The Void.

Emily found herself alone, suspended in an endless expanse of white—a void where time and space seemed irrelevant. The stark silence was a sharp contrast to the chaotic departure from her familiar world. Then, the voice, devoid of warmth, echoed around her.

"Welcome, Emily Starfield, I am the System Tutorial Administrator, your tutorial shall begin in one hour. Your introduction will begin shortly."

- 00:59:52 -

Emily's heart raced, questions instantly flooding her mind

What the hell is this place? Where am I? Who’s talking? What’s happening? Where is everyone? Why did dad have to say that obvious red flag!? Each one a desperate attempt to grasp her situation. She found her voice, small and trembling into the vast void. "Where am I? Where's my family?"

The voice responded, unfazed by her distress. "You are within the tutorial space, a neutral zone. Your family's whereabouts are currently unavailable. This preliminary session is for individual orientation while your physical form is remodelled. Any further questions may be asked at the end."

Unavailable he…she? It said….wait-! “Did you just say REMODELLED??? You’re remodelling me? HELLO?”

Only silence followed as she shouted into the void for a few minutes until finally forced to give up.

I’m sure it’s fine right….nothing bad could possibly be- OH and NOW you start talking?!

Feeling a mix of frustration and fear, she attempted to focus on the information being provided. Her heart raced as the reality of her situation sank in; yet knowing what this could mean for her future, she focused her attention as the voice began its unnervingly calm and detached speech.

"During the aforementioned tutorial, you shall be introduced to the basic principles essential for your survival. Pay close attention to the instructions, as your ability to adapt and apply this knowledge will be tested constantly. Failure to adequately comply with the basic guidelines will most probably result in your death-”

“DEATH?!”

Quickly remembering it would go silent if she didn’t shut up, she started ranting in her mind as it continued to talk

DID YOU JUST SAY DEATH?? You can’t just say that to a lady! Man, what the hell!?

As the voice continued, outlining the steps she needed to follow, she forced herself to push past the fear as her new reality was laid before her. She couldn't afford to let her emotions cloud her judgement, not when so much was at stake.

“-and once the tutorial commences, you shall be presented with a STATUS SCREEN. This screen enables you to view your status, alongside a visual aid of your person with corresponding statistical data attributed. From then on, you will first have access to this screen by either mentally or verbally communicating the word “Status”. It is strongly recommended mental commands are prioritised over verbal, however it is ultimately up to the individual how their STATUS SCREEN is displayed and accessed. All aspects of the STATUS SCREEN can be accessed via mental command, vocal command, physical action or however you deem appropriate. Upon inception of the instructional segment, you will be instructed on how to proceed as well as the rules surrounding your tutorial, they will not be discussed within this preliminary session and all attempts to do so, as well as all questions unanswerable or locked knowledge, will receive the response “This question cannot be answered”, followed by silence until a new inquiry is received. You have-”

- 00:57:02 - flashed in her mind.

“-Until the tutorial shall commence”.

Silence followed as Emily collected herself and her thoughts until she’d decided on her most important question…

“Ummm so can you answer now? What do you mean by my body is being remodelled?”

The system almost instantly responded as if knowing when her line of questioning would end

“This question cannot be answered”

Emily stared into space for a moment, trying to understand this answer full of nothing. “WHAT?! Why not!? You’re remodelling my body and you’re not even going to tell me why? You can’t tell me anything at all?” Silence was the only answer to her questions as she waited in frustration for a response that would never arrive. Annoyed with what was happening and honestly quite overwhelmed and upset about not really knowing anything about what was happening she shouted into the void a question more out of resentment than anything

“Can you even tell me ANYTHING? What about my books? Is it going to be like the books I was last reading?”

System: “This question can be answered, the answer you’re looking for is yes, however realistically the actual answer is a combination of the two. The limited nature of infinity makes this question incredibly more nuanced than you initially intended. To simplify it would require more time than is appropriate.”

Emily stared out at the world once again as silence blanked the void, although this time more so out of confused shock before muttering to herself “I… uh… okay? I guess I’ll take that as confirmation…”. Then slowly getting more excited as her thoughts started to whirl “Then magic? You’re saying there will be magic and swords and everything? What about mythical creatures and all tha-?”. But the train of excitement quickly grinded to a halt as a new train of thought suddenly steamed through her mind, one getting increasingly depressing and dangerous as she imagined the ramification of this possibility, leading her to despondently ask some new questions that, although knowing she’d receive no answer, almost begged to know… “Wha…what about Earth? Will I be able to return? Will I ever see my family again?”

The system answered, perhaps taking pity on her, although it was unknowable based off its apathetic tone

“This question can be answered, so long as you survive, you will return to Earth upon tutorial climax. You will return to the origin of your teleportation prior to this preliminary session, although this may change based on multiple factors, such as the safety of the returning location. All surviving participants will arrive at the exact same moment of time.”

Emily sighed a breath of relief, hope rising once again in her heart, pushing her towards and solidifying her determination to guarantee her survival in this coming catastrophe.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I’m so relieved!

A few minutes passed of blissful silence until she had a small thought enter her mind

- 00:49:34 -

I know it said about this being solo but I hope there's a few other people at some point or it’s going to be so lonely in this tutorial for a whole year! Oh yea I wonder about-

“To answer your prior questions, a key imperative of the tutorial is to induct all participants into their new world. This will include all aspects such as ‘magic and swords and everything’ as well as all manner of important skills.”

Emily, her cheeks flushing red as her childish question was quoted, began her happy thanks before a realisation dawned on her

“Oh, uh, yea thank you! I’m glad that I’ll have magic! I’ve always wanted to try… how did you know that’s what I wanted to ask? Wait, can you read my mind??”

Emily’s mind started it’s cycle of questioning again, but this was quickly put at ease by the prompt response of the void

“This question can be answered, the ability to read your surface thoughts is essential for communication for those who began their journey mute or deaf”.

Emily’s cheeks flushed red again as she took in this information and reined in her paranoid thoughts

“Ah, I guess I didn’t really consider disabilities or anything…I’m guessing those who can’t see…will they just be able to magically view their Status Screen in their mind or something”

"This question can be answered, those who lose or do not require visual processing to view the world will still be able to access and view the Status Screen via mental feedback through the SoulSphere”

Emily, nodding her head along as though it made complete sense

“So they can view the world….and I’m guessing you’re not able to talk about this ‘SoulSphere?”

“This question cannot be answered, however you are permitted to be informed that it will be included in the tutorial due to those who already access it requiring this knowledge”

- 00:42:57 -

Following this was a long line of questioning, spanning nearly 30 minutes, that essentially taught Emily two key pieces of information:

A) Surviving is useful and the tutorial will teach you how

B) This damn void wouldn’t tell her Jack!

More frustration filled her with each futile question, the words ‘This question cannot be answered’ sure to haunt her future nightmares. She attempted to kick the void, rewarding her with the sensation of spinning, although with no symptoms of gravity and no visual aids in the void let her confirm this feeling, she decided to continue her seemingly pointless questioning, her new reasoning to at least fill this silent void that surrounded her with the semblance of something.

“Well do ya have any tips for how to do well? To survive?”

“This question cann-” a subtle tinge of humour briefly flicked through the voice “be answered, it is good to save one time use things for when they’re important.”

After a brief period of silence

“What..the…Is that it?”

“One hour has passed, your introduction is now over. Your tutorial will soon begin and you shall be teleported in 10 seconds”

“No I had ages left on the…!” she glanced at the timer and noticed it had nearly reached zero. Slightly bewildered, she muttered “...I could’ve sworn there was more…”

Emily silently braced herself for what was to come.

Come on girl, you got this, no more thoughts, its action time! No no no that's cringe as hell ew no brain dont say-

Suddenly, the white void dissolved, and she found herself standing on a raised, circular, amherst gray, stone platform that was roughly 2.5 metres in diameter. Below, her pillar stretched into a seemingly infinite dark abyss, a sight both terrifying and mesmerising. She was alone on her platform, but as her eyes adjusted to the unusually enigmatic atmosphere, where light was both absent of source and yet somehow perfectly aglow, she noticed countless others dotting the landscape, each one housing a solitary figure 10 metres apart.

That….holy shit!

Visibly stunned, she could only look around in shocked silence.

There’s…so many

As she looked around, as far as she could see, and endless number of people surrounded her, but then she looked down

OH MY GOD WHERE IS THE FLOOR

She hurriedly scrambled to the middle and sat down with her eyes scrunched close

Calm down, calm down! It’s just an infinite dark abyss with absolutely nothing! Calmmmmm

She slowly opened her eyes again to take in her surroundings, careful not to look down and keep her thoughts off the topic. Quickly deciding better than to sit and peruse the endless view of shocked and disconcerted people and pillars stretching down infinitely into the void, she decided to test the Status Menu that the entity mentioned.

“STATUS. Wha– oh”

A pale green menu flashed before her as she spoke, startling her for a moment at it’s sudden appearance.

Get a grip! Her cheeks lightly flushed as she admonished herself.

Recentering, she set about exploring the new status screen that now hovered before her eyes, a digital interface that seemed both alien and intuitive, fluidly controlled through thought or action like an old limb she’s had since birth. It listed her name, a set of statistics that made little sense apart from general information about her person such as age, race, etc. Following was a blank space for what she assumed were skills or abilities. The surreal nature of her situation was underscored by the cold, impersonal data reflecting her existence.

Then, the voice spoke out, its tone unchanged, for all to hear "Congratulations, Humans of Earth, you are the dominant species of your planet. As a gift for being the ruler class on your planet, your physical forms have been remodelled and your basic physical flaws removed."

The announcement was cryptic, offering no comfort or clarity, but she listened on.

“The tutorial has been designed to assist you, to help you to understand yourself, to let you know what path to take. You will learn to face fears, learn to overcome physical or mental barriers, develop important skills and lay the foundation for the world to build upon. Please prepare yourself for the challenges you will now face.”

As the voice faded, leaving behind a heavy silence, Emily looked out across the void, her eyes steely. Whatever came next, she would face it head-on. She would find her family. She would understand The System. And she would survive. And somewhere, deep down, a flicker of excitement mingled with her fear. This was a beginning, fraught with danger but brimming with potential.