The first sensation was nausea. A deep, gut-wrenching churn that threatened to empty my stomach. My head throbbed and my vision spun. I blinked, trying to clear my mind. The air was thick, heavy with a cloying sweetness that battled with a sharp, metallic tang. Did I have a stroke? 

It was an impossible combination, like trying to mix oil and water, and it made my stomach lurch a little bit more. It was more of a sensation that took over my nose and mouth than actual smell, since it was in my eyes as well… and skin… and all over my body, even the insides. What the fuck?

My vision swam, the familiar fluorescent lights of my office were no more and the light coming out of the window seemed to be swaying. Or… were they flickering? The light seemed to shift, sometimes a harsh white, sometimes tinged with an unnatural green, as if reflecting off something moving.

As my vision slowly cleared, a horrifying ceiling came into focus. Not my office’s ceiling, right? It was filled with cracks, the paint was peeling off and there were clear signs of… water damage? This also excluded the possibility of a hospital, or at least a proper one, and all that.

I was lying on the cold, tiled floor of my office. I recognized the floor as soon as I looked at it. It was indeed my office. Or what was left of it. 

A section of the wall was taken down, crumbled to bits. The neat rows of shelves, usually filled with reams of paper and boxes of pens, were now a chaotic jumble of metal and wood, some of them half-buried in the floor. What was left above was distorted, bent, twisted.

But it wasn’t the changed office that made my blood run cold. It was the figures to my left. People. Two of my coworkers. Frozen in place, encased in transparent crystal with a light blue tint. Their faces were contorted in expressions of fear, pain, and surprise. Reaching out, with outstretched hands, as if grasping for something just beyond their reach.

A low groan drew my attention downwards. Or perhaps forward since I was still laying on the ground. At my feet, half-crawling, was… Mark. His eyes were wide with terror, and a dark, spreading stain marred the side of his uniform. Was that blood?

Then I realized that the same crystal was already taking him, tendrils of it snaking up his arm like frost. I didn’t know crystal could grow like that. Rather unsettling if I may so myself. Would it be rude if I ask him if he can please let go of my ankle?

Mark was about twenty years old and started working here a couple months ago as an intern, if I am not mistaken. Overeager, over enthusiastic and oversharing. You know the type. The ‘glass half full’ kind of guy. One of those who put the effort to be extra nice and extra sociable to ensure no one has nothing against him. Sort of naive if you ask me, but who am I to judge? 

Seeing a guy like him making that kind of face brought clarity to my mind immediately. The spreading crystal creeping up his sides and covering his shoulder, slowly making its way to his neck and arm, brought in me a degree of focus that I hardly needed to make use of.

"Vincent," he gasped, his voice weak and strained. "You… you're… out…"

I considered speaking, to ask what was happening, but he was clearly trying, and clearly failing, to give some information. So, I sat up as quickly as I could to hold his hand, to show I was listening… and to gently let it go the moment those crystal tendrils got too close for comfort, because I sure wasn’t letting him cling to my ankles till the last moment. In such a case I would have to kick the shit out of him to push him away, and that would be rude.

As he tried his best, which clearly wasn’t enough, to talk to me, I was trying my best to retrieve memories about what could have led to this chaotic mess. I was also failing. 

All I got was a bunch of quick flashes: a blinding light while everything was shaking violently and a cacophony of screams and screeches. If I wasn’t in my office I would be sure I was driving and then lose control of the car, which was full of people screaming as the tires screeched, as the damned thing shook while going offroad. But I wasn’t. I never left my office. Did I?

While I was a little lost in thought, Mark finally did something other than spout nonsense and pressed something cold and hard into my hand. I looked down to see a bunch of small crystals glowing with a faint blue light. They felt strangely warm to the touch. The hell?

"Here," he rasped, his voice barely audible now. "Take these… hide… and make it out… Then come back for me… alright? … I'm done for… your turn…"

His eyes rolled back, he passed out. I watched as the crystallization reached his face, encasing him completely. I let go of his hand as smoothly as possible. Then he became a crystal statue as well. I looked to my left, and saw Susan and John also crystallized. My whole team was accounted for.

I stared at the shards in my hand, my mind trying to make sense of what Mark said. Hide? Make it out? Come back? What did it all mean? What was this place?

I focused on the shards, turning them over in my fingers. They felt… significant. Important. And then something clicked, as if there was a sudden understanding between me and the crystals. A thought formed in my mind: what the hell are these?

A faint blue light emanated from the shards, and a disembodied voice echoed in my head. 

[Spirit Shards. Primary currency and resource. Use a Spirit Shard to query the System for information.]

The voice was cold, clinical, devoid of any emotion. It felt like interacting with a machine, a vending machine that dispensed information instead of snacks. And I am quite sure it made a point to let me see it as such.

My analytical mind, honed from years of managing complex supply chains and playing dubious games from small independent studios that diverged from the mainstream concepts of “fun”, immediately latched onto the concept of information as a resource. If these shards were currency, then information was the commodity. I closed my eyes, focusing on one of the shards, and formed a question in my mind: What happened here?

[Nine worlds have been merged by the System. Spiritual essence has been introduced to facilitate integration and prepare all worlds now connected as one for entry into the Myriad Realms. This area is designated a Temporal Instance, a space encased by a spiritual barrier that protects survivors who have fallen within as well as the circumstances of a localized survivor group's demise.]

The information was concise, factual, and utterly devoid of context. Nine worlds merged? Myriad Realms? It sounded like something out of a bad high fantasy game. But the crystalized figures around me were undeniably real. And there was one less crystal in my palm. Nine remaining.

I spent another shard. What’s my role in this scenario?

[You are designated Survivor 7349 of this instance. Previous occupations: University Supply and Demand Manager, Logistics Logger and Acquisitions Auditor. Trapped in the instance during the first stage of integration, 78 days ago according to local time, and recently rescued. You have no role or goal except those you create for yourself.]

Stolen novel; please report.

That was a lot. 78 days ago I got screwed. Rescued only now and by a dying Mark. There’s no role or goal set, which means there might be no true significance to my actions, or that the impact I will be able to make would be only localized in a global catastrophe such as this, or someone else is the actual protagonist, or that everything is already doomed, or that no one cares. How rude.

I will go with ‘insignificant’ since this ‘system’ didn’t even bother with my name. Despite being clearly aware of who I am and what I do, or used to.

Thinking about my lovely job I remembered the endless spreadsheets, the meticulous inventory and storage checks, the satisfaction of optimizing complex logistical puzzles. It felt like a lifetime ago. Or maybe I just have a concussion. If not both.

Either way, I was rescued, so…

Eight shards remaining. He goes another shard. What are these… crystals encasing people?

[Crystal Shell. Contain survivors trapped within the Instance. It prevents survivors from expiring too soon and allows them to slowly recover over time. Survivors encased in crystals can now act as spiritual energy sources, sustaining themselves, this Instance and providing power to the System. Five spirit shards required to remove the protective crystal shell.]

The image of my coworkers, trapped and used as batteries, sent a shiver down my spine. This wasn’t just like a simple disaster; it was an exploitation. A cold, calculated harvesting of human lives, or maybe their potential since they aren’t really dead. Milking them for… spirit energy? Whatever.

Seven shards remaining. So, the people in… crystal shells, aren’t dead and can be rescued at any time, no matter how long has passed, as long as someone comes to release them, which takes five shards, which means no one truly dies within this… instance?

[Correct.]

Well, that was sort of a waste of one fine shard. I was hoping for some more exposition. But, thank you for being concise, I guess.

Good news: no one in this instance is dead or will ever be dead. 

Bad news: everyone might end up as a battery for the rest of your days, which might just mean for all eternity since the system did say the crystal works as some mumbo jumbo support system.

I got a couple big queries to make, but I will leave those for later. Need more basic info.

Six shards remaining. So, what’s the system’s role in all this?

[This system is a neutral entity with the sole purpose of facilitating the integration of this newly formed lower world into the myriad realms regardless of the outcome of native species. The system preserves and entices the flow of spiritual energy to slowly enrich this lowly world.]

Ouch. It could have made it a little less edgy. So, It tidies up and cleans the place for others to make use of it. And I already know it charges lots of shards for that service. Anyway, I will call it pool bot from now on. Because that’s what it is.

It doesn’t really care if people are free or trapped because if it doesn’t get energy it will get shards instead. I am out of my cozy crystal coffin for what? One minute? And already spent five shards. Not to mention Mark spending five shards to get me out, which means it made ten shards already.

Oh, wait. That isn’t good. My mind suddenly thinks of a rather troublesome possibility.

I had five shards. I could rescue Mark right now, except I couldn’t. He said I should get out and then come back for him, he surely knows better than me. And I don’t know about that injury in his torso, maybe releasing him right now would just end with him being encased again.

I would love to ask about that, but I need to confirm just how screwed I am. 

With only five shards remaining, I finally asked the crucial question: How do I leave this place?

[Exiting a Temporal Instance requires 10 spirit shards per individual. Reach the border and focus on leaving, the shards will be taken and you will traverse the barrier as if it isn’t there.]

The words echoed in my mind, cold and final. I looked at the four shards remaining in my hand, then back at the crystal coffins surrounding me. An impulse to burst out profanities loudly came over me, but was swiftly dealt with. Or not.

Did I just spend over half of my escape fund to learn about the nature of my prison? Damn it.

This thing charges people for information, for freeing others, to let them leave this instance, which means there are probably other instances out there, and who knows what else. Because that’s only what I found out so far, in a couple minutes. And it obviously keeps people in fancy crystal coffins that prevent them from dying because dead people probably don’t work like good little batteries. Shit.

So, this system needs spirit stuff. And we are the providers. Which means we are the one paying to have our world screwed by the integration, the system, the myriad realms or whatever. For it to be used after this integration by the system, the myriad realms or whatever. Quite the brilliant scheme. Fuckers.

Before I could really ask a couple big questions that would cement my opinion that we are all very much screwed, a low growl echoed through the office. 

It was a guttural sound, like a reptile’s hiss mixed with a dog’s snarl. It came from behind the section of the wall that had crumbled next to the former shelves. And obviously there was no longer a door there to stop whatever was on the other side from meeting me here.

Mark was far from being in top shape when he got me out. 

Then there’s a hissing growl coming from behind a half crumbled wall. 

Ok, reflection time is over.

Two shards were swiftly spent. I need information. Crucial information. And I did get it. Not enough for me to know what I am dealing with, but enough for me to know what I could possibly face.

[Nine worlds were merged. Creatures from all nine worlds inhabit this single world now and they are considered its native species, terrans. Within instances, a creature usually subdues the opposition to assume the position of ruler. The system doesn’t interfere in these events and supports the method chosen by natives to determine who will lead them. The system also doesn’t interfere with external factors that could change the balance within a given instance.]

The system supports the method chosen by the natives… So, carnage and mayhem is fine?

[This instance initially had half a dozen types of creatures suitable for the position of ruler. Although most of them are of questionable intellect, a single species was deemed worthy of the system’s true blessing, humanoid terrans, even though they never made it to the list of potential rulers they were given the means to interact with spirit energy at a basic level to further enhance their potential, elevated to the standards of the proper human race as seen in the myriad realms. Be aware: all species are eligible for enhancement by using shards, either consciously or instinctively, which might cause a change in the power dynamics, which the system doesn’t oversee.]

Well, this enhancement thing does sound good. But can it be trusted? And can I get a freaking status sheet or something? It would help. A lot. Nothing? Figures.

So, we didn’t even make the list of potential rulers but were fine as potential batteries? That was the system’s true blessing? How nice.

And to make things better we weren’t even considered humans before the blessing? Just terrans, like the plants or the bugs? A term relative to this planet, as in natives, I assume. And now we were elevated like our clearly superior colonizers? Can’t be bothered to think about this now.

I positioned myself at the back of the office and turned towards the sound, my heart pounding in my chest. Emerging from the rough stone was a bipedal creature roughly one meter tall, but it would easily be two meters tall if it stood erect, because it wasn’t humanoid, but a freaking five meter long velociraptor croc thing. Was that a mini finless spinosaurus? Damn it.

It moved with a surprising grace, its thick, heavy tail swaying behind it. Its skin was covered in rough, green scales, and its head was a grotesque mix of reptile and mammal, with a long snout filled with sharp, serrated teeth. It resembled a velociraptor on steroids with the mouth of an alligator. Shit.

The thing sniffed the air, its reptilian eyes fixing on me. It didn’t seem very fast, but it transmitted a weird sense of purpose that was deeply unsettling. Then, it took a step forward, revealing two more of the creatures behind it. They moved slowly, carefully, cornering their prey. Fuck.

In retrospect, Mark's first instruction after giving me the shards really was ‘hide’, wasn’t it?