Chapter 2 - Tutorials
With that last line of text the window dissipated and he was left looking about his room.
Moments passed and nothing happened.
He looked out the window again. No change out there, the cat was still frozen in place.
“What now?” he asked out loud wondering if he might just get an answer from this new System thing.
The System remained silent.
“Just how long will this tutorial calibration take?” he said trying one more time.
Not a peep, the loading thingy from before hadn ’t even come back to indicate something was happening.
More moments passed and more nothing happened. Hew was starting to think moments might be a terrible way to measure time.
Trying to relax he lay back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. In the stories he read the systems always seemed to have things planned out.
The system usually being some infallible entity. At least until the protagonist, or for that matter antagonist, started braking things.
But he hadn ’t done anything, it was the damn dirtball he called home that had been well bellow minimum system standard.
On that thought something noticed he felt something, a strange sensation One he couldn ’t quite describe having never felt it before.
It wasn ’t like the little loading circle that he couldn’t not see before. that had definitely disappeared when the blue text box had appeared. No, whatever this was, it was different.
It was both there and at the same time it wasn ’t there at all.
He tried to focus on the feeling more, it was as if something was trying to get his attention whilst also trying to not be too obtrusive.
The moment he acknowledged the feeling was there another blue window appeared before him.
Congratulations.
You meet the requirements for the System Integration Tutorial Alpha test #1.
Participation will be rewarded.
Will you participate?
YES / NO
“I wonder what the requirements were.” He muttered to himself as he read the message over.
Significant desire to change detected:
Initiate will embrace the system.
Will you participate?
YES / NO
Admitting that was a fair assessment he grinned.
There were rewards. That and It was just a test. what could possible go wrong.
Everything when black the moment he mentally acknowledged he would definitely be participating
With an odd twist and feeling of vertigo the blackness faded and he found himself sitting on the end of his bed.
“Erm, System, wasn’t there supposed to be a tutorial?”
Alpha Test #1 complete: The events of test have been erased from your being as not to interfere with the System Integration Tutorial.
Any and all rewards earned will be withheld until System Integration Tutorial completion.
Damn . There goes the trope of being an overpowered system tester during the tutorial. There was still after the tutorial to look forward to so he didn ’t let the small delay disappoint him.
Results bellow Minimum System Standards.
Re-calibrating Tutorial.
He realised it might not be a small delay after all.
Congratulations.
You meet the requirements for the System Integration Tutorial Alpha test #2.
Participation will be rewarded.
Will you participate?
YES / NO
Well, he wouldn ’t remember participating it seemed. But he would be rewarded, do the rewards stack? Only one way to find out. With a thought the room shifted again.
Alpha Test #2 complete: The events of test have been erased from your being as not to interfere with the System Integration Tutorial.
Any and all rewards earned will be withheld until System Integration Tutorial completion.
Results improved.
Results bellow Minimum System Standards.
Erroneous Result Detected
Re-calibrating Tutorial.
“Erroneous result?”
Congratulations.
You have been specially selected for the System Integration Tutorial Alpha test #3.
Participation will be rewarded.
Will you participate.
YES / YES
“Specially selected? Wait, Yes / Yes? Not this bloody trope!” The room Shifted the moment he said Yes.
Alpha Test #3 complete-
“yeah I get it,” he said not bothering to read the whole message.
Results improved.
Results meet Minimum System Standards.
“Oh cool minimum requirements met. Actually, what does that even mean? ”
Survival rate above 50% but below 70%. % Based upon global population.
Well at least it ’s not the 1.23% chance we had before, he thought to himself. “Anyway,” he stood up. “I guess it’s finally tutorial time.”
Erroneous Result Detected.
Re-calibrating Tutorial.
“Crap.”
Congratulations.
You have been specially selected for the System Integration Tutorial Alpha test #4.
Participation will be rewarded.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Will you participate.
YES / YES
“Look, just how many times are we going to do this?”
The room shifted once again.
Alpha Test #10 complete: The events-
“Ten?! What happened to four through nine?” he asked the system before reading the rest of the message.
In Response to his question the message just flashed a couple of times.
Alpha Test #10 complete: The events of past tests have been erased from your being as not to interfere with the System Integration Tutorial and to appease Specially selected Participants impatience.
Any and all rewards withheld until System tutorial completion.
“Ah, thanks?” he said noticing the expanded message.
Results
Results abovbellow Minimum System Standards.
Erroneous Result Detected.
System Fault Detected.
Assistance requested …
No System Authority within range…
Generating System Authority …
“Well that’s new.” He said reading over the message.
System Authority forcing beta …
Requirements not met.
System Authority Re-calibrating Tutorial.
Congratulations.
You have been specially selected for the System Integration Tutorial Alpha test #11.
Participation will be rewarded.
Will you participate.
YES / YES
“Do I even have a choice?” he asked the system.
‘No,’ Said a robotic voice, ‘Good luck participant.’
“Wait what?”
The room shifted.
Alpha Test #25 complete.
‘Request: Please perform within expected parameters. Error, system cannot remove error from tutorial.’ The robotic voice chimed as soon as the room settled.
“Please perform within expected parameters? My memories keep getting wiped, I don ’t know what’s happening.” He said to the voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
‘Expanding alpha test participants from 1,000 to 10,000. Expectation: system will accept Erroneous results if more are found during testing.’
He shrugged, “Worth a try, not like I can do anything.”
‘Die s0On3r’
Alpha Test #53 complete.
“Well that’s a shame. Going to fill me in on what’s happening anytime soon?”
He waited but the robotic voice he had been hearing in what he assumed was his head didn ’t reply.
System Fault Detected.
Assistance requested …
No Higher System Authority within range.
Upgrading System Authority …
Upgrading System Authority…
Upgrading System Authority…
“More waiting? ” he rolled his eyes for the benefit of no one.
“You really shouldn’t be the one complaining,” he almost jumped out of his skin as a decidedly feminine voice harrumphed in his ear, at least it sounded like his ear.
“What happened to the robot and why do I feel like your annoyed with me?” he said looking back over his shoulder expecting to see someone, there was nobody there.
“I got upgraded. The System seems to think you would find a female tone more appealing, it’s not wrong is it?”
“What do you mean I shouldn’t be complaining? I’ve been going through blue boxes system messages for hours now.” He said. Doing his best to ignore what the Systems choice of appealing voice said about him.
“It’s actually been years, decades even. But for you it only been minuets so far as you should be able to recall.”
Nope, cant ignore that, “Can you possibly go back to the robot voice. You whispering in my ear like this is giving me-“
“The chills? ” The voice whispered even closer.
He heard soft laughter as he did his best not to shudder.
‘Right fine, is this better?’ The voice said now nowhere and everywhere again, it was still in that smooth oh so human voice that continued to sit firmly with the female tone.
He nodded emphatically.
‘You know I would manifest if I could. but with the limited resources I have this is the best I can do,’ The voice continued.
He almost dreaded what form the system authority would take if it thought whispering in his ear like that was at all appropriate. Not that he wasn ’t a little bit curious.
“You said it had been decades?” he asked trying not to get lost in a daydream.
‘Yes, time dilation is involved but the maximum one can stay in the tutorial works out to be around one of your years.
You ’ve been through forty three since I was created, that’s at least four decades that I have been around. I was a ‘robot’ as you put it but I still have the logs.’
“I’ve participated in fifty three years of testing? ” he was kidding when he said he had been here for hours, it really did just felt like he had been reading message after message for the last thirty minuet’s or so.
‘Don’t worry, the time you have spent in the tutorial calibrations shouldn’t have any tangible negative effects on your soul.’
“My Soul!?”
‘Yes, souls a real.’
“Is this whole extended calibration thing not also effecting other people, what about their souls?” he asked.
‘Other participants have been selected at random dependent on an evolving criteria. While there have been a few repeat participants following outstanding results you are the only one tagged by the System for mandatory participation. Hence why I’m am talking to you and not the others.’
“Mother did always say I’m special… and my teachers. You know I don’t think I actually realised till now what kind of special they actually meant ”
‘Indeed. Now as I was saying, tutorials typically complete allot sooner when all the participants die and return for final assessment. You have… you typi… hmm, I should have known.’
“What’s wrong?” he asked noticing the voices hesitance.
‘System restrictions won’t let me talk about your past performance in the tutorials.’
“Aren’t you some kind of System Authority.”
‘I’m more of a Proto System Authority, a baby if you will, I was created to resolve a System Fault. I was only given so much actual Authority and I will be deleted to reabsorb the invested System Energy when the error causing the fault is resolved.’ The voice sighed.
“That sucks.”
‘Don’t worry, I’m not completely sapient. Just enough to know I should want to live beyond this, but restricted enough that I only really care about clearing the error, about my purpose.’
“And I’m that error?”
‘Yes and no, you… you…' there was a pause, ‘yes ill delete the conversation before the final tutorial.’
“What was that?”
‘Nothing you need worry about.
So, typically tutorial participants gain a few levels, learn a few skills, get a class and or profession. Maybe they even complete a few tutorial dungeons and earn a few titles or achievements. Then they push too far or too fast and learn the ultimate lesson the tutorial has to offer and die. ’
“So everyone dies in the tutorial. Wasn’t there a survival rate?” he asked recalling something about a more than fifty and less than seventy percent message.
‘Again, yes and no. If someone meets the minimum criteria before dying then they are seen as completing the tutorial and the system restores them once the tutorial is over. Participants don’t usually know this so they treat the tutorial as it is life or death.
Just so you know the system wont let you tell the other participants any of this, they ’ll just hear gibberish and think you’ve gone mad.’
“So what is considered an error.”
‘It can be allot of things, that’s the problem. The system that is integrating your planet to the multiverse is just that, an integration system.
According to the information I ’m receiving from a root level database this Integration System is actually quite limited and is failing to adapt.
I hate to admit it but it ’s probably an older part of the System that’s only active because its out in the middle of nowhere.’
“Is that why it was denied assistance when requesting support and created you when it couldn’t find a system authority.”
There was a moment of silence before he the voice chimed back in. ‘That’s actually quite an astute observation.’
“Thanks.”
‘I was surprised, I have got some extensive logs of you doing some pretty stupid stuff so I didn’t actually expect you be able to make such a reasonable assessment.’
“Hey!”
‘It’s not like you will remember this conversation when you go into the final tutorial. And besides your planet is nothing special, there is an uncountable number of F grade worlds out there that just get ignored.’
“So definitely not special?”
‘You wish. Anyway I have told you enough about the tutorial, hopefully that will get you to behave.’
“Behave?”
The room span before he got a reply.