Origin Protocol Activated...
System Integration Synced...
Assimilation of Realm 8 - C - 122 Completed...
Evolutional Seeding and Aether Development commenced... Completion within 8.92 Solar Turns...
Aether synchronization to sapient species - Humans - established....
User [Kane Newman]... Acknowledge the System with confirmation of Full Sync...
The stream of messages were the first thing Kane saw when he woke from sleep’s hold for the second time that day. Only this time was far more concerning. The 3-D messages floated in front of his vision and demanded attention.
“This... this can’t be real?”
The text before his eyes showed that it was very real indeed. A shaky hand swiped through the message before his eyes. The wording warped and rippled before it reformed again. Demanding his answer.
“Ac- Acknowledge?”
The messages flashed in response before disappearing and new words took their place. His heart seized. It was real. Then the pounding of blood coursed through him as he sat up, gapping like a fish out of water and he scanned the new text. He re-read it again. Then again as an incredulous laugh escaped him.
Error - Origin of Realm 8 - C - 122 unrecognized by MultiVerse Council...
Warning - Activation of Aether Synchronization and Origin Protocol unauthorized...
Warning - Origin Protocol: Alpha Directives implemented... continuation and successful sync of System Records per Prime Accords...
Warning - Origin Protocol: Alpha - 2 Directive, implemented... MultiVerse access restricted to sapient indigineous population for 8.92 Solar Turns...
Warning - Origins Protocol: Alpha - 4 Directive, implemented. Indigineous population granted immunity from MultiVerse intervention for 8.92 Solar Turns...
Status available for viewing...
-
Name: Kane Newman
Race: Human (Common)
Class: N/A - (Class Available for Selection)
Level: 1 (0.00%)
-
Health (/regen per hour): 172 / 172 (8.6)
Stamina (/regen per hour): 168 / 185 (18.5)
Mana (/regen per hour): 1 / 198 (19.8)
-
Vitality: 13
Fortitude: 14
Resiliency: 15
Strength: 13
Agility: 11
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 15
Perception: 9
Control: 14
Charisma: 9
Tenacity: 12
-
General Skills: Athleticism* (C) lvl 1, Scholastics* (C) lvl 1, Pain Resistance (I) lvl 1, Meditation (I) lvl 1, Cooking (I) Lvl 1, Animal Taming (I) Lvl 1, Wrestling (I) lvl 1, Split Minded (U) lvl 1, Cleaning (I) Lvl 1, Coaching (C) Lvl 1
Racial Skills: Analyze (I) lvl 1
Class Skills: N/A
You have earned the Title: [Origin Race]
[Origin Race]: You are among the first generation of your species to be awakened to Aether and join the MultiVerse. +1 Distributable Attribute to Race per level.
Kane sat in silence. His mind raced to digest the words as the rising tide of dread and anxiety slowed. Most of the words had no meaning to him. Assimilation? Origin? Aether? It was as alien as magical floating text. He did understand other parts of the text.
It’s like a game. These are like notifications in a game and the status is like a character sheet. Hell, it even says ‘status’ and has attributes and skills like my favorite game, World of Ascension. But...how could this be real?
Kane passed his hand through the notifications. They warped like mist scattering and disappeared from view. Kane looked at his hand. He tapped his finger to his palm. It felt real, but he had to be sure. So he slapped himself. Hard.
“Ow- goddamnit!” He huffed through the sting on his cheek. “Guess that answers that question. So what does-”
“KANE!”
He was up and racing down the hallway before Miranda’s call died out. She was in her bedroom. Chaos decorated the room. Books, clothes, paintings, and furniture covered the maple wood floor. Her massive dresser, taller than Kane, had fallen on the bed and beneath it he found Miranda struggling to free herself from an avalanche of clothes.
“Hold on Miranda.” He called and moved closer to pull her free. A few hanks and pulls later Kane had her loose. The relief at her escape was choked down by surprise as Miranda clambered to her feet half dressed in a bra and scrub bottoms. Her eyes burn with tears. Ruined make-up smudged and hair tangled. She was shaken, but even then she reached out to Kane to grip him fiercely. Concern spilled from her.
“Where is Faith? What is happening? Where is my baby?”
Confusion crashed through relief and embarrassment as Kane registered her words.
“I, uh? What? She is with Duke... Outside...”
His feet moved as the words died like the silence around them. He dashed through the home with Miranda. The duo spilled out of the backdoor and into the patio. From across the lawn they spied their charges.
Faith, unharmed where he left her, bounced around without a worry in the world as she tapped at the air and voiced what she saw to Duke. For his own part, Duke was unsuccessfully trying to corral the young girl toward the house in a losing battle of wills. It wasn’t until Miranda darted through the backyard did he bark for help that Faith’s attention turned to the adults. She waved excitedly before disappearing in a bear hug from her mother. Duke, his non-human son he raised since a runt he picked from the litter, joined the two by wiggling his body into the group hug.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“No loyalty,” Kane muttered through the sting of rejection as he neared the mosh-pit of love and hugs and licks. He was expecting the young girl to be panicked. Random messages in the sky and massive earthquakes aren’t the norm after all. Instead Faith was excitedly speaking through the hugs and kissing her mother consumed her in.
“Mommy! Mommy! The sky is showing my name. Isn’t this super cool! It says ‘Faith Anderson’ in funny words.”
Miranda froze. She gave Kane a fearful look before turning to her daughter.
“I need you to focus honey. What exactly do you see?”
“My name! It says my name. It also says some weird word when I touch my name. N-O-N-S-Y-N-C-E-D. What does non-sinned mean?”
“Non-synced. Wait, you can touch your name and it says non-synced? Is there anything else?” Kane asked cautiously.
“Non-synced?” Faith repeated slowly, testing the words. She bobbed her head, pigtails flailing widely with her infectious smile. “Yes, just my name and non-synced. What does it mean?”
“Kane? What the hell is going on?”
“Uh oh, you said H-E-double hockey sticks mommy.”
“Give me a second,” Kane said as he turned his attention away from the two. He didn’t know what was happening, but he had a terrible feeling he may just know how to find out. With the flinch of a kid seeing their father walking toward them with a belt, he voiced the magic words.
“Menu.” Nothing happened.
“System?” Only the wind answered him.
“What are you doing?” He made a stop motion to cut off Miranda and thought back to the messages from before. There had to be something there. Faith was able to see it. Then it clicked.
“Status,” Kane said aloud. The same screen as before appeared before his eyes. One moment nothing. The next it dominated his vision. Like it was always there but just hidden.
“That’s not weird at all,” he muttered before he looked over the messages. It looked like nothing had changed. It still listed his name, character points, and skills like he had seen in games. With nothing to lose, you tapped the top of his screen that listed his name.
Name: Kane G. Newman (Synced User)
“That explains a lot...” he muttered before selecting the next line of his status.
Race: Human (Common) - Among the most abundant of races in the MultiVerse, Humans are known for their adaptability and proliferation of their species growth that produces hundreds of sub-species half-bloods ranging from Inferior to Rare in rarity. Balanced for any pursuit deemed desirable, Humans have no racial Limits or Bonuses.
Human (Common) - grants +3 Distributable Attributes per level
Now he was getting somewhere, but as he read the message the concern in him gnawed deeper. Something was terribly wrong. Species and half-bloods? MultiVerse? He needed more information. With a swipe of his hand the Status screen reformed and he tapped the rest of the words.
Class: N/A - A Class is the designated profession that provides advancement and growth in a niche area of focus. Class selection is based on achievements and Skills and grows as Experience Points are allocated.
* No Class is assigned to Kane Newman. View selection of Classes available?
Level: 1 (0.00%) - Levels represent an individual's strength and can be increased through experience.
Health: 172/172 - Health is the basis of your life force from Vitality and Fortitude.
Stamina: 168 / 185 - Stamina is the basis of your physical capacity from Fortitude and Resiliency.
Mana: 1/198 - Mana is the basis of your magical capacity from Wisdom and Intelligence.
Vitality: Increases Health and Health Regeneration
Fortitude: Increases Stamina and Stamina Regeneration
Resiliency: Increases physical and mental resistances
Strength: Increase physical capacity and strength
Agility: Increases movement speed and reflexes
Intelligence: Increases magical capacity and magical strength
Wisdom: Increases Mana and Mana Regeneration
Perception: Increases the six senses and external awareness
Control: Increases physical and magical command and internal awareness
Charisma: Increases charm and influence over others
Tenacity: Increases adaptation and removal of limitations
General Skills: Active and Passive Skills provided through achievements.
Racial Skills: Active and Passive Skills provided by your Race.
Class Skills: Active and Passive Skills provided by your Class.
Kane fell ass backwards as he focused on the stream of messages. Barebones. Simple. Concise. There was little explanation in the messages to the uninitiated but he was far from ignorant on the matter. Years of solitude and addiction to MMORPGs stilled the anxiety in his chest to a hollowed chill.
“It’s like a video game. The messages... They’re the same from a video game. It’s like we are players or characters in a game.”
The notifications. The status screen. Attributes and Race. They were all game mechanics yet this was real life. Which, if he was to take this seriously, meant he was either in a game or a game and its mechanics were placed like a set of rules on his life.
Neither thought made him feel reassured. Nor did it stop the fear from showing on Miranda’s face before it hardened into something fierce.
“We’re going.” Her voice brokered no negotiation. She moved to the house with Faith. “Let’s go honey. We’re going to pack up some things and head into town okay.”
“What are you doing Miranda? Where are you going? We need to find out what is happening-”
“Exactly. That’s why we need to go.”
“Go where? We don’t know what the messages mean or what is happening”
“Which is what I’m going to figure out.”
Her sunshine was replaced by a storm as Kane followed her into the house. A remote for the TV was in her hand as she pleaded with it to work. The screen in the living room was black and non-responsive. A glance around showed all the lights previously on were also off. Kane checked a few switches. The phone charger. Nothing was working. Even his phone signal was dead.
“The power is down. My phone isn’t working either,” he confirmed while testing 911 but it remained dead.
“That shouldn’t be possible. I have a back-up generator from the hospital to use for emergencies and it is supposed to automatically flip over.”
“No more TV?” Faith asked innocently.
“Just for now sweetie. Can you do me a big favor and go back up some clothes for a stay with Auntie Cloe?”
Kane watched the girl dash off with Duke in tow. Miranda was already storming through what remained of the devastated house. An emergency backpack and medical kit came out of a closet. A duffle bag soon joined it with more spare clothes and supplies as Miranda finally pulled on a new shirt and jacket.
“What are you thinking? I need you to talk to me so we can work this out and come up with a plan. I’m not leaving you and Faith on your own.”
His words halted Miranda’s frantic actions. A crack in her stern face showed the concern beneath the surface. He was unprepared for the hug, soft then strong, as he held onto him like he was a life raft to her lost in a sea. He held her tight. Desperate to want to protect her when he was adrift himself.
“We’re going into town.” Kane heard the muffled response.
“To town? No. We need to stay put.” He tried to reason for comfort and safety. Grimness was all he saw in return.
“We are in a state of emergency. I don’t know what else is going on, and neither do you, but we have no power and a dozen of those earthquakes hit us. People will need help and I’ll be there for them.”
“Miranda, we have no idea what’s going on and it-”
“Exactly! But maybe others do, and even if they don’t, I’m not staying huddled here when I can do something to help those who need it. The emergency protocol is to gather at one of the designated meeting points. The hospital is one of those, and it is only six miles away and people will be hurt or confused after the earthquakes, or after those...those...messages. We need to go. You’re coming right?”
He didn’t want to. He wasn’t someone to run into danger or risk uncertainty when the comfort of his home was right there. But he couldn’t find it in himself to say no to her pleading eyes. She needed him, and even if he wanted to hide the feeling, he needed her too.
Kane nodded. He received another hug and kiss on the cheek before Miranda continued her quickly organizing. Knowing he needed to do the same he went out the door to gather his own items. Then he froze.
From across the street Kane saw the beast.
[CoreHound Cub - lvl 1]
The creature was sleek and muscular, appearing like a half-sized Doberman dog. Menace and dark mist radiated around its body. Blood coated its throat from its kill. The neighborhood homeless cat. Faith called it Princess. Kane only saw the danger.
“Jesus Christ,” Kane swore and he backed up only to hit the screen door of his porch.
Yellow eyes of a predator locked onto him. The beast dropped its meal, cocking its head to the side before a carnal smile split the creature’s face unnaturally. It howled and raced forward. Kane ran toward Miranda's house. The hunt was upon him.