“Pete, are you going to walk the dogs today? It’s already 11,” Pete jumped, not knowing his mom was behind him while he was on his phone, stalling.
The sound of paws scratching on hardwood could be heard from down the hallway at the ever exciting sound of the W word. 3 dogs of all different breeds rushed past Pete and his mom, tails wagging and tongue out when they reached the doorway.
“Uhh yeah let me just put my shoes on really quick and I’ll get right on that,” Pete gently pushed aside the grumpy looking but excitable little pug to get to the shoe rack. After slipping a pair of slides on he clipped on each of the three dog’s leashes and went to open the door when it suddenly swung open. A bearded man stood on the other side of the doorway, large, dark and imposing, in large part because of the overcast sky that was his backdrop.
“You taking them for a walk?” the man said.
“Uh yessir, just down to the park for like half an hour,” Pete replied, making sure to get out of the man's way.
“Good man, you think about what career you want to go into now that you’re out of school?”
“Um, yes but I haven’t thought of one yet… sir,”
“Hmm, well better get on that sooner or later, can’t be living off your parents forever can you? You gotta make your claim on the world y’know?”
“Yessir”
“Good man” The man then walked past Pete and called out to Pete’s mother.
‘Why is he home so early?’
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was just starting to rain when Pete sat on one of the benches at the dog park, it was a fleeting, cold thing. Pete however, was much too preoccupied thinking about his ‘career’ than to notice the rain. For he didn’t know what he wanted to be. He knew logically that feelings rarely ended up being the most important part of the decision making process, but he still wanted something that had at least one upside - other than the money of course. When he was a kid he had no problem coming up with all manner of fantastic and prestigious careers, but now he was sifting through what felt like wet sand just for something that was ‘good enough’.
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He hadn’t had any jobs during high school either because unless he wanted to work in an old folks home or a fast food restaurant there wasn’t anything worth doing. Or more accurately there was nothing worth doing for the amount of money that was being offered to do it.
Time continued to pass to the tune of lamenting thoughts, rain, and the sounds of dog’s barking.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When Pete and the 3 dogs arrived back home, they were all drenched. On their way back the clouds had decided that a downpour was in order. Pete dipped inside to grab a towel and dry off the dogs and only then let them inside the house.
Going to his room, Pete changed out of the wet clothes and laid down on his bed, tired even though he hadn’t done much today. He was wondering what he should make himself for dinner later when, of all things, a blue screen appeared in front of his face.
[System has finished updating]
[Any potential denizens of worlds included in the newest expansion will be relocated in accordance to Article 23, Paragraph 5 of the “Intergalactic Rights of Citizens Under The Unified Humanity Act”]
‘What the hell is going on,’ was all Pete could think. ‘There’s no such thing as ‘Intergalactic Rights’ or whatever. At least I think so, I’ve sure never heard of one. And what’s with the magically floating screens?’ All these thoughts and more were running through his head when someone burst through the door.
“Oh my god Petey do you see these weird floaty words too?!” It was his sister Sarah.
“Yeah I do, do you kno-
[Native Identified]
[Transfer to nearest settled world initialized]
Pete barely had any time to process what that meant before what came next.
[Warping in… 3… 2… ERROR]
[Settled World designated “Siea HO0X” denied entry]
[Selecting random world for habitation]
[Designate “Unnamed World” chosen]
[World specifics:
World Mass: C
World Energy/Mana Density: C+
Nearest Settled Planet: 459,210 light years away]
[Warping]
“Huh?”