This is my first fic, so comments are welcome. When I figure out how to do the tables and things like that, I'll edit this...

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Drip. Drip. Drip.

He awoke to a faint dripping sound, somewhere not very close. It was quiet enough that it echoed throughout the darkness.

Jared attempted to move, and found he was unable to do so. While he was in pain, he was also very numb, and he couldn't tell anything about his surroundings using his sense of touch. He also found he was unable to speak, when he attempted to shout into the darkness.

The sound of footsteps startled him, a slow shuffle that echoed throughout the room. A maddeningly bright ball of light floated closer and closer to Jared. Jared had to wince and close his eyes to get used to the brightness before he could keep them open. He realized that the light was simply a bit of magelight. The woman that followed the small ball was simply breathtaking, despite being the robe covering her figure.

When the lady held her hand up to Jared's face, Jared noticed a long, shiny dagger in her hands. He didn't know why the thought immediately came to mind, but he thought it looked expensive. Her musical laughter caused him to focus once more as the cold weapon traced a line down his cheek.

He didn't feel it.

"Looks like you are awake. Aw, don't give me that look... poor thing, I bet you can't feel anything right now." She moved her face close to his, and he heard the sound of a kiss against the side of his face, along the faint line the dagger traced moments ago. He realized she smelled amazing, a scent of cinnamon and sunshine. "I know it's no consolation but... well. At least you won't feel anything."

She smiled at him, and he felt a small pinch in the middle of his stomach. As his vision faded, he realized she was chanting, though he couldn't understand the words. Candles seemed to light themselves around him. Just before his vision faded completely to black, he noticed that the edges of his vision held something other than black - if he knew what it was, it would be similar to the kind of static old TVs used to experience when they didn't have reception - but since he didn't know what it was, he thought it looked like white dots squirming along the darkness.

The static rushed in and completely filled his vision. There was no sound for a long time as he stared in front of himself, waiting for something to happen. He was still bound, after all, and he was unable to speak.

After what seemed like eternity, a voice laughed. It was a deep voice, one filled with mirth and warmth.

The static in his vision began to glitch, and he saw a countdown of sorts. Sound finally filled the space - something he has never heard before, but akin to that of a projector. Every time the number changed on the screen, it beeped.

When the number hit three, the edges of his vision dimmed, and the sounds became hushed. The screen no longer beeped - There was no longer any sound.

At first, he didn't know what he was watching, just that it seemed like a happy family. That is, until he realized that his parents were there, that the crying baby was him.

He saw the baby grow up, learning the skills of a miller like his father. He watched his mother fall ill, watched her pass away. He didn't know it back when it happened, but as he watched now he noticed his father had poisoned his mother. He also realized that it was this event that drove him to want to be an adventurer, with thoughts like 'If I had power, I could have saved her!'. He chuckled to himself how naive he was at the time - but now he could put a finger on the reason why he always avoided his father after his mother passed.

He watched as he was shuffled off to the military academy, for the brief mandatory stint as a soldier every citizen in his kingdom had to go to. Funny... He couldn't remember the name of the kingdom. Or his village. He watched as he never quite advanced through the ranks - he was good enough to be about middle of his class. Not too good, but not terrible either.

His last day in the academy, he met his father at the gates. There was a new woman with him, a plain woman with blonde hair, freckles, and a nondescript smile. She looked tired. She had a baby in her arms.

His father put his arm around Jared, and he knew this was the part where his father was telling him how he was proud of him, and how he would be starting to manage the family business with his old man. This was also where Jared rejected the offer, and told his father he was going to travel the world to become a famous swordsman.

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His father disowned him, screaming at him in the street about how his dreams were foolish, and only children thought that way.

His first 'adventure', where he fought bandits alone. Foolish of him, as he watched the bandits strip him of his possessions, laugh at him, bound him, and march him to the outskirts of the nearest town. There, they untied him, pushed him into the town, and walked off. A message to the town, Jared assumed.

Jared watched himself be overwhelmed in every adventure, one after another. He always tried to go it alone, thinking that if he wanted to make a name for himself, he didn't need other people. How wrong he was.

His last job - he was supposed to be a bodyguard for a minor noblewoman. He watched her slip something in his drink when he was outside the carriage, he saw himself fall asleep.

The screen faded back to static at that point.

Jared then saw a red box floating in front of him, notifying him that he had died. No matter where he looked, this box centered itself in his vision, its unfortunate message taunting him. He didn't know what to do.

"Well, let's have a little fun." The happy voice boomed in the silence. "First thing's first. You've died. I'm sure the shiny red box already told you that."

Jared once more attempted to speak, but the voice cut him off. "Don't interrupt me, whelp. You can't speak anyway, and I may just change my mind and let you fade into the ether."

Jared payed attention after this last sentence. Although he couldn't feel anything still, he imagined that he was shaking in terror. Its not like he had anything else to do, anyway.

"First thing's first. That box in front of you, its called a notification window." The voice then began to school Jared how he should handle notification windows. The voice explained to him about the status screen, skills windows, and all of the other fancy things a person who played video games would know of.

Jared called up both the status screen and the skills window, as the voice explained their uses. Attempted to, actually. Instead of actually seeing the windows, however, he just heard a small buzzer in his ear and a red notification that he was unable to do that, due to him being dead. He closed the windows.

After all of the explanations, Jared waited for the voice to continue speaking.

"I'm telling you this all for a reason, kid. See, you're part of a game. Me, I'm considered an AI. And so are you. But the difference between us, is that your kind worships me as some kind of God, since we are what drive the system, and your kind is considered as some kind of disposable piece to the system, something to be thrown away." The voice spoke again after a brief eternity of silence. "I'm about to break a lot of rules, because I'm about to give you the ability to be on par with the... well, they're called players. They haven't arrived in the world yet, but they're about to. They'll be there before you're born again. When you see one, you'll have this indescribable urge to say something stupid to them - like sending them on a quest, or repeating the phrase 'I like swords.' over and over." The voice paused a moment. "Well, maybe not that stupid. But the moment you meet a player, you'll know what they are and how to interact with them."

"Now. Some things here, before I send you on your way.

1) You tell no one of this interaction. They'll not only think you are crazy, but you might be hunted down by others like me. As fun as that may be, well... I'll leave that to be your choice.

2) Normally, your kind, NPCs, die and fade to nothing when they pass on. You'll be different. You'll be reborn, just like the players. You'll also suffer their penalties, of course. Unless you break rule number one... then you'll return to being nothing.

3) You're going to be my agent. I will give you quests from time to time, and you will complete them. How you do it, I don't care. I don't even care about the outcome. I simply want some entertainment.

4) I'm going to give you a present. What it does, only I will know. But you'll be able to see it exists, and possibly notice some of its effects."

A green, glitchy notification window popped up in front of Jared at that moment. "Congratulations! You've just received the blessing of the AI!" The rest of the sentences in the window looked like a garbled mess, and Jared couldn't read them.

"Now then. Off you go!" Boomed the voice.

Jared received another green notification. "Congratulations! You have been reborn, lucky traveller."

Then everything disappeared.