I put my phone back in my pocket and glanced around the hallway again. The memory of that mimic was still fresh in my mind, and I had no idea what else would lurk in the area. Maybe it was for the best that I tried to find a safe place to collect my thoughts and see what in the hell was going on. I pushed myself off the ground with no small amount of pain and glanced at where I was sitting to ensure I left nothing important behind. Outside of the blood, still leaking from my arms in a steady flow.

After dealing with that mimic, I was terrified that everything around me could be one now. I limped down the hallway and glanced at the doors, trying to find somewhere safe, but right now, nothing really felt safe to me. I stopped at a small junction in the hallways and glanced around. Usually, there would be many people around this time of day, but where did they go? The question weighed on my mind as I spun around. Now that I think about it, everything feels different. But in a way that I couldn't seem to put my finger on. It was like a memory that hung in the corners of my mind. But I couldn't seem to dredge it up, no matter how hard I tried.

My body came to a halt, and I took a deep breath, forced down some of the anxiety that sat within my chest, and stumbled again. Calm down, Ariadne; you can do this. My vision blurred, and I paused to catch my breath. My eyes traveled towards the icons that now lived on the left side of my eyesight. They doubled in size, and three bars appeared. The first was the deepest shade of red I had ever seen, and it was slowly trickling down with each passing second. The next was a viridian green that rested just over the three-quarter mark. Then the last one was as blue as a radiant sapphire.

But underneath my health bar was a blood drop with a fracture through the center. I focused on it and quickly read what it meant.

Minor bleeding debuff. .5 damage per 5s for (3m)

I pulled my eyes from the screen, glanced at my arms, and saw that the blood flow had staunched slightly and had become a steady ebb. I glanced towards my health bar and saw I only had 30 health. Quickly I did the math in my head and saw that I would be cutting it close in terms of my survival with this bleeding debuff

I paused once more and glanced around the drab carpet-clad halls. The initial panic I had felt had melted away; instead, exhaustion and confusion plagued me, not to mention anxiety about my parents. Were they alright? Where were they? The thoughts mingled in my mind as I came across another strange hallway. In fact, I don't remember the hallways being this long here. Where was I even going?

All around me was nothing but walls with dim lights attached to the ceiling that radiated a drab brown, mind-numbing light that tore at my mind. The white walls that surrounded me seemed to press into me at all sides, and the carpet, gripped at my converses, trying to drag me down.

I closed my eyes and swallowed some of the saliva that had built up. I need to calm down and think things through clearly. If I kept moving on like this, I would only get myself killed. In my father's words, "Patience is a virtue," I sighed and prayed to whatever god existed that they were okay.

I glanced around one more time and saw only barren walls and no doors for as far as the eye could see. I rested my back against the wall and sat down in a way that I could see almost everything around me. Thankfully, none of those things were around that I could see. I unslung my bag, quickly rifled through it, and brought out a spare shirt I kept packed. If I was strong enough, I would have torn it up to use as bandages, but I wasn't, and nor did I have anything sharp on me that I could use.

On my right arm, I carefully wrapped the shirt around it tightly to staunch the worst of the blood flow. My left wasn't super bad and was already scabbing over, which was good. I just hope it didn't get infected. Once I ensured that my arm was adequately covered, I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. The tiles once adorned it had melted into each other, forming one long white block that stretched as far as I could see.

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Just what the hell was happening here? I pulled my eyes away from the ceiling and gave the area one last look over to ensure there wasn't anything sneaking up on me. Once I was satisfied, I pulled my attention back to the strange symbols that had appeared in my eyesight. I had already investigated what the bars were, but what about the other stuff that notified me?

I glanced at the upper left-hand side of my screen and what looked like a desktop icon of a letter. When I selected it, the screen opened near instantaneously, revealing a small list of notifications. Using my eyes, I scrolled through the list and took everything in for once, but I started from the top. How did it know my name?

I stared at the words for a moment and tried to figure out how to get to the help screen. Should I think about it? Was there an option? I pondered it for a moment and tested it out. I focused on the words since that seemed like it was the best bet. But this was still so new to me, so trial and error, I suppose. I pulled my sight away from the mailbox and glanced around the hallway again to check on my surroundings. Thankfully, it seemed like I was still in the clear, so I felt safe enough to turn my attention back to my screen. I glanced at the message and pushed all my mental attention into the text to see if it did something.

Though much to my surprise, nothing happened. "How the hell am I supposed to get help then?" I mumbled quietly under my breath as I stared at the stupid screen. But the second the word help left my mouth, it flickered, and a new screen appeared.

Welcome Ariadne, to the help section! What can we assist you with today?

The words scribbled themselves across my vision once more. Ah, good, I'm finally getting somewhere. "What happened?" I asked out loud and glanced around once more to make sure that nothing heard me.

The planet known as 'Earth' has recently passed through the universal outer boundary, and all life on the planet is now subject to a force called 'Aether.' While Aether is an entirely natural force, it can and will cause mutations to all those that interact with it. The system was created to maintain life and help protect it in the outer expanses.

What? That made little sense. The last time I checked the earth was still billions of light-years aways from the edge of the universe. "That can't be possible," I murmured once more as I felt all the blood drain from my face. None of this can be true.

For the next few years, the 'Earth' will be under a protection period and will allow all users to gain experience and prepare themselves. Please be aware that only life classified as sapient and has a high level of intelligence will be granted system access and protection from the worst of the Aether's mutations.

More dreadful words were scribbled into my vision as I begged that the information it conveyed was nothing more than a lie.

Do you have any more questions?

The words blinked once more as if someone were sitting on the other side, typing the response out as I asked questions. My mind went blank as I stared at the words and was left speechless. I wasn't sure what else to say or do in this situation. The world I thought I knew had ended, and I was left with this. Whatever this was.

"What is Aether?" My body felt numb as I asked, and I pulled my legs up to my chest. I wanted to do nothing more than curl up into a ball and lay there.

Aether is an underlying force of nature that can influence reality. Our records indicate that your kind calls it "magic.'

My eyes hovered over that word. Magic? Magic was the stuff of fairy tales. It had no scientific grounding. This had to be all fake, right? But how else could you explain that monster that attacked me? This thing is known as the system? My heart dropped as everything I held as fact faded, and in its place, it felt like nothing but a web of lies.