? He hoped to be the first to finish one of the dungeons and earn an epic stone. If he could finish another dungeon in the top 100 he could then end up with four classes. This may be a little unrealistic, but a boy can dream.
“I will now go over some of the details of how you interact with the Network, such as how to call up screens and forming parties. At the conclusion of this demonstration…” There was another one of her pauses. It was as if she was adjusting her speech on the fly. “...you will be given a couple of minutes to try it out and then be teleported to the surface”
She then spent a few minutes describing how the interface would work. It was fairly intuitive where most things were controlled by thought. When she finished explaining, the darkness around Alan started to brighten and he could even feel his weight settle on some kind of chair. He immediately called up his status screen.
Alan Taylor
Race: Human [W]
Class: NA
Health: 122 (12/hour)
Stamina: 102 (20/minute)
Mana: 84 (8/minute)
Stats:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 8
Perception: 7
Focus: 6
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 9
Constitution: 7
Spirit: 3
Skills:
Daggers: 3
First Aid: 11
Herbology: 2
Running: 6
Unarmed Combat: 7
Titles: [Top Recruit]
Talents: NA
Spells: NA
He already knew from her explanations that a score of 5 for a stat was considered average for a non-integrated human with 12 being the peak pre-Network value. Being an atheist apparently did not help his spirit score since it was so low, but otherwise he was pretty pleased. He wasn’t sure what the letter next to his race meant, but for a nice bonus the system decided he had some skills already. First aid and herbology probably came from his medical experience, and running and unarmed combat from his military training. He was a little surprised that he didn’t have any other combat skills besides daggers, but he wasn’t sure what counted as a skill under the system. Alan mentally clicked on his title [Top Recruit] and got a system message.
Top Recruit: For completing your test combat in the fastest time you receive an additional level to all of your current skills.
Without knowing how hard it was to level up a skill he wasn’t sure how good this title was, but something is better than nothing. He also wasn’t sure if daggers was a result of his training, his time with a scalpel, or maybe even from the improvised knife that he used to stab the octospatium. He suddenly realized he had been ignoring his surroundings, something he would normally never do. Maybe he was still feeling the effects of his earlier near death experience. Closing his status screen he looked around. He was in a large auditorium, but was the only one sitting in it. In front of him was a stage with a woman in her mid thirties wearing a gray pants suit. She was mildly attractive but seemed to be frozen in place. Alan assumed this was Tamee.
“Ummm…hello? Where is everyone?” he asked.
Tamee seemed to come to life as her face lit up with a smile. “Great question! When the system scanned your planet it detected life past the Kármán line, something it rarely encounters. This was therefore deemed its own geographical zone. It seems, however, that you were the only sentient life form in that area.”
“So am I the only human recruit in this zone?”
“That is correct, I apologize for this unfortunate circumstance, but as a Tutorial Assistant Manager I do not have any ability to rectify this problem.”
“Does this mean there are no aliens in their zone 256?”
Tamee winced, “we don’t like to use the word ‘alien’, but to answer your question, no. You will be matched with random geographical zones from the other planets.”
Alan was actually speechless. Was he doomed to live out the rest of his limited number of days as the only human being around? But then it dawned on him, this could be an opportunity. He had to process some stuff, and his mind was already churning away. Assuming he survived long enough his zone was going to compete against the other three races. It was going to be thousands of them against one of him. Luckily Earth wasn’t depending on his zone alone, but he was gonna seize every advantage he could get and show the Network why nobody messes with the Green Berets. He may only be one person, but he was going to be all that he could be.