“…ok.” Calvin finished his statement, but immediately realized something was wrong.
Lost in an unfamiliar place, far from Calvin’s apartment, their exact whereabouts remained a mystery. The once familiar walls of the minimalistic apartment were gone, now replaced by a colossal, dimly lit cavern. The echoes of their footsteps reverberated through the chilly air, sending shivers down their spines.
Calvin helped Amy get seated as he scanned the area. The cavern was massive. They were against one wall of it but Calvin could see that it extended much further than that. He couldn’t see the other side as it disappeared into the darkness. Nearby, many small groups huddled together in shock. Calvin saw men, women, children, and pets. Nearly all of them were in a state of panic.
The air was thick with the scent of fear and desperation. Calvin could hear the muffled cries and sobbing of those around him. The dim lighting revealed tear-streaked faces, trembling hands, and wide, terrified eyes. The ground beneath them felt cold and damp, adding to the sense of unease. Calvin's heart raced as he took in the dire scene, overwhelmed by the sense of despair that hung in the air.
Calvin’s gaze fell upon a trio of nearby young men. They seemed more calm and collected than anyone else. He called over to them. "Any idea where we are or what happened?"
"Your guess is as good as ours, man," one replied. "We were road-tripping to the beach when everything went crazy."
The beach Calvin thought… "Which beach?”
“What? Oh…South Cove. Why? Do you know where we are?” one of the men asked.
South Cove was nearly an hour away from Calvin’s apartment. This group hadn’t been close by when they were taken to wherever this was.
“No clue, I’m just as confused as you. Did you all see the thing appear in the sky?” Calvin asked.
“Hell yeah we did. I had just gotten my burger too. I’m starving.” A tall man in board shorts said.
One of the others chuckled. “Of course, abducted by aliens and Marshall’s first thought is his stomach.”
“It looked like a damn good burger.” Marshall looked around at their surroundings, “I guess we should try to figure out what’s going on. I’m Marshall, by the way, that’s Seth and the rookie here is Ian.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Calvin, and that’s Amy and Freya. I figured everyone here would have been from the same area. But who the hell knows, this is way above my paygrade.”
“You and me both.” Marshall said.
Calvin placed his hand on Amy’s shoulder. “I’m going to check out the area real quick. I’ll leave Freya here with you. Are you ok to sit here for a little while?”
Amy looked up at him with red eyes and nodded, a slight shiver evident as she did so. Calvin removed his jacket and draped it over Amy’s shoulders.
“I’ll be right back.” he said, “Call out if you need me, I won’t be far.”
“I’ll join you if you don’t mind.” Marshall said as he stood, “Gotta stretch my legs you know?”
They spent nearly 20 minutes walking around, engaging with different groups of people, and getting familiar with their surroundings. The diversity of the crowd was apparent, with people from all walks of life. Calvin couldn’t help but notice numerous groups of unaccompanied children, elderly couples with their cats, individuals dressed in suits, and even some in their birthday suits. It seemed as though people had been abruptly plucked from their activities and dropped into this cave. Marshall, with a natural ability to connect with others, paused occasionally to assist those who were struggling with their new circumstances. His presence visibly eased their worries.
As expected, no one had any knowledge about what had happened. How could they? The stories were the same everywhere. People were going about their daily business when out of nowhere, a colossal flying structure appeared, accompanied by a brilliant blue flash. In an instant, everyone found themselves here.
Calvin and Marshall soon realized that every group they spoke to had originated from within approximately an 80-mile radius of the city. These people must have been gathered from a specific region, rather than randomly placed here from anywhere in the world.
“You seem to have a way with people.” Calvin observed.
“Yeah, guess it comes with the job. I’m a paramedic. At least I was. I hope they’ll let me miss a few days of work on account of being abducted.”
Calvin chuckled. Marshall appeared calm, but his dark humor was obviously helping him cope with the uncertainty he felt about it all.
“Are Seth and Ian paramedics too?”
“Nah, Seth is a cop. Ian is a brand new baby firefighter. Just graduated from the academy. We actually just picked him up to celebrate with a little road trip to the beach.”
“What a way to celebrate. Let’s get back to the group and maybe come up with a plan for finding a way out of here.”
They wandered back to the others. Calvin noticed Amy looking much better as she chatted with Seth and Ian. Freya, ever the watchful pup saw their approach and bounded over, giving Calvin a curious look.
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“Not sure girl, we’ll figure this out.” he said to her and gave her a scratch on her ears, which she happily accepted.
As Calvin sat down next to Amy and shared what the had learned, a message interrupted their discussion.
PREPARE FOR INITIALIZATION IN 3…2…1
They heard the message and saw it on a screen in front of them simultaneously. Calvin was unsure if it was real or just in his mind. He noticed that everyone, including Freya, was also experiencing it. Freya growled slightly. The sudden appearance of the mysterious display startled most members of their group.
Calvin directed his attention back to the screen in front of him.
EARTH INITIALIZED. SYSTEM ONLINE. SYSTEM SEED SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE. TUTORIAL COMMENCES IN 59 MINUTES.
“Uhhh…” Calvin let out. Confusion painted everyone's faces.
“Anyone have any ideas?” he asked.
Ian shook his head. “Is this some sort of fucked up prank? Pick on the rookie? Alright guys, you got me. I’d like to get back to drinking and camping now please.”
A snort bubbled out of Seth, morphing into a low chuckle. You could tell he rolled with punches like a champ. Built like a tank, he moved with the swagger of someone who'd seen it all. "Wish this was a prank, mate," he said, a grin tugging at his lips. "But hey, chin up. We'll have you tucked in by bedtime, blankie and all."
Calvin glanced at the countdown, now at 58 minutes.
What the hell is the tutorial?
THE TUTORIAL IS THE INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE FOR NEWLY INITIALIZED CITIZENS WITHIN THE DESIGNATED SYSTEM SEED.
Did this thing just read my thoughts? Calvin wondered
Experimenting, he tried something
What is a System Seed?
THE DESIGNATED SYSTEM SEED FOR THIS REGION IS SYSTEM SEED 4,913. SYSTEM SEEDS PROLIFERATE SYSTEM NANITES WITHIN THEIR DESIGNATED REGIONS. SYSTEM SEED 4,913 IS THE NEWEST SYSTEM DESIGNATED REGION WITHIN THE FOLLOWING SECTOR.
At that moment, Calvin’s display transformed, revealing a breathtaking view of the Milky Way. Amongst the vast expanse, a green dot caught Calvin’s attention, labeled “SOL” - his current location, as he had learned from countless sci-fi novels. As he explored the galactic map, he noticed several other markers, all bearing the label “SYSTEM SEED”. Each of these markers had a radiant aura emanating from its center, expanding outwards. Calvin noticed Sol was positioned on the outer edge of one of these expanding regions.
What are system nanites?
THE TUTORIAL WILL COMMENCE IN 52 MINUTES. FURTHER INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS WILL BE PROVIDED AT THIS TIME.
The screen vanished, and Calvin couldn't bring it back. Amy looked at him curiously.
“That screen, or whatever, could read my thoughts. I got a little information, but honestly, none of it makes sense to me. It had mentioned we’re within a region of something known as a system seed that spreads… nanites? When I tried to ask more, it said we need to wait for the tutorial.” Calvin explained.
Calvin observed Amy seemed to have shed a lot of the fear from the previous events and was now more curious than anything. It didn’t seem they were in immediate danger, although nothing about this situation made any sort of sense. For all they knew, they were about to be burned alive, or fed to some giant spiders. Letting their imagination run wild was most certainly not the correct course of action.
Marshall paced in frustration as the minutes ticked down. "So some freaky robot voice is gonna give us a 'tutorial' on what the hell's happening? Does this little adventure include lunch?" he said that last part toward the ceiling, hoping whatever was up there would drop down a pizza or something.
"Getting angry won't help. Let's stay calm and work with what we've got." Seth pointed out. The police officer scanned their strange surroundings, cataloging details out of habit.
Calvin pulled Amy closer, hoping to sound reassuring. "Well, at least it doesn't seem like we’re in immediate danger, for now. We'll get through this together."
Seth nodded. "Right, let's talk out what we know so far and get oriented while we wait."
“Well, for starters, we’re in a cave somewhere. I didn’t know the area well outside of the city, but I don’t recall there being any large caves nearby.” Calvin said, “Maybe it’s something like a bomb shelter?”
Marshall shook his head. “We’ve been camping and hiking in the area for years. I haven’t heard of any caves like this.”
The others concurred, relieved to focus on something constructive. Freya stayed alert to threats as they spoke, ready to defend her pack from any danger. Their fear was palpable, but her fierce loyalty grounded them amidst the chaos.
“I don’t think it’s some weird government conspiracy either. The military engaged whatever it was in the sky, and I’ve never seen or heard of any technology like that.” Ian said.
Calvin agreed. “So, what… Aliens?” he felt a little nutty even mentioning it.
“Beats me. As crazy as that sounds, this whole thing seems to check all of the invaded and kidnapped by aliens boxes. I really hope it’s not like the movies, you know, with the probes.” Marshall said. He squirmed a bit at the last part.
“Don’t worry Marshall, we can offer you up as tribute if it comes to that. You’re the healthiest specimen here, so they should get lots of good data from you.” Seth pointed out.
“Yeah, fuck off.”
“Did you all get to see the map of the Milky Way?” Calvin asked.
Confusion on their faces told Calvin they had not seen that map.
“When I was pressing the voice for information, it showed me a map of the galaxy. These things called system seeds were all over the place and Earth was right next to one. I got the impression that all of this is because of one of those ‘seeds’”
“Add that to the Alien bingo,” Marshall said.
“Right, so, kidnapped by aliens, dropped in a cave, and placed in some sort of tutorial. Sounds like they want to teach us something?”
This has certainly been one hell of a day. Calvin thought.
TUTORIAL COMMENCING IN 59 SECONDS.
The bold system countdown interrupted their chat.
“What do you think’s going to happen?” Amy whispered.
“I wish I knew,” Calvin replied. Out of his depth, he focused on quelling his own unease to remain strong for Amy.
His job involved assessing progress bars and deadline projections, not comprehending alien agendas. Yet here he was, plunged into an extraterrestrial program with incomprehensible stakes.
TUTORIAL INITIALIZING FOR INHABITANTS OF SYSTEM SEED 4,913. DURATION: 60 CYCLES