"Emily, ", her therapist started, "I know it's difficult.", he said, with that same unwavering look and a voice devoid of emotion, which always made this experience feel so inhuman to Emily.

She took a deep breath and blinked slowly.

"I'm fine. It was years ago"

"Time does help distance us from our problems, but you need to talk about what happened." He always says this. "You need to process it, or - "

"It will continue to affect me and I'll never heal. I know!" She interrupted. It's always the same. She just wanted to be able to move on with her life. These appointments were just constant reminders of what happened, as if she didn't spend enough time thinking about it throughout her life.

Silence filled the air for a few moments.

"How about we try the imaginal exposure technique again?" He asked. For all his faults, at least he didn't talk to her like a small child. She appreciated that.

"Okay"

"Good. Lean back and close your eyes. Think back to that day. What were you doing?"

She did as he said, closing her eyes and falling softly in to the plush fabric seat within the small dingy office. She took a minute to empty her head.

"I was making dinner. They... they were working, again. So I had to... " she pauses as she feels a lump catching in her throat. Why was this always so difficult? Shouldn't it be easier by now?

"It's okay, take a breath and keep going, if you can." He said, with a hint of kindness. She read that therapists try to keep their voices neutral, it helps create a judgement free zone. Still, she had been seeing him for a while now. It wasn't hard to pick up the small shifts in tone in an otherwise clinical voice.

"Mia... Mia was hungry. It wasn't the first time this had happened. I thought I could do it safely, you know? I've cooked before. Simple things. I thought it wouldn't be that different. Place it in the pan, add some oil, turn the heat on... I should have... I didn't know - "

All of a sudden, she felt her stomach lurch as she fell backwards. Her eyes shot open, only to be blinded by a soft glowing white light.

"Dr. Daniel?" she said, covering her eyes with her hands as she looked around. Her eyes blinking rapidly to readjust to the light.

"Am I... lucid dreaming, or something?"

She climbed to her feet. Dr. Daniels was gone. As was the furniture. As were the walls. As was... everything. Well, nearly everything.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing around her. Nothing except an endless white, glowing void, with the slight humm of background noise to keep her company. That... and... these impossibly black words which hung in the air in front of her.

> System Integration Initiated for planet MWG-239-Sol

----------------------------------------

What is going on... Was this some sort of psychotic episode? A hallucination? She'd never had one of these before.

All of a sudden, the words changed.

> System Integration Complete. Welcome, Emily Parkes.

A moment later, a hollow ringing sounded in her eyes. Her vision swam with bright kaleidoscopic colours which after a few more moments, become nothing but noise, like from an old television.

After a momentary panic, her vision and hearing returned. She was no longer alone. There were now hundreds of other people surrounding her. All looking just as shocked and confused as she did.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

> Cohort 37. Your homeworld has now been integrated and will now undergo a comprehensive tutorial to bring it on par with the rest of System Space.

The words were no longer in front of her. Well, they were, but it was.. different. They tracked her vision. As she turned her head, the words moved with it. It felt like they were etched in to her vision, rather than something tangible.

Even more strange was the voice in her head that repeated the words she could see. It was monotone, surprisingly more so than Dr. Daniels'.

She couldn't see him anywhere. She didn't recognise any of these people. No one really moved or talked. People hung on every word from this... System.

Cohort 37? I guess I'm part of that? Part of this group of people? But why? She thought, trying to face reality while simultaneously questioning how much of it was real, and how much of it was her mind breaking down.

> You and your cohort must now work together to reclaim your planet. As System Denizens you now have access to your Status Screen. This will allow you to keep track of your information. Good luck! You have 5 minutes to prepare before you are brought back to your world.

Reclaim our planet... from what?

> Warning: Failure to complete setup before transportation will be constituted as opting out of System Denizenship, resulting in the loss of access to the System. This is a death sentence, and not advisable.

Death sentence?

That's when the screaming began.

----------------------------------------

Confusion. Anger. Disbelief. People cried out. People were scared.

I don't blame them

On the other hand, this didn't rank very high, or at all, on Emily's list of the worst moments of her life.

This is kind of... exciting.

The people around her were varied. Old. Young. American. Asian. She lived in Manchester, a city in England, but she doubted they were all from there. She also couldn't see any children, though she spotted a few teenagers younger than her. Whether that was a coincidence or not, she was unsure.

She thought back to what the voice said.

Status

A grey rectangle filled with text appeared in her vision. It was as if her eyes were computer monitors displaying a video game.

> Name: Emily Parkes

> Age: 16

> Level: 1

> Ether: 0/1,000

> Species: Human

> AP: 1/1

> SP: 1/1

> Strength: 3

> Dexterity: 3

> Constitution: 3

> Intelligence: 3

> Wisdom: 3

> Charisma: 3

> Luck: 2

> Integration Perk Selection Available

Yep... definitely a video game

She looked through the various menus and screens she had access to. By focusing on different words and actions, her intent was clear to the System, and it showed her what she needed to know.

AP was Attributes Points and SP was Skill Points. Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Luck were attributes and she knew they all started at a base level of 3, other than Luck, due to her Species information.

So if this is like a video game then there must be other things out there... orcs and dwarves and elves? or maybe it means animals can be part of the system too, like cute kitty cats!

When she opened the screen to spend her AP, Luck wasn't listed as an option. She wasn't really sure what to spend it on. She could spend it on intelligence and be super smart, or strength and be super strong, but what would be best?

She glanced at the timer in the edge of her vision. 4 minutes to go before everyone here was teleported... somewhere.

She turned towards someone close to her, a middle aged woman. Emily could tell she was focused on her menus as her eyes appeared to be unfocused yet fully concentrated. The same way people look when they're daydreaming; living another life in another world. Emily was all too familiar with that feeling.

"Excuse me... do you understand what's happening?"

That was a stupid question, wasn't it?

The woman turned towards her and hesitated, quickly glanced at Emily's burns before looking away. People never really understood where to look, or what to say. They mostly pretended to ignored her, if they could.

Once she did speak, Emily struggled to understand what she was saying. It sounded like Swedish, maybe? Then the words became clear in her mind. She knew she shouldn't be able to understand it, but she did. The System must be doing something to facilitate communication.

"I... I don't know. I think we should try to..."

The woman continued, but Emily's attention was drawn elsewhere. A large man was trying to grab everyone's attention in the distance. He was old. Really old. Like, at least 30. He looked strong too. Tall, with visible muscles.

"Folks! Listen up and gather 'round!" He shouted. Well, shouted wasn't quite right. His voice was loud, but clear. Commanding. He didn't need to strain it.

After a few attempts and people shushing and pointing, he had the floor.

"I'm Sergeant Michael O'Neal with the US Military!", he said. He wasn't in uniform but it was hard to doubt his words.

With those few words the atmosphere in the... room? had changed completely. Anxiety and apprehension made way for relief. While Emily wasn't a particular fan of the actions of the American military, or any military for that matter, this is definitely the sort of life-and-death situation where she was glad to see someone with combat experience.

Maybe we'll be okay...

There were 3 minutes left.